Sticks And Stones: A Trans Perspective

The sun was beating down on yet another glorious English day. We don’t get enough of those, by my reckoning. The heat on the inside of the car was creating a haze as I opened the door, and vented some of the hot air out before I could get in.

Cue, me. Dressed in a not-particularly-special purple top from Atmosphere (via the charity shop), and my favourite boot cut stretch jeans, with Rocket Dog pumps on. Nails painted red, a purple strapped Fitbit, and my two favourite rings, one of haematite and one of (I think) silver with an amethyst stone.

I was very much aware that I had been off my hormone replacement medication for 2 days and at this point I was likely to be overly emotional. You see, I was visiting my boyfriend in Southampton — Something I have been doing on a regular basis since we got together a few months ago. His having 2 kids precluded him from coming to stay at my meagre 2 bed rented house in Leicestershire. However, rewind to Friday and in my rush to get everything together and get out of the house after work, I had conveniently forgotten my hormones and my shaver.

To any other cisgender person, this may seem like a trivial thing — you go to the chemist and pick up some spares whilst on holiday and leave the stubble to grow for a few days.
But when you’re a trans woman, 9 months into your transition, these two…