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Confusion and Uncertainty

Started by Hunchdebunch, April 17, 2016, 04:57:23 PM

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Hunchdebunch

I wasn't sure where to put this topic, hope it's ok here.

I am so often confused about my gender. I can go from feeling confident in my non-binaryness, to suddenly wondering if I'm secretly cis and just a fake, to wondering if maybe I'm actually a trans man, all within a very short space of time. I'm trying to not concern myself with labeling it, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't stress me out. It's very tiring constantly questioning myself like this, but I'm not sure how to deal with it. I often try to understand what I want to be like, rather than figuring out a specific label. But even that gets confusing, because I'm not really sure what I want? Like most of the time I'm confident I want top surgery, but then occasionally I feel like maybe I don't. Most of the time I feel like I don't want testosterone, then sometimes I do feel like maybe I want that.

To be fair, I did only really start questioning my gender within the last couple of years, so maybe it's normal that I don't know all the answers yet. But I just find it very stressful as I feel like I don't really know who I am :(
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arice

I have questioned my gender for as long as I can remember (I'm in my mid 30s) and I still have moments like you describe... although on average I consider myself a "guy who happens to be female" or in modern speak a "masculine of centre non-binary AFAB"... I know that I want top surgery (I've wanted it since the moment my breasts started to grow) but I go back and forth about T and trying to transition fully.

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Gemini

Hey Hunchdebunch. I really think it can be tough to know yourself well enough to sort through the kind of problems you bring up. For me, the breakthrough was understanding that the source of my interest in being male (such as it was) was external. I wanted to avoid the social disapproval I got from expressing a female gender.

Until I realized that avoiding negative experiences was not a good life strategy. Since starting my transition, I've had negative experiences from people who don't think I should transition, but it's very much outweighed by the positive experiences I've had from people who accept me for who I am.

Of course, I'm binary, and that's just my experience. My sister is non-binary, and I really don't understand what that's like. I love her, but I don't get what it's like to be that way. Which is fine, really. Humanity is nothing if not diverse.

Anyway, I guess confusion is okay when it comes to these things. You don't have to make a decision right now, and you can wait before you make any major decisions. One thing to keep in mind is that many transgender people feel better once they start taking the hormones that match the gender they identify with. For me, testosterone blockers and estrogen make me feel much less anxiety than I have without them. When my estrogen is low and testosterone is high, I stress about everything for no reason, just because my brain chemistry is wrong.

But whatever, it may be that none of that applies to you. One thing I would recommend though is hanging around with other transgender people. Spend some time in an environment where it's just safe to be who you are, and then maybe you can worth through some of your uncertainty about yourself.
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Ms Grace

It's not uncommon to feel some confusion about your gender identity. For trans people living in a cis centric society we can feel a lot of conflict about even being partially true to ourselves. Is there a counsellor or therapist that you can chat to?
Grace
----------------------------------------------
Transition 1.0 (Julie): HRT 1989-91
Self-denial: 1991-2013
Transition 2.0 (Grace): HRT June 24 2013
Full-time: March 24, 2014 :D
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Hunchdebunch

Hi Grace, yeah I think living in such a cis-centric society probably hasn't done me any favors. I don't currently have a therapist, but I'm working on that. I need to finish registering at my local doctors (moved house recently) and then refer myself for therapy. There's a 3 month waiting list though, so it won't be particularly soon unfortunately.

Hey Kelsey, thanks for sharing your story! I would like very much to meet other transgender people, but I'm uncertain how to. I'm also a bit nervous that some people might not think I'm trans enough, if that makes sense? I should probably google and see if there are any support groups in my area or something similar.

Hi Arice, that's an interesting perspective, thanks for sharing with me! It's possible that I am similar to you in that I'm a non binary personally who is slightly more masculine-inclined. Not that I really reflect that with my choice of clothing haha, but that's part of the fun in my opinion :)
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