Articles Vol3 Iss6

EDITORIAL

Hi All,

Millie has returned refreshed and invigorated from winter hols - welcome back - and also I must say a big thanks to her for all the articles she has written for the this month magazine.

The main special events which will organised for the coming year are detailed in the "Dates for your Diary" do try to attend as many as possible as it makes for a much more fun evening for us all.

There are some changes we have had to make, membership charges etc. these are detailed in Jessica page so do read her piece in this magazine. Remember you get this magazine absolutely free and that must be worth the cost of membership in itself.

I have started a web site for the group at: (No longer valid) if you could think of anything of interest we could put on it, please send it to me and I will add it to the site, as there is not much there yet.

Still no job, never mind.

By for now and Love to you all, Sophie

A BIG THANK YOU

I would like to say a big thank you to all Cameo members and friends, who were kind enough to send me greetings cards for Christmas and New year; they were greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, being in Spain, I was unable to reciprocate because the Spanish are not into card sending in any shape or form. They leave that to the tourists who post off a million beach views on their hols. Apart from our somewhat intimate, esoteric little circle, I can't help but feel that seasonal card sending has become more of a duty than a sincere expression of friendship and remembrance. Indeed that commercialism directed towards Christmas here, in direct comparison to Spain, struck me most forcibly upon my return. Here, the religious significance is very much a minor factor when compared to the attention and dedication given to eating, drinking and junketing, which once again is in direct contrast to Spain. Although admittedly a Catholic country, it does - well in my humble opinion - gives sincere reverence to December 25th, while reserving it's jollifications for the feast of the three Kings on January 6th. But hedonistic or not, may I sincerely wish or Cameo readers a safe and happy to 2002.

Millie.

YOUR OWN PAGE THREE GIRL RETURNS TO WILD WELCOME AT HURN AIRPORT.

Boenos dias senoros, senoritas; hello once again, or for all you from down under, G'day

Well ladies, here I am once again back from almost three months on the lovely Costa del Sol. I rattled and bumped into Hurn on Mr Bath's little aeroplane Christmas Eve, where Marion, as usual bless her, was waiting at for the dead of night - way past my bedtime - to whisk me away to the throbbing metropolis of downtown Ferndown and my home. Oh how wonderful it is to be back and be able to turn on the radio and hear that current political evasions, double talk and spin doctoring in my native language without necessity to translate all the while. And the traffic! Don't know if anyone noticed that it's all on the wrong side of the road!

But to trannie talk. I was able to welcome two guests for a day's visit, albeit a month or so apart. First was Pat, picture editor of the Beaumont magazine whose name and photo you may well have seen on the Photocall pages. She was on holiday the other side of the coast to where my village is, so we arranged to meet up in Melage City, which was roughly mid point, when she had a free day. It's a strange experience waiting fully - en femme of course - at a rail terminus for someone you've never meant previously and have no idea of their physical appearance; whereas Pat in her capacity as picture editor, has seen numerous of me, including the now famous (infamous?) topless one. But the day went well and we enjoyed an excellent lunch and chin wag so much so that I was sad in the late afternoon, to have to wave her goodbye on a bus to the rail station.

My second visitor was Tina who brought her lovely wife along for a day's visit, all the way from Almesia over 150 miles each way; a journey that they completed in just over 12 hours thanks to the excellent motorways. Having recently retired to the sun, she was seeking my advice on integration with her Spanish locals as her feminine self.

Well being back wish you once again, one particular aspect of life has struck me most forcibly isn't cold!

Went in to see Marion at the garage on December 27th and almost froze from the waist down, mind you I was wearing my M&S 18" mini-skirt so that may have been a contributing factor - but its fun!

So glad hear the Christmas party was a success; well done the Committee for your hard work to make it so. If you dear fellow trannie would like to get involved and help with the planning for the society's future, do please volunteer. Extra hands at the helm are always most welcome.

Happy dressing.

