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I need to stop obsessing over this.

Discussion in 'Gender Identity and Expression' started by soycoffee, Apr 5, 2017.

  1. soycoffee

    Regular Member

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    I'm AFAB, almost 17 years old, and I don't exactly know why, but I can't stop freaking out over whether or not I'm FtM transgender. I don't think I am. I don't WANT to be. But I can't stop thinking, "what if I am and I just don't know it/can't accept it?". Once, over the time span of half an hour, I went from "maybe I am a guy and I should just accept it" to "no, that's not right, non-binary is more accurate" to "what am I even saying, I'm probably just cis". I have tried and tried and tried to find the answer, find who I am, and it's just not there. At this point I feel like I'm almost trying to CONVINCE myself, against what I think is true, that I'm FtM. All I know are these things:

    Although I don't really like my boobs now, I did when I was younger and looked forward to having boobs my whole childhood. I was excited to wear my first bra because it made my chest look bigger. I even tried making my breasts larger by massaging them with aloe vera gel (something I had heard could help).

    I don't think that he/him pronouns feel particularly 'right'. I generally feel uncomfortable/annoyed when people think I'm a guy. Sometimes it's just kind of neutral.

    Generally she/her feels more right, but it still feels just a tad uncomfortable.

    They/them feels more 'safe' but I have mixed feelings about it.

    I would like to have a more androgynous-looking body.

    I feel a little uncomfortable being referred to as a woman/girl, but being referred to as a man/boy, I think, just doesn't feel right.

    I have internalized misogyny and sexuality issues that I'm working through. I'm well aware that these would be playing a part in my confusion.

    I am envious of guys and the lives they get to live (privilege, seemingly less biological burdens, physically stronger, to me it just seems like all the things I want come with being a guy) All my role models throughout life have been men. Women have continuously given me trouble throughout my life.

    Maternity repulses me so I feel disgusted by my own body.

    I used to enjoy wearing makeup and wearing pretty dresses, and I miss that. It just feels embarrassing/incongruent with who I am now.

    Despite getting along better with guys in regard to sense of humor, interests etc, I have always connected more with women whether that be in real life, or in fiction (tv shows, games).

    I'm scared of being perceived as feminine.

    I'm pretty unsure about any kind of transitioning.

    If I could choose, maybe I would've been born male. I feel like that way, I would have avoided so many troubles in life.

    For some reason, my mind views this as such a black and white issue, like I either have to be 100% FtM transgender or 100% cisgender. And so the fact that I'm questioning my gender makes my mind jump to, "what if you're FtM", even though I don't think that's the case and I don't think I want that to be the case either. I don't know what I want. I just want to be happy with myself. It's worth mentioning that I went to a gender therapist for an assessment recently and she didn't think I was FtM transgender. She just said that I'm gender questioning but that she couldn't diagnose me with gender dysphoria. That was a relief to me.

    I just wish I could stop stressing over whether or not I'm FtM. I know you can't tell me my gender identity, but I'd really appreciate some feedback over whether you think I'm FtM or not, or what you think I might be instead.
     
    #1 soycoffee, Apr 5, 2017
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 5, 2017
  2. Cadi04

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    Sounds like you just need to keep talking to someone in depth about your feelings and learn about yourself more. I'm still learning after thinking about these things since I was in grade 4 because of my past sexual experiences and how I act in public. But sometimes it just comes down to, what do you want others to think of you as and if you would really be convertible as such. In the end. It's up to you to decide to change and the life style burdens that come with changing.

    Being Male is not easy and being Female is not either. They both have their draw backs so it comes down to what your happy with. Sometimes I think why not be both and dress unisexually and see how that goes first and slowly change to who I fit in more with. That is where I am at right now. It's an idea that may help.
     
  3. TheOneCactus

    Regular Member

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    Location:
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    Gender:
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    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    A few people
    You're not alone in this situation. I often wish I was born female and that their lives seem so much easier and accepting than mine. the more you think, and the more conclusions you get will ease your current state until you get to your true answer
     
  4. EverDeer

    Full Member

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    Location:
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    Other
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    Some people
    Calm down a little bit. No matter how you feel now, your feelings can change with time and also if you're looking for reasons to invalidate yourself without acknowledging what does bother you, that can only add to the confusion. I had a fine early-puberty when I still identified as a cis-female, it did change later when I was around 18, but I was okay with my chest when I was younger and periods and all that too- it's never too late or too early to learn about yourself or change how you feel. It might be helpful to take a few steps back and only start focusing on what you don't like / do want to change about yourself one step at a time. You don't need to be thinking so hard about labels if it's making you stray away from what you really want / need.

    For example, you said you're not sure how you currently feel about pronouns and labels, but you do want to look more androgynous. You don't have to be really girly and feminine to be cisgender, but you also don't have to be masculine to be male either. It seems your binary thinking towards gender and gender roles themselves could be clouding you a bit. I can see how not liking how you look / wanting to change as well could also just make you feel like everything is wrong, and in turn a bit powerless and looking for something to place that feeling upon. For now, I'd start with taking a breath and trying to figure out what changes you need to make to make you feel happier and more like yourself first, regardless of what that might mean later.

    Here's how I felt and what I did when I was first starting out: I wanted to dress more androgynously because I loathed other women and femininity (mostly only because I felt I was pushed into it and also like I didn't understand social standards), so I decided I wasn't going to label myself as anything, and just try to make myself feel better and like how I looked more at first. At first I felt I couldn't be androgynous because that meant I had to be a lesbian or like women, and at the time I was only interested in pursuing men. But as I slowly got out of high school, away from peering eyes and persuading roles and toxic friends, and started gaining self confidence with how I looked, I realized why I was trying to look androgynous or what I wanted to achieve, which was separation from the female category-- I didn't hate other women at all, only that I was forced to associate with them, and after I found out that I could be okay with my gender, I actually found that I was indeed attracted to multiple genders other than men, including women, but had just been hating on them because of my own hatred towards myself. When I first came out, I chose the label "demigirl" which means partially a girl. Now, 2 years later, I slowly let myself grow away from womanhood, become more masculine and androgynous and not be scared of gender roles or judgement from others anymore, and I slowly grew to discover I actually feel more partially like a boy, but mostly just neither male nor female. Had you asked me if I wanted to be a boy or liked being called a boy or by male pronouns 3 years ago I would've probably laughed and said heck no. But because I took things slowly and didn't try and force myself into any categories, I slowly grew into a new part of myself that I never even knew or would've expected was in me!

    So just take a breather, this may be the case for you, or maybe your worries will dissipate once you're able to dress more how you want and have more control and confidence in yourself and you'll just be a happy cis girl who doesn't feel threatened by gender roles. Or maybe you'll grow into your identity slowly over time as FtM or some other identity. But you can't climb a whole ladder in one bound, you have to take it step at a time.