I've met another man who calls himself a "lesbian in a man's body,"

Did you ask him "so when's the operation?"

No, you know, I should've...great answer, DCJ.

lesbian in a man's body

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. What does that mean?

t tips his hat

My pleasure, I'm sure.

What does that mean?

That he ate a lesbian?

t sheepish ...well, I must admit that I've occasionally called myself a gay man in a woman's body, on the basis of being camp as tits, loving Judy, Marilyn, Gloria Gaynor et al and having more of a Drag Queen sensibility than a girly sensibility. Um. Oh, and loving gay porn. Um. But I don't want to have any operations. And besides, I fancy girls at least as much as boys. So - not so much with the accuracy. But quite good shorthand for "I'm not just a faghag, dahling, I'm a queen!"

OTOH, the "lesbian in a man's body" assertion sounds a bit like men calling themselves feminists. Which isn't something I entirely discredit, but is the kind of claim that tends to make me raise my eyebrows a little.

I don't really know...that's why it's weird so many men find it funny...this particular time I thought an lj-er was a woman and he's not.

Hang on - wasn't Riley a lesbian?

the "lesbian in a man's body" assertion sounds a bit like men calling themselves feminists

I think it's reasonable (and hopefully common) for men to be feminists. However, I sincerely doubt that many of these men-lesbians actually feel they're a woman in a man's body, and that's where the whole thing fails for me.

I agree with Daniel -- are you having counselling? Taking hormones? Scheduling the operations? No? Then shut the hell up and stop trying to be cute.

OTOH, the "lesbian in a man's body" assertion sounds a bit like men calling themselves feminists. Which isn't something I entirely discredit, but is the kind of claim that tends to make me raise my eyebrows a little.

This. Whenever I've heard it, it's been in the context of "I really love women! And I totally understand where you're coming from! Why, I practically am one! Only, nsm with the liking dick, because eww..." -- kind of a SNAG for the genderfuck-is-cool generation vibe. If I ever heard it in a fun camp-as-tits way, it might raise my hackles less.

OTOH, the "lesbian in a man's body" assertion sounds a bit like men calling themselves feminists. Which isn't something I entirely discredit, but is the kind of claim that tends to make me raise my eyebrows a little.

I suspect some guys say it as a bullshit line, like, "Look how funny and witty I am! Don't you want to shag me now?"

But there are other guys -- for instance, Eddie Izzard -- who have some degree of gender dysphoria, and feel that, to some extent, they're the wrong gender. They're still attracted to women, but they also have a very distinct female-gender component to their identity. Depending on the degree of gender dysphoria, they cross-dress -- like Eddie Izzard -- all the way to having gender reassignment surgery.

I don't really understand it, in an oh-I've-felt-that-way-too sense, but I have a *very* close friend who cross-dresses, and it's not a lark for him -- it's a major part of his identity. And he's made the "lesbian in a man's body" line, too.