Artist - Jamie Vesta

(In the artist’s own words)

My art is about gender role reversal, including the reversal of power. Like everyone, I noticed from an early age that society expects different behaviours from people based upon their sex, and I became fascinated by a scenario in which women, not men, are the dominant sex. Not the S&M world of whips, dungeons and dominas, but a simple swap of everyday gender roles. It is extremely (and surprisingly) difficult to find this depicted, so I decided to try and create this world in art. 

I used to use the moniker ‘Eve’s Rib’, but found that some people called me ‘Eve’, and assumed that I identified as female. So now I am Jamie Vesta and yes, I’m male and content to be. I’m critical of masculinity, but that’s a different thing.

I work within a few different scenarios. My usual is a situation where women, as a result of the so-called ‘genderquake’, have become the breadwinners and seized economic and political power from men. In this near-future world, it is women who wear the trousers and go to work, while the men have to stay at home, wear dresses and do the housework. This scenario offers a rationale for the pictures. It takes certain trends in the real world – girls doing better in education, women moving into the workforce, etc – and extrapolates them into a female-run future. However, if you prefer to take the pictures as illustrations of a world that’s always been female-dominated, or as stand-alone satire, that’s fine too. I also paint scenarios set in an alternative past in which it’s the men and boys who wear the petticoats and bonnets, and I occasionally base pictures in the real world. 

The pictures will serve the fantasy of a particular community, but I hope they will also provoke the viewer to question gender norms. Gender is a social construct. It is a product of history, not of genes or divine will, and can therefore be changed or ignored. Gender conventions should not prevent people from expressing themselves as they please. 

The forward strides taken by women over the last hundred years might convince some people that women are really becoming dominant. But though it’s fun to pretend, we must know the difference between fantasy and reality. According to the top indicators of power, women are still behind men: just look at the proportion of women to men in our parliaments and boardrooms, and they are sometimes paid a third less than men for doing the same job. This is why feminism – which argues that women and men are born equal, and should be treated equally by society – is still very important.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you don’t, well no one’s keeping you here!

Jamie Vesta

Heterosexual Transwomen and Sexual Orientation

From: The excellent website - http://www.annierichards.com/

Fascinating information about the sexual orientation of Transwomen

From consolidated sources it would seem that about half of the transwomen who were heterosexual man (i.e. were exclusively sexually attracted to women) before their SRS, become heterosexual women afterwards (i.e. exclusively attracted to men).   This is a possible corollary from the dominance of a heterosexual orientation in natal women - even if a woman is known to be a transsexual, a heterosexual inclination (i.e. a sexual preference for men) is still subconsciously expected by society and even the woman herself, and any other orientation presents problems.

    

Jennifer Hiloudaki with male friend Transwoman Jacqui and husband Stephen Kathi Stringer and friend Emma Packer (formally Martin) with wife Linda (right) Six foot tall Kelly is easily identifiable as a transsexual woman - but  also very attractive to heterosexual men.

A large study by Dr. Lawrence found that just 9% of the 232 male-to-female participants were attracted to men before their SRS, this rose to a substantial 34% after SRS, but percentages are still very low compared with other (smaller) studies.  However there may be some problems with this study which may make it difficult to generalise from - for example the age or self selecting nature of the participants.

For a homosexual man, successfully appearing to be a woman gives access to an almost unlimited number of male sexual partners - some willing to pay for sex.

Post-SRS heterosexual transwomen appear to fall in to two main categories - those that were homosexual (or bisexual) men before SRS and have simply continued to select males as their sexual partners, and those that changed their sexual preference from women to men after their SRS. 

It's been controversially suggested that some transsexual post-SRS heterosexual women are  homosexual men driven to have a sex change by their sexual preferences.  The theory is that as men, these individuals desire and want to love other men - especially 'straight' heterosexual men - but they can only attract and enter in to relationships with the later by becoming women.  Given legal developments over the last ten years, after surgery they have to be considered as being heterosexual women, not homosexual men.

Athena, an Iranian male to female transsexual

Whilst many in the medical profession seems reluctant to accept this theory, Professor J. Michael Bailey has been a strong advocate.  

It certainly seems to be indirectly supported by the fact that a majority of shemale prostitutes revert to living as a man with a homosexual orientation when their looks fade - it is only a small step from that to assume that a few homosexuals instead decide to have SRS, perhaps after entering a serious relation with a heterosexual man.  The  theory is also perhaps supported by evidence from Iran where homosexuality is strictly banned on religious grounds, but sex change surgery is allowed and is subsidised by the state.  After surgery, the transwoman can have her birth certificate and all other official documents re-issued as 'female', and legally marry a man.  The high prevalence of transsexuality and SRS procedures in Iran - one surgeon suggested eights times greater than western countries - leads to the suspicion that many homosexuals (and lesbians) are claiming to be transsexual.

