Does estrogen make your mind more girly?

[Miyuki]

That is a really good question and I would love to know the answer to it.  I am certainly a lot more relaxed and at ease in social situations (TBH, all situations really) than I was.  I am not sure whether it is due to the chemistry of my body being what it should be, changes to the way my brain is processing things, no longer not doing things because that it "not what men do" or something else entirely.  But yeah, nice observation and I entirely agree with you that it can be a thing that happens and that it pervades pretty much everything.

Thinking about it just makes me constantly wonder where the hormones end and the real me begins. But it's not like the estrogen is doing anything to me that I don't like, so either way I guess.

I always feel a bit left out in this aspect because hrt really didn't change how I think and/or feel.  I'm still very much the same person.  Sure, there are subtle changes (sense of smell, color perception, libido changes, and occasional mood swings etc) but they aren't radically different.  I'm still the same crazy overly emotional and sensitive person I've always been.  And the way I carry myself and my interests are all pretty much the same. Therefore, I can't really say that I feel more girly or different in the grand scheme of things. However, I do feel more at piece with my gender when I was once ashamed.  Like I'm glad to be a girl when in the past I thought of myself as a freak for being trans.  Maybe I am a bit of a freak, but I'm a freak who happens to be a woman, and that's okay.  That's a little freeing despite my many issues with coming to terms with myself.

I think you're really lucky that you managed to keep your feminine side intact despite having to live as male for most of your life. In my case I was a lot more emotional and sensitive as a child, but when I hit puberty I started to repress that side of myself. Now I'd give pretty much anything to go back to being that way, though I think I'm getting closer and closer as time passes by.

[Beyond]

IMO estrogen doesn't make anyone more "girly".  For transsexual women it unlocks your true potential.  Potential that's been locked inside a testosterone vault for years and maybe even decades.  You have been released from that prison and are now free to fully express yourself.

[emilyking]

I always feel a bit left out in this aspect because hrt really didn't change how I think and/or feel.  I'm still very much the same person.  Sure, there are subtle changes (sense of smell, color perception, libido changes, and occasional mood swings etc) but they aren't radically different.  I'm still the same crazy overly emotional and sensitive person I've always been.  And the way I carry myself and my interests are all pretty much the same. Therefore, I can't really say that I feel more girly or different in the grand scheme of things. However, I do feel more at piece with my gender when I was once ashamed.  Like I'm glad to be a girl when in the past I thought of myself as a freak for being trans.  Maybe I am a bit of a freak, but I'm a freak who happens to be a woman, and that's okay.  That's a little freeing despite my many issues with coming to terms with myself.

Diddo!  I didn't even get emotional until I came out, like six mouths on hormones.
I think in my case, I didn't get a lot of testosterone growing up anyways, so I've kinda already had a girl's mind.  I still need to be tested, but I think I'm ether XXY or Klinefelter's.

[SophiePeters]

Oh my god yes,  It changes everything allows us to grow into ourselves.  Or at least thats what my expierance has been.   One of the biggest moments i remember that really caught me off guard was hanging with one of my guy friends and storming away saying Men or such ->-bleeped-<-s.  That's only one instance there have been so many more like going from green to pink as my favorite color.  Don't get me wrong still love green but theres some irony in the fact that Pink is literally the absence of green and that it was like out of no where that i would choose pink before green.  I think estrogen effects us at that level because for trans people going through the puberty of the opposite gender that we are just leaves us paused at that state,  never growing and developing completely into ourselves.  Hormones play a huge role in the development of boy's into men and girls into women and for those who are trans the incorrect hormones leave us hanging in the balance.  So when we do seek transition with the correct hormones we finally grow into the women/men we were meant to be.  For me,  the parallels with female puberty were so apparent,  I noticed i even started acting like a teenager again for a time.  My ambitions changed,  my passions changed, I started looking at men in a light i didn't expect even being bisexual already there was something different.  I reacted differently to situations became upset when my friends would well be guys and talk about girls the way guys do.  It is different for everyone though, I think we all vary so greatly in the amount we repressed verse the amount we embraced.  I myself repressed a lot and for that i noticed a lot but there were things i knew that were simply just surfacing because i was finally accepting of who i am, and then there was a lot of things that were completely new both in thought and action I believe was the effect of brain chemistry changing.   Some things very "girly" and some things quite to the contrary but non the less cherished.     I apologize for the grammar been drinking a little =)

[Ltl89]

Diddo!  I didn't even get emotional until I came out, like six mouths on hormones.
I think in my case, I didn't get a lot of testosterone growing up anyways, so I've kinda already had a girl's mind.  I still need to be tested, but I think I'm ether XXY or Klinefelter's.

