Crossdressers-Forum.com

[Erin L]

I decided to drop in, as I do from time to time, just to see how everyone is doing. My new job is great and I am actually in Dallas for three weeks for training (home on the weekends, though).

Out of curiosity, I wanted to check on the "Our Girl Autobiographies" thread, and was saddened to see that not only had it not continued to flourish, but that it was now locked. I realize that it was very different from the rest of the threads on this board, but I also think it was a unique tool of self-discovery. I also thought that there were those who did not post their stories who nevertheless found it useful.

I don't understand why it was locked.

Ironically, I have been considering going back to my own bio, having worked through some of the issues that made me stop it. Does the fact that the thread was locked indicate that any such posts will not be welcomed here?
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I'm not that kind of girl.

[SilverLady(SO)]

Hi, Erin -

Congratulations on the success of your new job, and I hope it continues!!

Absaroka had PM'ed me 2 weeks ago regarding the Our "Girl Autobiographies" thread, and this was my reply to her:

[Absaroka]

Erin I self published the whole thing on Lulu.com. It was loads of fun to see it as a book.

You can always pm me the next chapter if you want. I don't see any reason for us not to do this via pm.
Zari
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everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

[Erin L]

I suppose that, seeing as how I walked away from it, whatever happened to the thread is just one of those things. But I do think that the autobiographical approach is a useful one (that it ceased to be so in my case had to do with my own personal situation). The idea was projecting our life experiences into what might have been had our gender been different.

I didn't view this as fiction in the normal meaning of the word. And I certainly would never post it on a site as derivative as Fictionmania. Maybe it's too fine a line to draw, but as the purpose of this site is sharing and self-discovery, it seems a shame to have closed off a very useful tool for it.

Absaroka, if I do decide to pick it up again, I will PM you (and Robyn Katie, too).
_________________
I'm not that kind of girl.

[Leeza]

I for one enjoyed reading the Girl Autobiographies. It sometimes took me awhile to catch up, but really missed them when they stopped.

Leeza
_________________
Live life to the fullest as it may be the only oppurtinity we have

[Absaroka]

Gee thanks Leeza. Sometimes I thought it was just the 3 of us reading the thread.
Just a thought. Unlike fictionmania our bios didn't turn into porn.......I often thought there might have been more actual discussion of why our female character did what she did as opposed to how a male character might have handled things and that sort of thing. Also I particularly liked when we would discuss the real life experiences some of our stuff was based on.

Speaking only for myself, I certainly did learn some stuff about myself in writing the story-in my case it can only VERY loosely be called an autobiography but still I discovered a lot about myself and it was a very valulable experience. It falls under the intro to One Flew Over The Cukoos Nest where it states " a lot of things are true even if they never really happened" which is a good description of fiction with any redeeming merit. At the same time I understand the concern about it turning into another fictionmania.

I wonder if there isn't some way to address that concern and resurrect the thread. It was after all only one thread among many.

Zari
_________________
everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

[Leeza]

Zari, at the time most of the tread was going on I didn't have time to post anything that took a lot of thought.

I don't consider myself a writer, although some people thnk I can so I didn't contribute to the thread. I also found it hard to put myself in the frame of mind to write as a girl growing up.

I have thought about putting some of my life experiences down for other to read or maybe that is so I can remember them later when I need a good story. I have envied those who can tell you about everything that happened to them as I cannot sit and recall a lot of my experiences unless something happens to jog my memory.

I can't blame it on getting lod as I have always been that way. Maybe there wasn't that much I wanted to remember or I didn't think my life was that intresting.

Leeza
_________________
Live life to the fullest as it may be the only oppurtinity we have

[SilverLady(SO)]

[Absaroka]

Part of the fun for me was the comments that went back and forth and being able to go from one story to another in the same thread. Personally I'd rather keep the old thread and unlock it. This would also alleviate any hurt feelings about why did some one read say Erin's auto bio this week but not mine, and might encourage other members to write short stories as Amelie Laveau did.

Another option might be to move the whole thread to the creative corner forum, although I'm happy with it where it was.

I think it's important to look at what this forum is and is not. It was started as a safe place for people to discuss things related to cross dressing, and very specifically was to be non sexual, partly in an effort to make it a comfortable place for SOs and partly to keep it from just turning into a porn site. Over the years I think an excellent job has been done by the members in aknowledging the part sex plays in all this without letting this turn into a sexual playground, which is in some ways what fiction mania is. I think that can be continued in the girl autobiographies section.

I had also floated an idea once which met with some interest but never got off the ground of our real bios, talking about where our journey has taken us but with enough specifics left out to preserve our anonymity. It's easily done, and most 12 step type forums have a section for it. But that would be a different thing altogether.

Just my thoughts and I'm happy to go along with whatever is decided.

Zari
_________________
everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

[SilverLady(SO)]

[Leeza]

SL, Thank you.

Leeza
_________________
Live life to the fullest as it may be the only oppurtinity we have

[Absaroka]

Thanks Loads Silver Lady

Zari
_________________
everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

[Robyn Katie]

Hi Silver Lady,

My thanks as well.

I thought your comments about the thread were interesting and useful, and I agree with most of them. It did fizzle out over time, and it is fantasy.

However, my feeling in starting the thread was that this was a way of imagining ourselves female. Imagining ourselves female, judging by the other threads, is a big part of what this board is about: finding out about our alternate selves, learning (to the extent possible) who we are when we're femming. So though it's fantasy, it's not exactly fiction, in the sense that it explores cross-gender ways of being who we are.

I felt my efforts were less than successful, and didn't really work for me. Nor did the thread spark, as I'd hoped, contributions from a number of other people beyond the three of us who mainly contributed. Still, the attempt was a terrific learning experience for me as a CD/TG person, and did contribute as much to my self-knowledge as any other thread here.

What clinches it, for me, is that the thread struck a chord for a lot of people! Its more than 7000 views is among the most hits any thread here has earned. So I think (though few commented) quite a lot of people must have enjoyed it—or at least taken a look at it out of curiosity.

All of which is to say that I do feel the thread has a place here, as a legitimate and interesting way of exploring our CD/TG alternate selves.

And so I'm glad to see the thread unlocked and back in our lives. Thank you!

Love, Robyn Katie

[Absaroka]

7000 hits! I had no idea, had not really noticed that little tidbit.

So here is an invitation. Some of us wrote long things, and some of us love to write. But short stories are welcome. Maybe rather than a life story, how about a day or an event and how it might have been different as a girl.

Zari
_________________
everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

[Absaroka]

Come on folks, we got SL to reopen the thread. We need to show our appreciation by using it....
_________________
everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon