Susan's Place Logo

News:

Visit our Discord server  and Wiki

Main Menu

What does this mean? Gender-fluid, FTM?

Started by belou, September 21, 2014, 05:38:00 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

belou


I'm an androgynous lesbian but sometimes I feel more male or third-gender than female. I've always thought of myself as gender queer.

When I was young, I was severely disappointed I wasn't born a boy and told my family this often. I was mistaken for a boy all through elementary. I grew my hair out and passed as a tomboy in middle school, and started to feel more androgynous. I came out as a lesbian in college and have been out for 15 years.

Whenever I am having sex or masterbating, I climax much quicker/intense if I imagine I'm male. I don't look at my boobs and wonder why they are there, but I do feel like I'm missing a penis while I'm having sex. I feel like it's missing even while using a strap-on, since I have little-to-no sensation using one.

I have a hard time reconciling with the fact I don't really mind if people call me a she/her and I don't feel like I have body dysphoria otherwise.

Am I trans? Is this normal for a lesbian?
  •  

Maleth

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you could be genderqueer or genderfluid IMO. But one thing to keep in mind is that if you ever come to a realization that you're FTM, then you can no longer be a lesbian by definition. You can of course be still attracted to those of female sex, but you wouldn't be considered lesbian. The best of luck to you to figuring things out! :)
~Maleth
  •  

belou

Thanks for the welcome. Any suggestions on figuring this out?

Has any FTM here previously identified as a lesbian? I consider myself a lesbian because I'm attracted romantically/sexually to women and others define me as a woman. Again, I don't seem to have a strong opinion about what others see me as. When my guy friends say "you are such a dude" I don't really mind either.

Should I post in the non-binary forum?
  •  

Brandon

Not me I've always identified as male and by definition I am a straight male because of my identity and who I am attracted to which is women. You seem more genderqueer because you don't strictly identify as male. FYI ftms don't lack a penis its just very tiny the clitoris is formed from the same tissue and the outer lips is the scrotum.
keep working hard and you can get anything you want.    -Aaliyah
  •  

Blue Senpai

Quote from: belou on September 21, 2014, 08:32:45 PM
Thanks for the welcome. Any suggestions on figuring this out?

Has any FTM here previously identified as a lesbian? I consider myself a lesbian because I'm attracted romantically/sexually to women and others define me as a woman. Again, I don't seem to have a strong opinion about what others see me as. When my guy friends say "you are such a dude" I don't really mind either.

Should I post in the non-binary forum?

Sounds pretty non-binary. I used to identify as lesbian since thee was something off about me that I noticed at an early age. My mom assumed I was lesbian so I thought that was me for a while. I just recently discovered I'm FTM but identifying as non-binary with a masculine leaning.
  •  

pianoforte

I know lots of ftm lesbians. And even though technically if you're male and attracted to women you aren't actually gay, some of the ftm guys I know still identify with that community (still calling themselves gay or lesbian, or in some cases experiencing a change in sexual preference that maintains homosexual orientation across transition -- it's not unheard of in those with more fluid sexualities).

Some trans guys I've spoken to are really uncomfortable being perceived as straight and cis, especially by women, so holding on to that lesbian identity can be important to self image.

Your own gender identity will always be a question only you can answer. You don't have to idntify as binary ftm to go through transition (or to post in this section of the forum).

Might be worthwhile to talk to a gender therapist to figure out your feelings. And even maybe a sex therapist (or sex toy salesperson) to see if there might be a way to make the most out of strap-ons. But if you mentally really feel that you should have a penis, that could block you from full enjoyment of sex even if physically everything is lined up perfectly. And that's when having a gender therapist really comes in handy.

  •  

belou

Thanks for the perspectives on lesbian identity, non-binary and ftm. I may consider talking to a gender therapist.

Brandon: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply FTM men don't have a penises. Quite the opposite. I'm confused about my gender identity, thinking I may want to transition to male (FTM) because as a female I do not have penis. If I was FTM I would have a penis.
  •  

AdamMLP

I identified as a lesbian (or rather just gay in a womanxwoman way because I disliked the word a lot) prior to coming out because I knew I liked women, and I was told I was female. I thought that could be the reason I was different to other girls, but it wasn't quite enough. 