That's interesting.  To be honest, I don't think my personality has anything to do with the possible sex of my brain.  I think it's more a response to my environment factored in with some biological aspects.  I don't know.   Who knows if I'd be the same person if everything was different in my life other than my body.   It's something I'll never know, but don't care about either way.  I am who I am.

Thinking about it just makes me constantly wonder where the hormones end and the real me begins. But it's not like the estrogen is doing anything to me that I don't like, so either way I guess.

I think you're really lucky that you managed to keep your feminine side intact despite having to live as male for most of your life. In my case I was a lot more emotional and sensitive as a child, but when I hit puberty I started to repress that side of myself. Now I'd give pretty much anything to go back to being that way, though I think I'm getting closer and closer as time passes by.

I'm glad it's doing that for you  I actually feel you all are lucky because I really wished that estrogen would have given me more mental benefits like reducing anxiety and depression.  I hear that so much about that, so it was something I was hoping would happen. 

[LittleEmily24]

IMO estrogen doesn't make anyone more "girly".  For transsexual women it unlocks your true potential.  Potential that's been locked inside a testosterone vault for years and maybe even decades.  You have been released from that prison and are now free to fully express yourself.

This pretty much says it all.

[Sarah84]

I am 2 months on full dose hrt and I didn'tnoticed any psychological changes. I am noticing physical and love it  but I realy don't feel emotionally different :-(

[devon14]

IMO estrogen doesn't make anyone more "girly".  For transsexual women it unlocks your true potential.  Potential that's been locked inside a testosterone vault for years and maybe even decades.  You have been released from that prison and are now free to fully express yourself.

That is exactly the expression that I use when explaining how hormones have helped me to others. These feelings have always been there, estrogen was merely the key to unlock them.

[robin s]

For me the hrt didn't make me more mentally girly. That was already there but I kept it repressed because I was expected to be a man. After I became unwilling and or unable to hide it anymore I pushed for hrt which has made me feel better about myself and far happier.

[Lois17]

I was just noticing this effect today,after being on estrogen for over 2 months.Before,I often had trouble with conversation due to the fact I couldn't think fast enough to express what I wanted to say...foggy thinking sort of. Now,I have noticed that over the last couple months,my thinking as far as vocabulary and conversation has been speeding up immensely!
I can talk so fast now without making any mistakes.My mind feels so clear & sharp.I especially like having conversations with women...I find them more interesting & stimulating than men.
Before HRT,people used to complain that I didn't talk enough,but now I often "talk their heads off" & they have to find ways to wrap things up with me & get going! lol

[alice1234]

it changed my brain my sense of smell my taste buds but i feel like a woman

[rmaddy]

It is pretty easy to tell how estrogen effects the mind when you get a shot every two weeks. The ups and downs are unmistakable.

Or not.  I also do injections, but I don't really feel any difference as my levels run down.  I never did.

I'm not discounting your experience, but it's not universal.  After I started HRT, it took a few months before I really noticed an increased sense of well being.  Before that, all I felt was sore nipples, and even that wasn't cyclic.

[roseyfox]

Rosa brain has change quite a bit on estrogen yes. But it good change. Complicated and confusing yes but that ok. Just getting use to the constant crying and overwhelming feelings of guilt and sadness have been difficult. But other than that its good.

[IdontEven]

It's funny that someone feels more clear, because I feel more foggy - scatterbrained was a good word...something like, "Oh really? You're having a hard time at work? I'm so sor...omg that wind feels amazing, do you think it will storm later?" I completely forget whatever point I was trying to make and get lost in some sensory experience or new pattern of thought.

If someone else is talking I'll often find myself a million miles away, absentmindedly playing with my hair or curled up in my chair like 5 minutes later, completely lost from the conversation. I make very few cogent points these days and it makes me feel really dumb in a not great way.

*deletes multiple paragraphs of rambling*

Also, that...I ramble a lot when I feel comfortable now. I don't know how to exit the situation gracefully so I just get self-conscious really bad when I realize I'm doing it.

[roseyfox]

Also probalby because im so young. My brain feels like it did when i was only 14-16 like puberty brain. It so scatter and disorganized. I remeber 18 everything finally felt right now 19 1 year on hrt and my brain felt like it regressed grrr lol.

