Interests being altered on T

[Simon]

Of course T changes us physically and some even say it changes us emotionally. I've never been a very emotional person but I have noticed I am a lot calmer on T. Nothing really phases me, but that's not what I'm talking about.

Besides the aforementioned changes, has anyone else noticed their interests have become more masculine? I've noticed lately I'm a lot more interested in sports than I ever was before T. I've gotten into watching UFC, Boxing, WWE, Football, and Baseball. Before T I would have moaned about most of it (I did grow up watching Professional Wrestling so it's never bothered me). I'm also into a lot more straight up action films lately it seems.

It's just something that I've noticed and has been pointed out to me lately. Anyone else experienced the same or similar?

Just makes me wonder how much of who we are is really effected by hormones.

[Arch]

I've always liked GOOD action films, so that hasn't changed. But I think I actually enjoy them a little more, and I do miss the experience of watching them with my ex.

I've never been much into spectator sports, but I used to tune in to football for a few minutes now and then, mostly so I could be culturally literate on the job (this was in the nineties). After that, I enjoyed watching part of a quarter as long as the game wasn't a runaway or too much of a ground game. But I didn't do it often.

Now, when I do watch part of a football game, I get way more into it. But I still don't watch more than ten or fifteen minutes, so I guess I don't get THAT into it.

[DriftingCrow]

Besides the aforementioned changes, has anyone else noticed their interests have become more masculine?

Simon, do you have a sudden urge to go catfish noodling?? It seems really manly. (I am totally looking for someone to go with me one day) 

[Simon]

Simon, do you have a sudden urge to go catfish noodling?? It seems really manly. (I am totally looking for someone to go with me one day) 

I've fished since I could walk but never been noodling. I'll do anything once but never stuck my hand in a hole without knowing what was in there, lol. If it's a snapping turtle somebody is in for a world of hurt. 

[Natkat]

I don't really think I got to shift interest on T, but the way I view things have changed abit. ex I didn't care much about my look preT and now I do care pretty much about my look and trying to be healthy and all those kind of things. its the same topic but totally diffrent viewed. I dont have to worry about boobs so buying clothing got more fun, also I got more restless so I feel I need to run alot, and I also want to gain mucles for the summer and its actually shown pretty fast now on T compared to pre-T
.

[Beth Andrea]

From an MtF perspective, my interests have changed...used to like a good action flick, can't stand 'em now. Too violent. Sports, could gag down about 10 mins, now would rather make snacks for those who are watching (plus I like watching them be so happy!)

I walked out of The Hobbit due to violence...whether it was my PTSD or E, I don't know...but I wouldn't have when I had T in me, PTSD be damned...

[Jared]

I'm also more interested in sports and I enjoy sporting which is weird for me cause I hated all of them. I don't think it's fully because of T, rather that I have an aim with sports, I want to build muscle.

[Erik Ezrin]

Beth, now I'm wondering... do feminine women also think that? Like 'the hobbit being too violent' and such?
I never experienced anything as such, but then again... I've actually never been feminine at all.

[ford]

This is interesting. My cis-male husband hates sports and violent films. Maybe he should get his T levels checked 

I can definitely understand increased interest in working out though. I've always been an active person (runner) but lately I feel myself drawn to activities that require upper body strength, like boxing. Don't think it's the T though.

[Jess42]

From an MtF perspective, my interests have changed...used to like a good action flick, can't stand 'em now. Too violent. Sports, could gag down about 10 mins, now would rather make snacks for those who are watching (plus I like watching them be so happy!)

I walked out of The Hobbit due to violence...whether it was my PTSD or E, I don't know...but I wouldn't have when I had T in me, PTSD be damned...

Wow, everything that ya'll have mentioned I've never had any interest in. Maybe I am a woman with a little extra. I've always hated sports. Never liked putting bait on the hook while fishing. Don't care much for cars or fixing them, other than a 69 Firebird for which I would hire a mechanic. Alwas liked having long hair and playing with it. Don't like touching frogs or other crawly things. The kick is that I am not going through HRT. Of course I have been called a complicated enigma so many times I'm starting to believe it. Who knows, maybe I've done wished myself female so long it has actually worked (wishful thinking).

[John Smith]

I haven't experienced a change in interests.

[Simon]

This is interesting. My cis-male husband hates sports and violent films. Maybe he should get his T levels checked 

I don't think it's completely a cause of the hormones but I think it has something to do with it. I mean besides socialization and genitals, what is the greatest difference between males/females? hormones.

I'm sure some of my interests have not changed as much as they've surfaced. Before I felt more like a freak. That happens when you're FAAB but are shaving your face before most cis males in middle school (I started shaving out of necessity around 14). I'm sure I suppressed certain interests for a long time and now that I'm right at five months on T I feel a lot more comfortable and content in my own skin, I feel free to explore those interests.

[Jack_M]

I'm pre-T and I already enjoy tons of sports, working out, pounding pads at Taekwon-do, etc.  I'm not a massive car person but then I don't own a car.  I do, however, own a bicycle and I work on that almost every week to tune it up and have it running perfect so maybe that's like my car obsession lol.

I did notice that when I present as male I take more time on how I look.  I was the type of person who could literally set an alarm clock for 10 mins before I had to go out.  Now that I present as male, it's at least 30 mins, preferably more!  I shower every morning now (used to just be night before or every 2nd day), I use skin care product that I never really bothered with before, I do my hair which can sometimes take up to 10 mins to get the spiky or faux hawk look just right, and I eat a proper breakfast now because my work out routine being effective relies on having a good diet.  When I was female, I'd get up, put on clothes, throw a cap on and would often skip breakfast.  10 mins work at best!

I pretty much pass now, although I have my insecurities in certain features that I hope T will help with (e.g. I still carry a fair bit on my hips right now and I want more male distributed fat).  I recently did a bike race thing and after much deliberation shaved my legs.  All my cis guy mates were doing it and I eventually agreed.  The reasoning wasn't for any rubbish aerodynamics reasons, but for saving a world of hurt if we did happen to fall off our bikes and get road rash (2 of my mates did).  If you've ever had substantial road rash where you have a lot of hair, it is excruciatingly painful compared to anywhere hairless.  But it's been insanely hot lately and I decided I had to wear shorts today because of all the running around I had to do and I figured today would be the day I'd be misgendered because I have smoothish legs.  However I wasn't misgendered once, and I encountered a lot of people today and got nothing but "sir".  I think the more we start to be accepted or pass as male the more we start to change.   Maybe testosterone will have an affect, I obviously don't know, but I'm thinking there's more of a placebo affect than anything else where you find yourself more open to manly things or things like taking pride in your appearance as a man where perhaps you never bothered before (my example).  The more I'm accepted as male the more I've allowed myself to be open to the more manly things I've always liked but perhaps not been so open in that interest.  The interest was always there but like the UFC for example, girls often turn their nose up at it, but I was curious at first and then damn, I love it!  I can't get enough of it!  And now that I pass as male, I wear MMA/UFC/Tapout tees and/or shorts.  I have a Bad Boy cap too which is AWESOME!!!  I even do a GSP workout and I get excited because it's GSP!  He's a god amongst UFC fans!  Lol.

I'm only putting my input here because I honestly don't know how I could get more stereotypically male when I start T.  Well, I guess maybe then I'd get more interested in cars!  But I don't know, I can get by without one and I'm Scottish, which means I'm cheap and that could end up winning out! 

[Nero]

Like Jack posited, I think a lot of things people attribute to T have more to do with being perceived as/accepting themselves as male. I did get a slight bit more interested in [American] football after passing well and being perceived as a cis male. Started tuning in to local team radio stations and following the draft - stuff I didn't pay much attention to before. But this was 2 years in to T. I think it was more a social thing for me. I think the whole sports thing is more a social matter for a lot of guys - particularly those who never really participated much in sports themselves. It's like a universal, safe subject.