Millie

ENCOUNTER OF THE MOST STRANGE KIND - AGAIN

It was the Thursday after Christmas, December 27; I'd ridden my 76 seater personal transport into the Bournemouth Travel Exchange to consult with my chief engineer on the possibility of increasing the turbocharger boost pressure on my Renault 4 (0 - 60 in 3 days!) and at the same time, imbibe large quantities of strong coffee from her canteen facilities. Marion was very kind and considerate, providing me with the name of a good psychiatrist! So, suitably refreshed and de-kinked (well as much as I'll ever be anyway) I ambled down towards Bournemouth's town central in general, and The Shoe Shed opposite Beales, in particular. I was looking for a pair of knee high beige boots that didn't have a price like the national debt and I have in the past, found The Shoe Shed competitive in price and quality. I had already investigated one of my favourite haunt's, Mark One in Boscombe, but they were left with small sizes only. (Incidentally, has anyone other than me, noticed their odd size numbering? They appear to be adding a zero before and after the size, making a 6, become a 060). Well, to my delight The Shed had exactly what I wanted, but sadly, although the boot itself was satisfactory, the long side zip was not, jamming repeatedly on both sides. Back on the street again - whoops, perhaps I'd better rephrase that! - I meandered and down past Beales towards the Square intending to look in Dorothy Perkins shoe department at the rear of their shop, when I noticed a disturbance in the crowd ahead. As all CDs who go out in public well know, one must at all times be wide-awake and aware. I moved cautiously into cover behind a tall young couple pushing what looked to be to year-old twins in a wide, three wheeled pushchair and pressed warily towards the source of the excitement which by this time had developed into laughter, whistles and catcalls. To my absolute horror, there, striding nonchalantly up the pedestrian precinct past McDonalds, was a figure straight from a CDs worst nightmare. Tall at least 6'2" or 6'3", it, no,

I can't write she, wore a terrible apology for a wig that looked as though she had been "styled" by a family of Tomcats. Make-up was limited to that worn by the witches in the play no actor can name, while over a formless black mini dress and holed black tights was a hip length brown fur coat ravished by time and moths.

As many of you may well know from epigrammatic criticism from articles in magazines such as the Bristol based "Touchstone" directed towards me, I positively refused to support the didactic dictum that - The World Must Accept me wholeheartedly no matter how I wish to dress. I am a simple trannie whose sole wish is to merge and lead my femme life completely unnoticed and with total acceptance within society - which for the majority of the time, I think I do.

Anyway, feeling faint from seeing such as CD apparition, I repaired to Dingle's lower level coffee shop, uncertain whether to feel sad for that crossdresser, or angry that 'it' had made such an exhibition in public, possibly compromising other actual or would-be CDs within the vicinity.

Strangely enough, almost two years ago, I was witness to a similar situation on Beale's fashion floor, but then, the CD was escorted away by the store security staff. I am certain in my recall of the event, that it was not the same person both times, although viewed through my rapidly steaming up glasses and a hot flush, it could well have been.

It is difficult, as I'm sure you must all agree, for many of us, to emerge from the closet for the very first time. The sensible, logical way is to seek help from a club such as Beaumont or Cameo whose existence these days thanks to the liberalisation in our society is no longer as a dark secret. However, who knows the inner forces that may drive a potential CD into making a sudden public exhibition hoping to be absorbed on the back of a festive season. Or perhaps - horror of horrors - she was an acolyte from the Touchstone fraternity, determined we should all suffer her propensity to dress in any form or style she wished.

Ah well, at least all we Cameo members are nice respectable girls - although now I come to think of it!!!!!

Love Millie

Your fun packed 2002 Cameo programme.

Great news ladies, your hard working committee of six selfless individuals, no dears not the gang of six has laboured hard along - to create for you, exciting Cameo events.

First in the spring a St George's Day party on Saturday April 27th. This is a sit-down meal where I'm sure you will agree, the food is always superb. As always, we need to know if you are coming in order to facilitate the meal order, so all bookings with a small deposit please to Marion by April 2nd.

