Rhaina
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Name...
Rhaina Assumpta McGinn
Reason for the Name Choice...
I wrote an article for Lipstick and Lace; “What’s in a Name” in 1999 explaining my en femme name. Briefly, Rhaina is a derivation from a lore ancestor “Rien Mong Raud (Rien of the red hair),” a warrior princess (wife of Conor Mag Finn). Rien would be an excellent first name but to pronounce it correctly (Ray-en) would require some explanation. I thought of Rayen but the name would probably end up as Rain. I didn’t want to be “Rain” (very sixties, West Coast). Softening Rayen to Rayna (princess), then Raina (strong), I finally settled on Rhaina, inserting an ‘h’ for individuality. Rien means “first” (probably the first daughter with red hair). Rhaina is a variation of Raina, Tutonic for strong and French for queen. Assumpta is the name of my greatgreat-great grandmother Assumpta Mary Woods, who in June 1850 walked over 80 km to the port of Derry, County Londonderry, paid 4 pounds for passage on the cargo ship Superior and a month later, sailed A new regular feature highlighting our members to help us all learn more about each other. To show our similarities and differences! You could be next! for Quebec. These sailing ships used Irish emigrants as ballast on the trip to Canada and returned with cargoes of timber or fish. After the events of “Black 47” (1847), they were referred to as “coffin ships.” Over a quarter of the passengers (23) died during the voyage and Assumpta spent a month on Grosse Isle, the quarantine island in the St. Lawrence estuary. She moved from Montreal to Toronto in 1854 where she met and married my great, great, great grandfather, Francis Arthur McGinn (also an emigrant from Monaghan County, Ireland).
Birthday...
July 31, 19 my secret.Joined Masquerade...
1998 I actually attended my first meeting in October 1997.
Interests...
You will be surprised to learn that I am an armature arachnologist and that I have actually developed a key to the Family
of Spiders in Manitoba. I have hundreds of spider photographs and am acknowledged as an authority in Manitoba.Favourite Song...
Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley – 1961). This is “our song” my teen sweetheart and wife of 39 years. We
come from a time of “couple’s songs”Favourite Colour...
Fashionable, pinks, reds, greens, blues; chartreuse, turquoise, wheat etc. I am not partial to mauve.
Favourite Quote...
“Dance like no one is watching”
Favourite Movie...
A toss-up: To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), and Dirty Dancing (1987), with Patrick Swayze and
Jennifer Grey.Personal Goals pertaining to crossdressing...
Rhaina is a “girl” who wants to have fun. She is comfortable with her gender and her femininity. She
has no aspirations of GRS. She is not gay, a transvestite or a drag queen and prefers to refer to herself as “gender gifted.”Favourite Accessory...
My engagement and wedding rings (hardly an accessory). Rhaina has a passion for accessories; hats (all kinds), jewellery, scarves,
gloves and handbags.Favourite Dressing Style...
Sophisticated professional woman. But Rhaina loves to dress-up in costumes, which she calls her “Looks” and can be viewed on her
website.First Feminine Attire Worn...
Can’t remember it was so long ago.First Feminine Purchase...
Ditto, but it probably was a wig. Rhaina owns over 60 wigs. How do you spell “fetish”?Favourite Dressing Moment...
Esprit 2003. This was an eight-day event for the gender gifted during which I was en femme virtually 24
hours a day. The program included an array of workshops (wigs, breastforms, make-up, voice, foundation wear, movement and many
others), and social events (shopping, excursions, dances, theatre, dinners and others) that take place over the week. At graduation Rhaina
was awarded the Harriet Stites Memorial Award for the most inspirational first-time attendee. Today, there are only 8 members in this
sorority and I was the second recipient of the prestigious award.Favourite Masquerade Moment...
My first meeting. I like to think it as Rhaina’s coming out. It wasn’t, as Rhaina has been dressing in public
since 1985. But it was a “formal” acknowledgement of being a crossdresser.Something Most Don't Know About Me ...
I am a professor of Glacial Geomorphology (landforms), Hydrology (water) and Meteorology (weather) and have
over 70 publications and reports and 100 paper presentations at academic conferences in these three disciplines.More About me...
I love to shop (don’t we all). I always shop in Winnipeg and I am always dressed (Why shop for Rhaina any other way)? I always try everything on and
ask the salespeople for help with matching tops with bottoms and colours (I am colour lazy). Rhaina likes to do things beside shopping; dinner, movies, theatre, the zoo, art
gallery, museums, golfing, river-skating, Goldeye baseball, Moose hockey games, Assiniboine Downs horse racing, Folklorama etcetera. If you are interested in do something
different call Rhaina!