Identity and presentation are often — if not usually — very different.
How do you see yourself? How do you present to the rest of the world, and how are you seen by others? How cohesive are these two views?
Consider that everybody who maintains a public presence must know with acute accuracy how they are seen and perceived by audiences and individuals on a daily basis. Their careers depend on it. Celebrities, public speakers, salespeople, politicians and other public figures hire people to help them look their best, communicate effectively and project a positive and charismatic image to the world. The rest of us are out here on our own. No entourage of makeup artists, speech coaches, personal trainers, etc.
On the other hand, how many of us are secure enough in our own identities that we would welcome such a brutally honest look at ourselves as we REALLY appear to the world in order to improve our image? How many of us can let go of our comfortably ingrained personal sense of how we want to look, and hope we do look, and find out where all of our warts, wattles, scales, nose-pickings, nervous tickings, Quasimodo-like posture, fat rolls and dribblings are happening while we blissfully ignore them?
It’s all too easy to say that you don’t care about all that, you’re not so vain and self-immersed that it matters to you what other people think. However, if you want to progress on a pathway to success in any field or in any endeavor, you have no choice but to care — and care a lot. Especially as a transgender or intersex person. Continue Reading »A Hard Look at Your Public Image
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