Next with sincere and patriotic fervour, is a big hat and Ascot dress day to celebrate the Queen's 50 years on the throne. It will be held on Saturday June 1st with a cold buffet. Be sure not to miss this great event, as it is an excellent opportunity to get your glad rags on and dress up to the nines. Oh what fun!

Wednesday July 17th is the date to put on in your diary for the now famous BBQ, a traditional great fun evening that has proved popular for many years. Miss it and you will suffer months of regret and disappointment.

August 21st off-course, is our Miss Cameo contest. Daniel, the current title-holder will be strongly, I am sure, defending her fashionable consummation of success. However, strong rumours indicate fierce potential competition from a strong contender for the title - if she can get her hands grease free in time? Remember don't be shy, get your act together, strut your stuff, it's great fun.

Lastly, although not in chronological order, the Cameo AGM is on Wednesday April 17th. Try to come along because it is your chance to air views, suggestions, and indeed, grievances. As itemised in the constitution, the whole Committee for the past year stands down and new officers are elected. This is your chance to put your money where your mouth is, or perhaps more succinctly, make an effort and get involved. Remember, a club, any club, is only as good as its volunteers, so why not volunteer to help run Cameo making it bigger and better in the next 12 months. Don't be shy; get on your feet and have your say.

JESSICA'S PAGE

Secretary's Report

We held a committee meeting on the 23rd January and we decided on one or two changes.

Firstly it was agreed that we would abolish the non-smoking rule. A few members suggested it might deter new members who might wish to smoke. Should smoking become a problem there would be a designated smoking area.

Due to increased cost it will be necessary to increase the meeting charge and membership fee. The new meeting charge will be £3 and the membership fee will be £8 for a single member with £12 for joint. To keep in line with other clubs there will be no longer be a meeting charge for RG partners.

The committee are still looking around for new venues and advertising to attract new members and we are looking for new things to do at the meetings. The results of our recent members’? survey said that you would like things demonstrations (i.e. hair care, make up. deportment etc.) so we are investigating this. If anybody has other suggestions or know of speakers etc. please let us know.

As the AGM will soon be upon us (17th April) its time to think about committee members. Millie, our chair lady, is standing down so we will need a replacement and all other positions will be voted upon. We need 6 members on the committee Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and 3 other members. To comply with our constitution we need at least one TS and one RU, on the committee. Carol has said she will stand again as member’s rep. I have been nominated for the chair so I will stand for that or stand to return as secretary. Sophie, Marion and Jan have said they will stand again if asked. The absolute minimum we need is a nomination for the Chair or Secretary. It would be really nice to be different from the norm this year and have an election for the post so let's have your nominations.

Personal

I have now almost fully recovered from my recent trip to the hospital and only have the memories left and some pills to take. From now on I just need some tests to be done once a month so you will still see me alive and kicking at the meetings. I do have to go back in early march for an op (No, not that one, which is a pity).

My facial hair removal is going OK and I have just had my third session. It gets easier as you go along. A few girls have asked me about it and are having treatment themselves. I am still more than happy with the results,

Names

A few of my friends from my Old World recently have been asking me why I chose Jessica as my name. When I lived in London as a full time TS a few years ago I used to call myself Sharon simply because it went with my chosen surname. When circumstances demanded that I had to return home to live, my wife she said she didn’t like the name Sharon (personal reasons) so we tried to find alternative suitable name. We talked about various names but none seemed suitable until she started calling me a big Jessie (quite fitting really) so from then I called myself Jessica. I think it might be interesting to hear from some of you the reasons why you chose your particular name.

See you soon Lots of Love Jessica

Feminine Voice Techniques

I found this on the net at: http://www.looking-glass.greenend.org.uk/voice.htm

The site seems not to have been updated recently , but there is a lot of very interesting things there.

Introduction

This document is a collection of practical suggestions and ideas for self-help in the feminisation of the voice, developed by a group of male-to-female transsexuals within the Looking Glass Society.