[alex82]

I always feel a bit left out in this aspect because hrt really didn't change how I think and/or feel.  I'm still very much the same person.  Sure, there are subtle changes (sense of smell, color perception, libido changes, and occasional mood swings etc) but they aren't radically different.  I'm still the same crazy overly emotional and sensitive person I've always been.  And the way I carry myself and my interests are all pretty much the same. Therefore, I can't really say that I feel more girly or different in the grand scheme of things. However, I do feel more at piece with my gender when I was once ashamed.  Like I'm glad to be a girl when in the past I thought of myself as a freak for being trans.  Maybe I am a bit of a freak, but I'm a freak who happens to be a woman, and that's okay.  That's a little freeing despite my many issues with coming to terms with myself.

Took until the bottom of the image before finding a post I related to. Minus the colour and scent perception that's about it.

The rest that I've taken from this thread is terrible stereotypes of 'lady brains' making their owners love chocolate and pink, become unable to think straight or focus during conversations, play with hair instead of listening to people, and become a bit 'dumb'. None of the women I know are like this I must say.

[sora_]

recent mri studies seem to hint towards neurophysiological adaptations in specific areas of the brain ; how, significant, the consequences of the hrt itself are, etc. is vague and mostly subjectively smokescreened by placebo effects and preemptive expectations

[Daniellekai]

I know it's a necro, but this thread is pretty interesting, there's a disconnect in the expectations of girls transitioning then, and now. Many stereotypes are no longer in effect that were then... I'm just about to start HRT, maybe another month at most. I'll report any changes here. It'll be hard to separate changes from transition and from brain chemicals. It's worth mentioning that I've seen at least one doctor mentioning it may have an effect on ADD, which perked my interest. It may be that it helps in some brains, but makes it worse I'm others, accounting for the reports of sudden onset scatterbrain.

I do fear acute girl brain with HRT since I'm not out everywhere yet, but honestly I've already got that, I just repress it to the point of near paralysis. I also can't look at that without turning it into a pun. A cute girl brain that is... I can't imagine there is no effect, I tend to believe girls who mention that men start smelling really nice, a change in the way pheromones are interpreted seems right. Suddenly being interested in romantic comedies and that sort of thing I'm skeptical of, but could be a result of increased emotional range, which I believe... I got over my fear of becoming a different person though, now I'm afraid of staying the same person,

[Lois17]

Been on HRT...cyproterone acetate & estradiol valerate for over 2 months now,and have been very chatty lately.My mind is so much sharper while on estrogen and I can talk very quickly in a conversation now without much effort.However,I have been having problems with others thinking that I am too chatty cause I talk so much and seem so happy all the time.Guess they think I must be high on something...in fact I am,but its on estrogen.I am trying to calm down a bit now. lol
Has anyone else had this difficulty with their brains being rewired on estrogen and becoming too chatty?

[alex82]

I know it's a necro, but this thread is pretty interesting, there's a disconnect in the expectations of girls transitioning then, and now. Many stereotypes are no longer in effect that were then... I'm just about to start HRT, maybe another month at most. I'll report any changes here. It'll be hard to separate changes from transition and from brain chemicals. It's worth mentioning that I've seen at least one doctor mentioning it may have an effect on ADD, which perked my interest. It may be that it helps in some brains, but makes it worse I'm others, accounting for the reports of sudden onset scatterbrain.

I do fear acute girl brain with HRT since I'm not out everywhere yet, but honestly I've already got that, I just repress it to the point of near paralysis. I also can't look at that without turning it into a pun. A cute girl brain that is... I can't imagine there is no effect, I tend to believe girls who mention that men start smelling really nice, a change in the way pheromones are interpreted seems right. Suddenly being interested in romantic comedies and that sort of thing I'm skeptical of, but could be a result of increased emotional range, which I believe... I got over my fear of becoming a different person though, now I'm afraid of staying the same person,

Some romcoms are good. Many are dreadful. I can't say this process has destroyed my taste in any significant way. Nor have I reached a point where someone who has trusted me to speak to me about a troubling aspect of their life takes a backseat when the weather changes or because I'd rather stroke my hair and admire a pink colour chart.

Some men do smell good in a powerful sexual way, but they always did. For instance I guy I saw for a few dates years ago and who is tall dark and handsome just never quite did it for me (and that's why) still doesn't, and that's still why. We became friends instead.

I'm skeptical of increased emotional range too to be honest. It may be that those who report it are just suddenly freed to be themselves. I know a few men who are happy as men who have no less emotional range than the general expectation of a female, nor any problem expressing it, and quite a few women who have rather less.