Did your parents name you Tracy?

Ah, no, I picked the name Tracy when I started this blog. I had a name for my feminine self a long time ago, it was Michelle but I never felt Michelle was me. I think for a name to ring true you have to be called by that name.

Since I started this blog and started to participate on the crossdesser message boards, I've been called Tracy a lot. I finally feel I'm Tracy and it's a good feeling.

So then mystery person, how did you decide on Tracy Schapes?

The last name of Schapes is a variation on a family name. My 4th great-grandfather who was German had a last name similar to Schapes. He was born before 1810 in Lower-Saxony a province in Germany. He lost his last name to his wife's last name because the family farm was in her name. That was the tradition. It was more important to keep the farm's name than the male surname. So to honor him, I used his surname that was replaced by a woman's, and replaced my male name with his, so that I could create a female name. Does that make sense?

The name Tracy I picked because it was an androgynous name from the 1960's. That's truthfully how I feel, neither exclusively male nor female. Since I was born in the 1950's I figured I have already taken ten years off my age with that name!

The combination of the two names sounds like "Tracing Shapes" which to my way of thinking is what I'm trying to do. Trace the shape of a woman on my male frame.