Regardless of how correct the "some [MTF] transsexuals are homosexuals" theory is, it certainly doesn't account for all the heterosexual transwomen, and other factors must be considered.  One such factor may be hormones.  The radical hormonal changes in the body of a transwoman, to approximately female norms after orchiectomy or SRS, may well give her a push towards a heterosexual orientation.  This can happens sometimes to their own surprise - them blaming (perhaps correctly in part) the hormones they are taking.  For example a 27-year old MTF transsexual in love with her already post-SRS transwoman partner, admitted that "I'd now categorise myself as bisexual because since taking hormones I find men attractive too." 

Non-transsexual observers seem to find that post-transition transsexual women are often more "female than [genetic] females" in their life style and social beliefs, and a few (usually those that transition in middle age) do indeed seem to be almost a living stereotype of the feminine ideal.  Some transwomen undoubtedly strongly feel that as a woman they should only want to have sexual relations with a man, and in this instance any residual sexual attraction to women rather than men becomes both unimportant and something to be suppressed.  Going further, for a few transsexual women (like for some genetic women), marriage and even motherhood via the adoption of children becomes their overriding goal, and perhaps an ultimate symbol and proof of their womanhood.  Indeed, the Stepford Wives may be still be alive and well - albeit transwomen!

While most heterosexual transwomen are heterosexual for reasons of choice and preference, it seems likely that in some instances the adoption of a heterosexual orientation is closely related to the transsexual woman's success in passing and assimilating herself as a woman.  Social conformance - even in the twenty-first century - encourages the successfully passing transwoman to enter in to "normal" sexual relationships with men as far as she is physically capable, while intimate relationships with other women risks "rocking the boat" and unwanted curiosity and gossip.  

Entering into a committed relationship with a man undoubtedly tends to pull a transwoman away from any open acknowledgement of her transsexuality and male past, and encourages an apparently heterosexual orientation in public - what ever her secret inclinations might still be.  Many heterosexual transsexual women hide their male past from partners and even their husband, feeling (unfortunately often correctly) that the relationship may not survive this becoming known to him.  Even if the partner knows about and accepts the woman's transsexuality, their friends and his family might not be so open minded, and external pressures and prejudice could eventually destroy the relationship.  When the marriage of an apparently successful transwoman with a man come under stress - as every marriage inevitably does at some point - a background awareness of the wife's former life as man often seems to be a decisive factor in the divorce. 

A very sensual and sexy transwoman, but the reality for many transsexuals over 40 is depressing - intimate relations with "normal" heterosexual men are rare.

The other side of the coin is that post-SRS heterosexual transwomen who are unable to pass well are often faced with great difficulty in attracting and having a relationship with men.  One night stands with 'normal' men often end in tears.  Brief relationships with tranny chasers may occur, but these are usually seeking pre-SRS girls and thus often disappointed.  Eventual sexual abstinence is common among those in their 30's and 40's; whilst those over age 50 may struggle to get any sexual interest from men at all.  One post-SRS transwoman in her 40's - who desperately wants a relationship with a 'straight' man but finds herself to be out'ed within minutes - despairingly says "no man wants to have sex with a transsexual when they can have a real woman".   [MTF women thinking about transition and surgery should bear this in mind] 

Finally, it should should be mentioned that some transwomen consider themselves to be heterosexual, but in practice have little interest in the actual sex.  For example, Samantha Kane (who had SRS at age 37) concluded after five boyfriends that sex as a woman was rather boring - indeed far less interesting than the preliminaries to a big night out such as a shopping trip.  There's no doubt that quite a few genetic women would agree with her!

Raised as a Girl

From: Experience Project

I was raised in the 70's when many boys had long hair. I was about 5 when my mother dressed me in my 4 yr old sister's clothes. I was very small and my sister was a little bigger than me. My father left my mother when I was 3, so she dressed me as a girl all the time. My sister and I looked like twin girls. We had long blonde hair and, besides being smaller than my younger sister, I looked her age too. 

Around that time, we moved to another city and moved into my mother's sister's house. She had a daughter who was my age and my mother was a nurse. My aunt home schooled us. I was raised as a girl and played with my cousin and my sister. There were only girl's toys to play with and we had so much fun. I remember when I was 8, my hair had grown so long that it was down my back just like my sister's. She now was much bigger than me and looked older too. Even though I was a year older, I looked much younger and had to wear her hand-me-downs from when she was 6. Besides being so tiny and young looking, I looked like her cute little sister. Both her and my cousin were now bigger and stronger than me. They were bossy and teased me and called me a baby. When I turned 9, I looked like 7 and my mother dressed me in my cousin's communion dress and shoes that she wore when she was 7. I got my ears pierced and wore my cousin's matching necklace. My mother brought me to a potrait studio for my communion pictures. I looked just like a pretty 7 yr old girl in the photos. I was so happy that I looked so pretty. By now I forgot what is was like to be a boy and I loved being a girl.