Neither hormones nor genital surgery will 'un-break' a male voice, and voice-changing surgery is widely regarded as inadvisable, in addition to being at best only a partial solution. Thus, speech training is necessary in order to produce a satisfactory 'female' voice.

At first, it may seem hard to concentrate on all the different facets of producing a feminine voice, and lapses will happen. The only solution is to practice and practice again until it gradually becomes second nature.

The Methods

1. Sing! To loosen-up the voice box, extend your pitch range, and help develop good control, it can be very helpful to choose a female vocalist that you like, preferably one with a relatively deep voice, and sing along. The musically-minded may also wish to perform singing exercises, such as singing scales.
2. Raise the position of the laryngeal cartilage : up raises your voice pitch and decreases the characteristic male resonance. (The laryngeal cartilage is the 'movable' piece of cartilage that you can feel rising if you place a hand on your throat and sing a rising scale ( "doh, re, mi, fa, sol, lah, ti, doh" )). The point of this is to try to gain a higher 'baseline' pitch than you have previously used, and then increase the pitch further when placing emphasis. For example you might decide that if you pitch the "doh" as your baseline male pitch, raising your basic pitch to about "fa" or "sol" would be sufficient. But do not overdo the pitch-raising: a squeaky, falsetto voice sounds very inappropriate on an adult woman. The pitch adjustment is a compromise --- for the technically-minded you should aim for above 160Hz; if you have access to a musical instrument that's about the G below middle C. Of course, everyone starts out with a different original voice and some will be able to raise it more than others without sounding squeaky. You might find it slightly tiring on your voice-box at first, as you are unused to speaking in that register, but it should become comfortable with a little practice. If it does not, then you are probably trying to force your pitch up too high.
3. Partially open the glottis when speaking : The position of the glottis controls how much air passes over the vocal cords. When breathing rather than speaking, when whispering, or when producing an 'unvoiced' sound (where the vocal cords do not vibrate, like 'hhh' or 'sss' ), the glottis is fully open and all the air bypasses the vocal cords. With the glottis firmly closed, all the air is forced over the vocal cords, producing a fully-voiced and typically male voiced sound. You need to try to find a 'semi-whispering' position that eliminates the fully-voiced sound with heavy resonance in the chest, and imparts a breathy quality to the voice. You can hear the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds by comparing S and Z sounds (say 'sss' and 'zzz' , and feel how your vocal cords vibrate on the Z but not the S). You're trying to find a midpoint between an unvoiced (whispered) sound, and a fully-voiced 'male' sound. Try saying the word 'hay', and pay attention to how you change between the unvoiced H sound and the voiced A sound: say it very slowly ( 'hhhhhaaaay' ) and feel the change in the vocal cords as your voice slides from the unvoiced 'hhh' sound to the voiced 'aaa' vowel sound. Then try to stop before you reach the fully-voiced point, and you should be producing a soft, breathy (feminine) 'aaa' sound. Then try to learn to always use that half-open position for all voiced sounds. This is simply a matter of practice.
4. Place emphasis with pitch, not volume : Upward intonation places emphasis. Men place emphasis in their speech by varying the loudness, but keep their pitch within a very narrow range; on the other hand women tend to keep their loudness much more constant but vary their pitch a great deal to express emphasis.
5. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly : Especially consonants at the beginning and end of words. Don't mumble; clear voice requires fairly big lip movements. On the whole, women enunciate much more clearly and precisely than men.
6. Pace your speech carefully : Start and end sentences slowly and gently; do not sound clipped. Do not 'swallow' pronouns, articles or other 'little words' at the beginning or end of sentences. Male speech tends to be characterised by what speech therapists call 'hard attack' --- the first syllable is pronounced very hard, and quickly. Women usually start a sentence more softly.
7. Use appropriate content : Men and women tend to talk about the same things in different ways; what you say contains gender cues, just as much as how you say it. Women tend to concentrate more on thoughts and feelings, while men concentrate on objects and actions. Men generally use more 'short cuts', colloquialisms and bad language, too. A simple illustration is to imagine someone asking a friend if they are going to go for a drink after work. A male might say something like 'Coming down the pub?' : rather abrupt, using the minimum of words and concentrating on the desired action in a rather impersonal way. A woman might say 'Do you feel like going for a drink tonight?' : concentrating on her friend's feelings and desires, personal, and not abbreviated.
8. Pay attention to tongue position : The tongue is higher and flatter for female than for male. This gives 'dental' sounds (ones that involve the teeth, like T and D) a softer, breathier, almost sibilant quality in the female. Say 'tttt' in male mode, then 'ssss'; find the halfway position, that is the female position for the letters T and D; likewise for a TH sound, etc. Use plenty of air to get a breathy sound.
9. Hold your mouth in the right shape : A slight smile helps, and is the 'resting' facial expression for a woman anyway. 'Rounder' lips (a slight pout), and good lip movement, help produce a clearly enunciated voice.
10. Develop head resonance : One of the biggest problems facing TS women is, after learning to produce a soft, feminine voice, to then learn how to speak loudly when necessary without the voice returning to a masculine sound. Women gain loudness by using the cavities inside the head as a 'sounding box' whereas men use the chest. To gain a louder feminine voice, develop head resonance rather than chest resonance --- open your mouth a little more, use more air, and 'push' your voice up into your head.
11. Use Feedback : Record samples of your voice and listen to yourself. Read a passage of text, listen to yourself and keep practicing. It can be helpful to actually read these notes aloud, practising each point as you read it. Then listen to yourself and successively refine your voice.