When I discovered being a trans man was possible, then I realised what I actually was.
  •  

captains

Hey Belou,

Your situation really resonates with me. I think a lot of us, non-binary or otherwise, began from a place where "lesbian" felt like the closest thing to home. Personally, I struggled (and sometimes still struggle) with the line between butch identity and nb or ftm identity, and I had a lot of trouble picking apart what was a "trans thing" and what wasn't.

It may help you to know that dysphoria isn't synonymous with self-hatred, as is sometimes thought. "Dys-" just means "to feel bad." I think we've all seen the stock photo of the girl staring into the mirror and seeing a boy looking back, but it isn't just about being "trapped in the wrong body" -- although, of course, for some people it is. But dysphoria can also be the odd, sticky feeling you get when you put on a blouse and your brain goes "that's not right..." It's the fear that everyone else will know what you just thought, and that they too are seeing a boy in a dress. Dysphoria is the flare of panic when the class is split into men and women, and for a briefest moment, you're not sure where to go. And it's the disconnect when you catch your reflection, that extra millisecond of "Oh? Is that me?"

I tell you this because a lot of people, myself included, spent ages feeling like the could not possibly be feeling dysphoria because they'd never previously considered removing their breasts or having SRS.  For me, it was all about the line between "wanting" and "being." I was sure that I wanted to have a man's body, that I had something missing, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't that I was a man, it was that I wanted to be one. That was scary to me; I couldn't tell if it was normal or internalized misogyny or some combination of the two. But eventually, I came to realize that all of that, my whole mess -- it wasn't something that cis people experience. Today, I identify as non-binary and transmasculine. You may feel the same, you may not. It's ok to explore regardless.

I hope you find some answers here, and soon!
- cameron
  •  

Brandon

Quote from: belou on September 21, 2014, 10:10:49 PM
Thanks for the perspectives on lesbian identity, non-binary and ftm. I may consider talking to a gender therapist.

Brandon: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply FTM men don't have a penises. Quite the opposite. I'm confused about my gender identity, thinking I may want to transition to male (FTM) because as a female I do not have penis. If I was FTM I would have a penis.


I was not only talking about ftms but bio women too most people think the bodies of a male and female are so different but in actuality they are not. The clitoris on a bio women and ftm is just a small underveloped penis, everyone starts out as female.
keep working hard and you can get anything you want.    -Aaliyah
  •  

viktor_tokyo

Quote from: belou on September 21, 2014, 05:38:00 PM
I'm an androgynous lesbian but sometimes I feel more male or third-gender than female. I've always thought of myself as gender queer.

When I was young, I was severely disappointed I wasn't born a boy and told my family this often. I was mistaken for a boy all through elementary. I grew my hair out and passed as a tomboy in middle school, and started to feel more androgynous. I came out as a lesbian in college and have been out for 15 years.

Whenever I am having sex or masterbating, I climax much quicker/intense if I imagine I'm male. I don't look at my boobs and wonder why they are there, but I do feel like I'm missing a penis while I'm having sex. I feel like it's missing even while using a strap-on, since I have little-to-no sensation using one.

I have a hard time reconciling with the fact I don't really mind if people call me a she/her and I don't feel like I have body dysphoria otherwise.

Am I trans? Is this normal for a lesbian?

I pretty much feel the same way, except I love watching my gf interact with my chest so I don't "wonder why they are there" (women touching another woman's chest is so hot to me). All other times I dislike them though, and they bother me when I'm in the company of anyone else but my partner. So I have convoluted feelings towards my chest.

I had (and still have) the same doubts as you so I've been doing a lot of asking and searching this past year. To me it seems that most cis people just don't think about this stuff, and even if they do, they don't for long periods of time, nor do they look at sites like this. Which probably places you and me under the all encompassing non-cis transgender umbrella. No idea if I'm agender or bigender or FtM or what, and still not 100% sure how far I want to take my transition. So far I wear men's clothes and think of myself as a non-woman or "not just a woman". Good luck on your journey.
  •  

aegis2887

I thought i was a lesbian before and i went to the lesbian forum, but I found something's not quite right since I could not identify with the tomboys. I found out that I should be a ftm when I had dysphoria. If you do not have any dysphoria and comfortable with the current situation, you can actually neglect those 'lesbian','gender fluid' ,'ftm' labels. They are just labels, everyone is different.
  •