Cisgender folks: how "strong" is your gender identity?

I am almost exactly the same- if I woke up tomorrow as a female I'd be perfectly fine (after the initial WTF happened obviously).

 

Right now, I'm spending some time on working out what, exactly my feelings around gender identity are. The difficulty for me is that I slightly disidentify with being male. Which is to say, I wish I hadn't been born male, but whatever... I'm here. I can live with the body I have, and I feel like I still take good care of myself.

For the purposes of this, I'll go ahead and say I'm cisgender answering this (which I'm not 100% sure is the case), and the strength of my identity is very weak.

 

It really depends. Today, for example, I'm feeling pretty strongly female. Other days I feel neither male nor female. Being referred to as female usually makes me feel uncomfortable, but I prefer that over being seen as male. I think if tomorrow I woke up with a penis and masculine figure I wouldn't be happy, though I don't think I would mind the loss of my breasts.

 

Well I'm trans* but I identify very strongly with my gender. However, I honestly think had I been born as a woman I wouldn't identify with it as strongly because it would be normal for me to identify with my gender. I guess being trans* makes you appreciate your gender more because you don't just have it. I never really thought about it before thanks for posting this!

 

I felt exactly like this for four or five years before realizing that the extreme depression was probably not unrelated to the wishing I hadn't been born male. :dry: I think it's easier for us to just say 'okay, these are feelings I have but they're not the way things are' until we can't...

How strong yours are and how you deal with them might be different though.

 

Like the OP I guess, I'm not uber-masculine. Not gonna lie though, kinda like it now, I don't think I could be a woman. Sitting down to use the toilet? No thanks! haha

 

I'm moderately masculine as well, but for me I'm very attached to being male. Most likely due to always being male, it is what I know. I think if I were born female, it would be the same. However, I enjoy being/feeling male and everything that comes with it. Even if I'm not the exact macho, sports loving, beer chugging man, there is much more to being male than just those qualities.

 

I am completely comfortable with my sex, but I do not care for my gender. I love being male; I disagree with else that is expected, generalized, and stigmatized of men(And women for that matter) because of their gender.

I wouldn't be devastated in I were a women, but in a perfect, non-judgemental world without gender roles, norms, or expectations, I know I would still rather be male and homosexual.

 

Interesting. I've never thought about this before.

I'm male and happy about that, but I'm not super masculine or something. Not feminine either, I think I'm somewhere halfway on the spectrum. On the other hand, if I woke up as a woman tomorrow I would not like it. I definitely prefer being a guy.

But even though I like being a guy, I don't like the expectation that I should conform to this gender. I don't care if something I do isn't considered "typically male", and I can't stand people who do care as it's none of their business.

 

Not very strong. I mean, I'm a girl, and I'm fine with that and don't want to change, but I think I only feel like a girl because I was raised as one. If I'd been raised as a boy, with the same personality, I suspect I'd feel the same way about being male as I feel about being female. It just seems kind of irrelevant.

 

Right now, I don't think it's that strong. In the sense that I'm perfectly comfortable being male, yet like the OP I don't feel like an especially 'feminine' or 'masculine' one or any sort of non-binary gender. Admittedly, I've wondered what it would be like if I was a woman, but more out of curiosity than anything else. Not sure how I'd take it if I suddenly woke up as a woman tomorrow, but it'd definitely be quite a shock.

All the same, I think there is a feminine aspect to my personality and being, at least on an internal level, that I've not really tapped into, if only because I appreciate feminine qualities and beauty in general, regardless of orientation. I've been interested in reflecting on this more, especially since I've been reading and trying to learn about Jungian psychology recently. Specifically in regard to concept of the 'anima' [or the female archetype that is a part of a man's psyche, if I understand that correctly.]

 

I'm not attached to the female gender identity. Female is how I turned out, and I don't hate it or anything, but I think I'd feel the same way if I was male.

 

I was very happy being biologically female up until a few months ago when I realised I acted a lot more boy-ish. I asked my friends about it and they said I do act, speak, dress and look (probably because of my hair) more of a boy which really got me thinking. I just identified as a genderbender, a female who dresses, acts etc like a boy. Now I really don't know (which is sort of getting to me, but I got other important things going on!) :lol:

If I woke up as a male tomorrow, I'd probably be fine with it. But if I woke up as a male, say a year back, I would've had a much more negative reaction to it.

 

Meh. If I had to give up my man parts, I wouldn't have any hesitation. I do enjoy them, but I would be fine if I had to be a girl.

 

I am a guy who would not like being a girl.
I like guy hood, even if I am more feminine than my little pony.

 

Interesting question. I adored being a woman in a heterosexual relationship. I really did enjoy it.

Being a woman in a lesbian relationship is much different and I don't really get the benefit of being a woman. My gf acts as though she is still married to a man and asks for my help with things generally assigned to a guy like help carrying her bags, help on other tasks that you think of as being assigned to a guy.

I never ask for any "guy" help from her because she's isn't a guy and therefore isn't physically any stronger than I am.

Basically I'd just like to be straight so if I'm going to be with a woman, life would be easier if I were a male. I actually think life in all aspects would have been easier if I were born male.

That being said, I do identify with being a woman and independent of a relationship, I enjoy being female.

 

Trans* myself (and quite honestly, only recently self realized). I suppose my gender is something I care pretty deeply about, being that I've been obsessing about it for some time...

Now given a year ago, I was content with being female. For the most part. A vague discontentment was always present and had I, a year ago, been presented with the chance to become a cisgendered man, I would've taken it without hesitation.

But this is a fascinating thread, by the way. Definitely loving to see how y'all think.

 

I have at times wanted to be female but actually think I would prefer if we could steal the male gender stereotype and make it the way we want it. Hey, we can do that, can't we? Lets define male and female the way we want.