- This topic has 23 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by
.
- Posts
Doss anyone else remember this publication. It was published by Swish Publications in the late 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s.
I first discovered the magazine as a 16 year old in 1992 and it shaped my crossdressing, especially over the following 2/3 years.
I would be interested to hear from girls who read the magazine and your memories… did you appear in the magazine etc
I have found a website who sell PDF’s of pretty much every edition every made and I have found it excellent to revisit. It also gives me the chance to read the early editions of which some are excellent
This was one of several products of the time and was long before computers, internet and social media.
The use of ‘transvestite’ was technically correct in that era, as crossdressing was still seen as a medical issue within the mental illness bracket, along with homosexuality.
At the time there were no legal support frameworks and crossdressing/TG/TV /TS etc were very much illegal in many countries.
These magazines were soft porn in the early years with information on balls, drag shows and events, but soon progressed to becoming explicit and contact mags for people who wanted something extra in a relationship.
So – we have come a long way since then but its nice to look back and see our past as a foundation for our current position.
Hugs
Dawn
Hi Ladies , its just words , call me what you want , i don’t care . I am Leslie , Leslie the lady . Remember , just act like a lady , ware your feminine being like armor , its stronger than you think . Now get out there and be the prissy dolls you are , we are woman , here us purr . Leslie
-
Cheryl I don’t believe I ever ran across that one but do remember, FMI (Female Mimics International), Lady Like and some others that came and went. I enjoyed those and saw that I wasn’t alone, kind of the internet of the time and like the internet there were people using it for ALL purposes. Oh, and yes you did have to go to some of the seedy magazine shops for them.
For those that get upset by “the” word, we were called much worse many years ago. In some ways the word transvestite was used as a clinical approach to put a medical normalcy (even if it was a crappy “diagnosis”) to something viewed as an aberration. It became one of the first steps to defining us as a group, yet was also used by the ignorant and prejudicial to slander us. Also those mentally unable to use complete words shortened it to the slur tranny. So… sticks and stones ladies. Don’t empower the ignorant by giving them a word, any word, even a word you don’t want.
🍷C Always knew I loved wearing girl’s clothing, then I learned in the 60s I was a “transvestite.” Oh, the fear of it, when I researched it in the university library! I was not “normal”! Living in fear of discovery and shame.
Then, in the 80s, made contact with Tri-ESS and found out I was very normal, and there were many others just like me, very normal and living very normal happy lives.
Finally, in the 90s, free to be me, so normal, so happy! So perfectly worderful!
“Transvestite” What a horrible word!
Peggy Sue…..love your reply and yes, the “T” word to me is hideous…it even sounds creepy/ weird/diseased etc……I so hate it…..
Crossdresser grace xx
Hehehe!!!
Apologies if the original post caused offence, I agree, I much prefer the term crossdresser and refer to myself as such rather than a transvestite.
the magazine, for me, helped shape me/Cheryl in those early days. I probably identified as a transvestite before I probably knew the meaning of the word and the difference (if there is any) to a cross dresser. I agree there was some smut in the magazine but a lot of the girls were similar to those on CDH, genuine crossdressers who had a place to share their female experiences with like minded girls. For me, I love the nostalgia of the magazine and that the PDF’s allow me to think back to a much simpler time when I could be Cheryl much more often. It is so simple to find sites that cater for crossdressers on the internet covering all aspects but when I was younger and before the internet WOTV was my only outlet and I love that I can still be part of that.
anyway, apologies again if any offence caused
Cheryl xx
Yes I remember the publication. Yikes I guess that makes me about a zillion years old…anyway the controversy over the title? Just words make of them what you will.How do we feel about ourselves as crossdressers today? Well now that is the most important point.I feel quite happy about it as I hope you all do too!
Ah memories, memories, ladies….
“WOT” “Wot a mag”….. I had a very large collection of this magazine, used to buy it from adult bookshops in Melbourne CBD and occasionally other cities on work trips. even bought a few editions from “WOTV HQ” in Greek Street Soho London. Back on the “Tube” to my hotel and devour the lot!
I was a frustrated writer even back then and yes, had a few articles printed with photos. The of course along came the Internet and killed the veritable “newsrack stand” full of DC/TV themed magazines. Even the latter high quality of the genre eg “Frock” did not last..