Letter to the Editor

On Wednesday 16th January I attended The Cameo group meeting at The venue. I arrived at about 8-30pm to find only seven other members attending this meeting. I have been a member of the group for about 15 months and in this time have seen the numbers diminish monthly.

I do think however, there are things that could be done to make the group more attractive and which may draw people back.

Some suggestions are:

Demonstrations and/or displays of such things as Make-up, Cosmetics, Nails, Hair/Wigs, Fashion, Jewellery, Deportment etc.etc.

Let’s invite back people such as Lynn of Profiles - that is always a good evening, and Naughty But Nice - our own answer to an Ann Summers Party!

And what about asking an “Avon Lady” to do some makeovers and demonstrational tips?

How about a Bring and Buy Sale, all of us at some time or another have bought things that either do not fit quite right or are “not really me”. Excess make up, wrong colours or shades; skirts / tops / shoes which are too loose or too tight; wigs which are the wrong style. The list is endless. Why have them cluttering up the place when one of our sisters could make use of them?

Another suggestion is a “theme” evening as outrageous clothing can be worn that you would not normally wear out. Or even a Fancy Dress Party…with no dress code!! My wife and I attended a Murder Mystery Party in costume recently and we both agreed that this should be a Trannie event as the scope there was endless.

As attendance is so low these suggested functions would probably have to be subsidised from funds, but if the group carries on as is, it will probably fold and what would happen to the funds then? Why not then put the money to use attracting more members, all looking forward to our monthly meetings and creating a great social atmosphere with the added bonus of bringing in more revenue.

Is there anything else that would attract membership? What about advertising within Dorset and Somerset generally, not just in the Bournemouth - Poole area.

Personally I am a non-smoker but I do think that if we adopt a No Smoking policy it does limit membership. As we hold our meetings in places where other parties smoke, perhaps we should have smoking and non-smoking areas. Let’s encourage membership, not drive it away!

I hope these thoughts may be of some interest to the committee. Lets see if we can implement them!!!

See you all at the February meeting.

Fiona.

Thank you, Fiona for your letter and suggestions, I took this letter to the committee. The no-smoking rule has now been removed and we will try to implement some of the other ideas.

If any members have anything to sell, we thought that you could advertise it in our magazine.

So if you have, send me the info and I will stick a small ad in for you - all free of-course.