so are you a woman with out the operation

[Wild Flower]

Gender is mental. It has to do with how one views themself, but it also has to do with how others view a person.

Looks matter so much.

[Apples Mk.II]

I'm going to change / update my posture.

After finally being able to lose the man parts in my face and people finally treating me like a woman now that they can't see a guy in me, I have stopped thinking of myself as something weird in the middle. Now I can say I am a woman... with really malformed and messed up bottoms. And as a woman, SRS is now mandatory for me.

[stephaniec]

I can understand mandatory

[Lostkitten]

Each there own an should do what makes them feel the most comfortable, but I personally can't see myself as a full woman without SRS either. I do think tho that gender is mental, sex is the body.

[Laurette Mohr]

Stephanie said

. I lost a lot of girl friends because after a shot time in the relationship  they realized I really wasn't the man inside that I was out side. It hurt quite a long time not understanding why females always seem to treat me the same way after dating for awhile. One girl finally told me that I'd be better off female. It didn't sink in for a long time. Now I know why. I'm not a man.

This was me to a T as well. I knew of my feminine feelings way back then but tried desperately to be the man whatever THAT is. I was better suited to being their friends instead.

[Jo-is-amazing]

You're a "proper woman" even before Hrt!
No operation or medication can really determine your inner self and that's the thing that matters.

That being said I still want GRS as soon as I can possibly get it

[JustASeq]

I am undergoing HRT, but still pre-op although SRS is in my game plan. I am a woman now. I was a woman before HRT. And if it isn't obvious, I will still be a woman after SRS.

Also I have never considered any female identified person who was pre-op, non-op, non-passing anything other that what she says she is, a woman.

Your finish line only needs to be important to you.

[Susan522]

So it sounds like to me that there are two separate camps.  Those who want/need/desire SRS to feel complete, and those others who feel that it "does not matter what is between their legs".

Sounds like "whatever works" and/or "different strokes for different folks".

[Allyda]

As for me I've always without a doubt have been and am a woman. Just a woman who is very sad and unhappy with her malformed genitalia. However I must have my SRS in order for me to feel whole. When I have my SRS this spring it will be just as much corrective surgery as it will be to form my vagina.

Having said the above. IMHO here is the bottom line regarding the question: No, I don't believe one needs to have had SRS to be a woman, however some of us such as myself know we must have SRS to feel whole and complete within and for ourselves. As to what we have between our legs, that is nobody's business but ours.

Ally

[noleen111]

For me I never needed SRS to feel mentally like a complete woman..

When I started HRT, i was scared i would be outed, but I learned that cis-woman come in all shapes and sizes... you get beautiful and well figured woman and woman who are not so blessed in the looks dept or with a figure. Then for me it became an attitude thing...  I believed i was female..i embraced female life and with confidence i presented as a female... ok this takes time to come to this level of confidence... and you know what.. the world accepted me as a woman.  ok  when i started hrt I had all my paperwork changed to record me as female.. as per records the male me never existed...this raised my confidence.

I had srs... to complete my journey physically.. but i never needed it to say.. world i am woman... I love my vagina and i am glad i did it... as now i can have sex with my boyfriend, like a woman physically and its feels good. Yes some say i you can have anal sex.. and yes i have had anal sex and i have kinda liked it.. but vaginal sex is better.. then i love being penetrated. I only issue i have, i wish i could fall pregnant and have his baby.

Being a woman .. for.. the physical part is important... i.e. having breasts, a vagina and curves.. but if you don't believe it in your head and are not confident in your gender... all the curves and breasts will mean nothing.

[Danielle Emmalee]

So is it really okay to invalidate others here as long as you make it clear that it's only "your opinion"?  Am I allowed to have and voice an opinion that surgery doesn't make you a woman either, as long as it's prefaced with a reassurement that it's only my opinion?  There's a time and place for opinions of that nature, and I don't come here to see them.  Just to be clear, I am not choosing to be offended, it's merely offensive by nature. 

Guess I better say this again, just in case, this is my opinion only and you're allowed to have a different one.

[Cindy]

The site rules are clear.

I think people need to read ToS and consider their posts.

Topic locked