Trans or in my head? How do you know?

You might have a look at this:
Am I Transgender or Transsexual - Teens Wonder Am I Transgender or Transsexual
and this:
http://emptyclosets.com/forum/anony.../147192-transitioning-where-do-i-start.html#4

The transgender spectrum goes i.e. from people living with almost androgynous appearance, to styling more like the preferred gender, to taking hormones, etc.
Of course the list is not all possible options.
It's up to you to collect further information...
You might for example talk to a gender therapist or someone from an lgbt center, if that's what you want.

I would do things I'm comfortable with, don't feel pressured to do something... its your decision...
There is no only one right way to do this.
Its your choice what you want to do...

 

Though I'm not completely certain yet, I'm becoming more and more certain. I've always felt a sort of disconnect with certain parts of my body, and though I never really had a problem with boys clothes (other than jeans. I absolutely can't stand wearing jeans, never could) I have always appreciated girls clothes, and at least on some level thought I would look cuter in them.(no way I could have said that to my parents when I was little). Basically, growing up, I could basically always be found in khakis and a polo. (even my shorts were khakis. This was a time before cargo pants were popular) I think part of this is may be because they were looser on my body for the most part, they felt lesssconstricting. (I never really wwore t-shirts either, it kinda felt like they were choking me) I've felt dysphoria about having been cut as an infant, sometimes wondering why they did it at all, other times wondering why if they were going to cut me down there, why not get the whole thing. Although I had short hair for about the first 26 years of my life, I never really liked it, and I still don't like that there's the expectation that I should have short hair now. Though I've never told anyone this, there was one part of my body I really liked when I had packed on the pounds after I went off a drug that had a side effect of appetite suppression - I had boobs.Not really big ones, but for someone expected to be male,definitely noticeable. Unfortunately, now, when I loose weight, that's the first thing to go.

 

I'll make it simple.

Do you feel female?

By that do you have feminine tendencies, do you feel uncomfortable in male specified roles? Do you just... feel like your trapped in the wrong body?

I keep it nebulous on purpose because it's a "you just kinda know" at some point.

If you want something concrete...

I was always jealous of girls, being cute and wearing pretty things (the female aesthetic is just amazing). I was always very sensitive and would cry easily which of course isn't ok for a boy to do. I hated sports and other traditionally macho masculine things (I eventually acquired a taste for some, but that's neither here nor there).

At first it was just physically outward with clothes. But then I started to realize that despite throwing them away and "purging" it kept coming back. It became I wanted to be perceived as female. I wanted to be one. I uttered the statement I wish I was born female to myself once. Hrmmm...

I was ALWAYS the girl in video games... because subconsciously I identified with her more.

You just know after a journey of self discovery. It can take a few years in youth or take a lifetime.

 

^ Kasey almost sounds like she's writing about me. I *always* wanted to be the girl in the story, the girl with pretty clothes. the girl being cute. The things that I call "girly" are good things to me, and I think 'girl' is the best word in the English language. Just last week, after reading the stories of my amazing friends here, I realized the truth that I *am* that girl, inside, and that I *need* to be that girl.

After I trusted myself about what I really want, all the hatred I had for myself was gone. At least in this safe place, and inside my home since coming out to Mom, I am safe to be a girl.

 

To me, it doesn't sound as if you're trans, just judging on this post. You shouldn't really be depressed about it, as usually one is dysphoric about when they HAVEN'T transitioned. You should ask yourself if transitioning would make you happier.

As for me, I've hardly ever though about it being parts of my body I hate, rather, I've seen it as feeling happy about being a woman. Merely seeing and imagining myself as being female made me realize that I was trans, and no lack of dysphoria was going to change that.

 

Hmm, well don't let my words just dissuade you, but I would definitely seek a gender therapist if possible; they would be able to help you more than I, or most people here, could.

While you sound a bit feminine, I would say that that doesn't automatically mean you're another gender. Liking cooking isn't exactly feminine, neither is disliking cars, and even making more friends of a specific gender isn't really gender based. On the subject of clothes, it might be worth it to consider cross-dressing; also, you may consider not going on estrogen and such if you consider your penis, as you lose your sex drive with it while on estrogen.

 

You wouldn't be transsexual (like me) because your body doesn't give you any dysphoria.
I think you are simply not a stereotype- after all, everyone has masculine and feminine traits.
You need body dysphoria to be a transsexual, but there are other categories that don't require dysphoria.
Unfortunately, I don't really know what those "other categories" are.