This is a memoir about my lifetime search for clarity about my gender identity. My primary goal for the project was to catalog the steps I took in the sometimes-tortured and confusing path I followed over the course of my life, from childhood to late adulthood, striving to understand who and what I am in terms of my identity and how, once it was clarified in my mind, coming to terms with it and, at the ripe old age of seventy, taking the steps necessary to affirm it by way of the male-to-female transition. A secondary, incidental goal was to develop a roadmap for individuals who are beset with a similar predicament and, most important, demonstrate that it’s never too late to have a fulfilled life.
","abstract_html":"<p>This is a memoir about my lifetime search for clarity about my gender identity. My primary goal for the project was to catalog the steps I took in the sometimes-tortured and confusing path I followed over the course of my life, from childhood to late adulthood, striving to understand who and what I am in terms of my identity and how, once it was clarified in my mind, coming to terms with it <em>and</em>, at the ripe old age of seventy, taking the steps necessary to affirm it by way of the male-to-female transition. A secondary, incidental goal was to develop a roadmap for individuals who are beset with a similar predicament and, most important, demonstrate that it’s never too late to have a fulfilled life.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Miele, Fran"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)","degree_level":"Capstone","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Garrard Conley","Erin Bahl"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-12-05T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-12-05T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:58Z","subjects":["autogynephilia","gender dysphoria","gender identity","male-to-female transition","self bondage","sexual masochism disorder","Creative Writing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mapw_etd/122","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Garrard Conley","Erin Bahl"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Miele, Fran"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-12-05T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Capstone"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["autogynephilia","gender dysphoria","gender identity","male-to-female transition","self bondage","sexual masochism disorder","Creative Writing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mapw_etd/122"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This is a memoir about my lifetime search for clarity about my gender identity. My primary goal for the project was to catalog the steps I took in the sometimes-tortured and confusing path I followed over the course of my life, from childhood to late adulthood, striving to understand who and what I am in terms of my identity and how, once it was clarified in my mind, coming to terms with it and, at the ripe old age of seventy, taking the steps necessary to affirm it by way of the male-to-female transition. A secondary, incidental goal was to develop a roadmap for individuals who are beset with a similar predicament and, most important, demonstrate that it’s never too late to have a fulfilled life.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Tiptoeing through the Tulips at Seventy: A Memoir"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Garrard Conley","Erin Bahl"],"dc:creator":["Miele, Fran"],"dc:date.available":["2022-12-05T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This is a memoir about my lifetime search for clarity about my gender identity. My primary goal for the project was to catalog the steps I took in the sometimes-tortured and confusing path I followed over the course of my life, from childhood to late adulthood, striving to understand who and what I am in terms of my identity and how, once it was clarified in my mind, coming to terms with it and, at the ripe old age of seventy, taking the steps necessary to affirm it by way of the male-to-female transition. A secondary, incidental goal was to develop a roadmap for individuals who are beset with a similar predicament and, most important, demonstrate that it’s never too late to have a fulfilled life.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mapw_etd/122"],"dc:subject":["autogynephilia","gender dysphoria","gender identity","male-to-female transition","self bondage","sexual masochism disorder","Creative Writing"],"dc:title":["Tiptoeing through the Tulips at Seventy: A Memoir"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Capstone"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:58Z"}