As for films - action films, it depends. Better be good. War films? Always. But again, no change on T.
I do agree about being generally calmer though. But again, that doesn't necessarily have to be a T effect. Could be a transition in general effect.

[Darrin Scott]

I do wonder about this stuff. I think it's just generally a transition thing. I had no change in interest since being on T. It's all been the same. I think a lot of this stuff is more social and not hormonal. I think people give T too much credit sometimes.

[Madison_dawn]

Hormones do have an influence in our interest...like many other things and it is really simple to bring it all to sports and the word "Steroids" most common steroid is um wait what was it oh yeah, "T" Testosterone is responsible for sexual thoughts, it sucks yes, but even for us girls it is the T that gets us hot and horny predomintly. that is basic now to apply this broader and connect it to hobbies and such. The higher the T levels, the higher the sexual energy the higher the "Agression" Agression is not always mean, just forceful or competitive like which leads into sports, why do people like baseball, seriously, it is just individuals swatting at a piece of fabric with a stick and running around in a straight lined circle. That is the just of it, but what brings us back to watch it again and again is the competition the feeling of your team over the other. home vs enemy and being that males have a lot more testosterone in their systems, by males I Mean all Males CIS and FTM are more likely to see it as competition. Not a bad thing, but it happens, do women do this yes, we are at risk for the same feelings but with a shortfall of T is it rarer and not as extreme. Ive noticed this with me and friends at the gym. There has been four of us that work together for going on three years and two in our group are using T steroids and one is using T blockers and E guess who that is all were assigned male, sorry no ftms to verify with. The two who have been on T have got more competive with my friend not on T and suprise suprise while two years ago one of these guys might have kicked my but for being trans has now went as far as placing his hands down the back of my excersice shorts and stopped and blinked when i jumped, turned around and said no no no!!!! realized what he did and backed away and he even wrote me a letter to apoligize. We work out at the same little gym, small town, only like three female identified people and five male identifies and the other two girls are rarely their so I am the ass buffet as ive been called. It is sexual and competition, but thats notto say some of us are more inclined I like monster trucks, i like fishing but since blocking out my T I prefer to look at the monster truck drivers and letting my dad bait my hook. guess im just a girly girl

[Nero]

Hormones do have an influence in our interest...like many other things and it is really simple to bring it all to sports and the word "Steroids" most common steroid is um wait what was it oh yeah, "T" Testosterone is responsible for sexual thoughts, it sucks yes, but even for us girls it is the T that gets us hot and horny predomintly. that is basic now to apply this broader and connect it to hobbies and such. The higher the T levels, the higher the sexual energy the higher the "Agression" Agression is not always mean, just forceful or competitive like which leads into sports, why do people like baseball, seriously, it is just individuals swatting at a piece of fabric with a stick and running around in a straight lined circle. That is the just of it, but what brings us back to watch it again and again is the competition the feeling of your team over the other. home vs enemy and being that males have a lot more testosterone in their systems, by males I Mean all Males CIS and FTM are more likely to see it as competition. Not a bad thing, but it happens, do women do this yes, we are at risk for the same feelings but with a shortfall of T is it rarer and not as extreme. Ive noticed this with me and friends at the gym. There has been four of us that work together for going on three years and two in our group are using T steroids and one is using T blockers and E guess who that is all were assigned male, sorry no ftms to verify with. The two who have been on T have got more competive with my friend not on T and suprise suprise while two years ago one of these guys might have kicked my but for being trans has now went as far as placing his hands down the back of my excersice shorts and stopped and blinked when i jumped, turned around and said no no no!!!! realized what he did and backed away and he even wrote me a letter to apoligize. We work out at the same little gym, small town, only like three female identified people and five male identifies and the other two girls are rarely their so I am the ass buffet as ive been called. It is sexual and competition, but thats notto say some of us are more inclined I like monster trucks, i like fishing but since blocking out my T I prefer to look at the monster truck drivers and letting my dad bait my hook. guess im just a girly girl

I just don't see it. I'm not anymore aggressive or even more horny on T (and I was pretty aggressive and horny beforehand). There may be some grains of truth to T contributing to aggression and libido, but I think it's used as an excuse more often than not.