Transvestite” never bothered me all that much back then, does a bit these days. But then we’ve all moved in in so many ways of our lives, does it really matter? I’m Caty and a proud “CD” these days…
But again, “thanks for the memories”
“Nana Caty”.
Yes I’m THAT old…
Sadly I never got into reading any of those magazines. However back in the day I think that “T” term make me feel like there was something wrong with me, a sickness of sorts.
Though those days the term “closeted” didn’t go far enough to describe how far under the covers I was. Now I so much wish I hadn’t been so hidden, but I am now so happy that I found of you wonderful girls here at CDH!
Amy
The famous Virginia Prince, in the early days, published a magazine entitled “Transvestia.” Just goes to show how much things have changed over the years.
I could have never imagined a day like now, when so many people in public places would know me as both my male and female self and think nothing of it.
I remember reading about transvestism in a psychology book back in the seventies in the library of my local college.It had been written about a decade before and made scary rrading.Lots of talk about aversion therapy.It did make me feel that I was a despicable pervert.I used to read the problem pages in UK newspapers looking for letters pertaining to crossdressers.Have to say that even in those less than enlightened times the Agony Aunt’s and Uncle’s took a very sympathetic line with young boys who liked to wear their mum’s clothes.In the eighties I was very reassured when a problem page columist said that transvestism isn’t abnormal and crossdressers harm noone.
Roberta, that reminds me of something I read in one of our papers back in the late 60’s. Here we had Dear Abby and Ann Landers who one could write into and ask advice.
Well this one time I read a letter from a woman whose husband was a crossdresser, and she went out from time to time so that he could “play lady” as it was described. The answer was that “transvestites” weren’t necessarily “homosexual”, they weren’t very normal either. (I hate those old terms, but that is what was said) I was kind of blown away by this, so I wasn’t the only one, but then it made me somehow abnormal too, which I certainly didn’t want to be.
So, this was when I was dressing from time to time and this only made the guilt and shame worse, and had to be a factor in me giving it all up for a long time.
Amy
I’m not familiar with the publication you mention. I do however remember reading in the daily newspaper, the Ann Landers advice column. More than once there was a letter from a distraught spouse who had discovered her husband’s stash and had turned to Miss Landers for advice. That column is where I learned the word, “transvestite”. Ann never held transvestites in high esteem. Always the writer was referred to counseling. It was clear to me, the twelve year old reader at the time, that transvestites and their ilk were to be avoided.
And now, if Ann Landers were still around, I’d tell her, “this transvestite is doing just fine, thank you very much.”Clara
Hi Stephanie
TV/TG/TS/GQ/CD et al; are all incorporated under the TG umbrella term rather than as a noun for a specific identity. The TG community is often fractured by an alphabet soup of letters denoting what self identity we each have, so the terminology has developed to encompass everyone who has a unique gender identity. During some recent research I undertook for an article for medical journal, I found there are currently over 50 terms denoting to gender identity markers – so its often very confusing !
When I first came out in the late 70’s we only had 2 markers – TV or TS, so I was classified as a ’Pre-op TS’ when I started my transition, but was moved to ‘non-op TS’ by the medical community when I put my transition on hold – 30 yrs later I am simply ‘TG’ and happy.
Now the WHO has removed transgender from the mental health classifications recently and adopted the use of ‘Transgender’ as the correct terminology for all members the Trans community, so we are making progress, slow but sure !
hugs Dawn
Hi Celeste…
The people who think this are, like many closet homosexuals, afraid of their own inclinations or simply fundamental who don’t like fun and who don’t follow the truth. So I guess they are just ‘damentals’!!!
Step it out Sisters and damn the torpedoes!Xx Polly
Celeste, In our last Canadian Federal election something of fringe party candidate sent some info around, and she showed a rather backwards point of view about LGBTQ subjects. So being who I am, I challenged her on it, not telling her about me being on part of the spectrum.
So, her reply to me was quite unbelievable, her and her party still believed that gay and lesbians needed to go into an institution to be “cured”, plus a lot of other very outdated ideas.
My reaction was I simply could not believe someone in Canada, which is generally quite an enlightened and accepting society where same sex marriage has been legal since 2005, was running for public office. In our riding there were I think 8 candidates, and she came in dead last, and no one in that party came close to electing even one representative to parliment. Just as well, I think.
Though the thing I take away from that is there are people who don’t accept us, and even want to go back to the way it used to be.
Amy
- The topic ‘The World of Transvestism’ is closed to new replies.
Recent Comments