Daniella's Ramblings

A film maker and fellow blogger, Linda Coussement, has reached out to me and I am therefore pleased to present to you this powerful video about Miss Tobi, a transgender artist living in Berlin, Germany.

I was struck by the powerful imagery, pared down language and script in the film. I thought it was a very good piece of film making that deserved to be shared. I also thought my readers would like to see something of Miss Tobi’s life and that she may inspire you a little. I thought her desire to be ‘on the street’ and ‘out of the closet’ were wonderful affirmations of the transgender lifestyle. Where she leads may we all follow.

It was interesting to see that even in liberal, cosmopolitan and tolerant society such as that in Germany, she has been the victim of abuse. This is a sad reality. I truly believe that we will only overcome this abuse by being out and about and showing we are not ashamed of who we are and that have the same rights as anyone else and that we are prepared to assert these rights. The more visible we are as a community the safer the world will become for us all. We need to assert our power on a collective and individual basis. The only way to do that is to show our power and that we are not afraid.

I am particularly struck by Miss Tobi’s identity. She seems to truly Identify as trans. Neither male, nor female. This is very much how I feel. I am not one or the other, I am me. I am who I am, not what others want me to be. This really resonates with me, but I appreciate we are all different in this regard.

Linda is working on the How it is to be you project. It started out as a ‘guide to humanity, but she quickly realised that was a bit ambitious. She is now slowly travelling the world, asking all sorts of people: “How is it to be you?” She says she is ‘endlessly curious… and delusional enough to think it might actually improve the world when people understand themselves and each other a little bit better’.

I hope you enjoyed this video.