[Simon]

I just don't see it. I'm not anymore aggressive or even more horny on T (and I was pretty aggressive and horny beforehand). There may be some grains of truth to T contributing to aggression and libido, but I think it's used as an excuse more often than not.

I've never been an aggressive person and that's not changed. I really hate that doctors seem to suggest that we're going to become some sort of rage monsters. Not likely unless someone is unstable to begin with. T could exacerbate a situation but I don't think it could be the cause. "Roid Rage" is a bodybuilder issue and those guys are shooting up four times or more T than we take for HRT.

I am hornier now but I can tell that it's usually a few days a week just following my shot when my levels are high. It's not overwhelming or insatiable but is noticeable. I think about sex more often now but it's not obsessive. I seen on tv more than once that a cis male thinks of sex every so many minutes or whatever and I doubt that is true for them or for us.

When my gf and I were driving home from dinner last night I asked her if she has noticed any significant changes I have had emotionally. She said I'm a lot calmer and I don't mind going in crowds as much anymore (I'm sure that is because of the confidence T has given me). It is nice to blend into the background.

The other thing she noted was my interests seem to be more manly. She said it doesn't seemed forced or anything, just different to her. She was used to coming home and I would have on the Food network or the History Channel (I do still watch those) but now it's a lot of sports entertainment or "shoot em' up movies" (as she calls them). Again, not sure how much of that is because of T, me coming into my own, or just changing interests (which happen as we age).

[Arch]

I'm a lot hornier.

A LOT.

I was completely insatiable for at least the first year. Then I started getting a handle on things, and finally I had very good control and wasn't so much of a sex maniac.

My sex drive was already subsiding (but still quite high) when I started taking finasteride, so I didn't realize that the meds were further affecting my libido. Then I stopped taking the pills, and, guess what, I started getting terribly horny again. At first I couldn't figure it out, since I didn't connect finasteride with a decreased sex drive. Eventually, I realized that I was undergoing other post-finasteride changes as well. So I can definitely attribute a hugely increased sex drive to testosterone.

Yesterday, I was running a little late for work and didn't have time to jack off before my shower. While I was driving, all I could think about was sex. I finally had to jack off in the restroom between classes. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten much done.

I have found that I get angry and hyped up more easily on T. I know that most guys say that they are calmer, but I was way TOO calm before T--I was terribly depressed and had repressed most of my emotions. Still, even when my emotions were more normal, I have never gotten angry or frustrated very quickly. I do now, and I think the T is responsible.

[Linus]

IMHO, I think T has some effect but perhaps not as much as we realize. To be honest, I think it's hard to truly determine whether it's the T, how we interact with society, how society interacts with us or more of an awareness of things because there are too many factors (as I often say in class.. "It depends.."). For myself, I neither was more angry nor violent; I already had a strong interest in sports (ice hockey specifically after playing it for years as a kid/teen). I did notice more of a change in the way that people approached me (e.g., if I was with my g/f and she'd ask something, they'd reply to me not matter how many times I'd tell them to talk to her -- aka male privilege rearing its head).

The only "self" change I saw was a calming effect. In fact, this has gotten to a point where I actually stopped crying for 3 years. Now this might be attributed to 3 great busy years but it was more than that. You know those tear-jerker ASPCA commercials (usually with Sarah McLachlan singing in the background)? Those used to have me sobbing by the end of the 30 seconds (or whatever it was). I cried horribly for Bambi's mom (yes, I got teary-eyed for quite a few cartoon tragedies -- I have a empathic sense). Since starting and being on T (now 6 years) that ability to cry is hugely lessened. I feel almost a dulling of emotions if you will. Sometimes I still get that empathic feel (e.g., the picture from Bangladesh of the couple hugging in the disaster recently) occasionally but it's farther and fewer than before.