About Helen G & Bird of Paradox
About Helen G and Bird of Paradox
Hello, I’m Helen. I’m an ordinary, boring, 50-something, white, middle-class transsexual woman; based in London and trying to hold down a job in IT support as I build a life that feels more like mine and less like one I was camping out in until something better came along.
I began using this blog, Bird of Paradox, primarily as an archive for selected pieces which I contributed to The F-Word feminist webzine from the start of 2008, but gradually, over the course of that year, this site pretty much became my default home page.
The content has expanded a long way beyond the initial archive of my TFW posts and these days I post more here than anywhere. I write about issues that interest and affect me as a transsexual woman: the civil, social and legal rights of transsexual women in particular – “the politics of being trans” – is a subject which motivates me more as I get further into my transition. As the saying goes: “Women may be second-class citizens, but trans women are second-class women”. Cis people generally really have a lot of work to do around this subject; sadly many, if not most, are blind to their own privileges and realistically the situation isn’t going to change any time soon.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to shut up about it, though.
I also post a little over at Questioning Transphobia. I’m really happy to be part of the team at QT, as Lisa’s work has been an huge source of inspiration, and her support and encouragement have been invaluable to me in so many ways. Through her I’ve found not only numerous good friends (*waves at Queen Emily*) but also a sense of belonging, of community, that has been crucial as I find my way through this overwhelmingly cissexual people’s world.
More recently, I became co-curator of the Genderfork feed at Twitter; I’m also the point of contact for the London hub of the National LGBT Cancer Network.
And after a six month break, I rejoined the team at The F-Word…
So here I am, and here’s Bird of Paradox.
Either leave a comment in the box provided at the base of each post on the main blog; alternatively I can be reached by email at:
bird[DOT]paradox[AT]gmail[DOT]com
