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Dysphoria Question

Started by Jonathan L, December 09, 2016, 06:53:33 PM

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Jonathan L

So I've been on testosterone for eight months and I finally have facial hair. I should be happy, but when I look at my body I still just see a girl. I've actually lost several inches from my hips, but it seems to have stalled out and I still very much have the typical hourglass shape, huge hips and chest. If I look at my face I see a guy. But if I look at my body I just see a hairy girl. And it's almost like it's hard for me to believe I'm really a guy because of what I see. I keep thinking if I looked more like a cis guy then I could believe myself, but since I don't I just feel like an imposter. And it doesn't help that I still get misgendered and I know that a lot of the people around me don't really see me as a guy. I guess I was just wondering if any of you have struggled with that disconnect. I keep trying to tell myself that one day I'll have top surgery and over time my hips will get smaller, etc, and then I won't feel so weirdly in between but in the meantime it just sucks.
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Elis

Yeah I still don't see a guy in the mirror quite yet. I don't understand what other people see. My hips are still quite large and I still can't grow facial hair. I think I just need to give it more time. The first year is probably the hardest then the changes happen faster and becomes a lot more noticeable; from what I've seen and heard from other guys.

I didn't start getting gendered correctly until the 8 month mark so it most likely will happen to you shortly. I believe it's a myth that most trans men on T start passing within just a few months.
They/them pronouns preferred.



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Jonathan L

Yeah, I keep trying to remind myself that it hasn't even been a year yet. It's just hard being patient, especially when I get misgendered. It makes me feel like nothing's changed and then I have to mentally remind myself of how far I've come. Sigh. I keep trying to imagine how I'm going to feel and look five years from now and focus on that. But this in between is just so uncomfortable.
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FTMax

Every now and then I still get glimpses of girl, 2 years later. It did become less frequent after top surgery, but it still happens sometimes.
T: 12/5/2014 | Top: 4/21/2015 | Hysto: 2/6/2016 | Meta: 3/21/2017

I don't come here anymore, so if you need to get in touch send an email: maxdoeswork AT protonmail.com
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Sophia Sage

Your interiority is not a fraud.  That's where the real you resides. 

And yeah, what you're going through is a part of transition.  We know what our bodies are supposed to look like, and until our bodies are there I think we're still in transition.  Which takes time and patience and perseverance and money.  (Work out, build muscle -- this really helps, not only in terms of how you look, but it can give you more of the sense that you're in control of your body.  And if you're concerned about other aspects of your shape, you might want to consider autologous fat transfer -- a sort of reverse Brazilian Butt Lift, having fat transferred from your hips and butt to your waist, to create a more straight figure.)

Worse, even when all is said and done, it still takes time for the brain to readjust. See, our brains have images of ourselves and other people stored away in memory, and to facilitate the processing of reality those memories are invoked over and over again based on sensory input.  When I had facial surgery, for example, it took a while for the face I saw in the mirror to actually resemble my real new face.  And not just for me, but for people who knew me very well, too, while people I just met had no problem seeing what was actually there -- there weren't any memories of a previous image getting in the way.

This is also why it's so hard for people who've known us prior to transition to gender us correctly and consistently.  My extremely supportive parents, for example, took a good couple years to get it down.  "Friends," on the other hand, didn't have the motivation to do so, and none of them made it to my post-transition years.  So it goes.

It's like being haunted by a ghost.  But ghosts are just figments of the imagination.  They go away when they're not constantly invoked.

Anyways, give yourself more time.  You haven't had your surgeries yet, which will make a huge difference. 

What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.
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Raell

Yes, it's all in the mind.

Until I started taking derris scandens, a local Thai evergreen which blends my right brain/left brain gender personalities, my male side could not recognize my face in the mirror as being his. Sometimes I'd glimpse my reflection in window glass or in the mirror when not expecting it and think I was seeing a pretty girl. My male side would actually have thoughts like, "Who's that hot chick?" and do a double take (Now you see why I take derris scandens).

But otherwise, I thought I looked deformed, hideously ugly.
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Jonathan L

Quote from: FTMax on December 09, 2016, 09:01:25 PM
Every now and then I still get glimpses of girl, 2 years later. It did become less frequent after top surgery, but it still happens sometimes.

I really think top surgery will help a lot. There's just no way of getting around this chest, lol.

Quote from: Sophia Sage on December 10, 2016, 08:41:39 AM
Your interiority is not a fraud.  That's where the real you resides. 

And yeah, what you're going through is a part of transition.  We know what our bodies are supposed to look like, and until our bodies are there I think we're still in transition.  Which takes time and patience and perseverance and money.  (Work out, build muscle -- this really helps, not only in terms of how you look, but it can give you more of the sense that you're in control of your body.  And if you're concerned about other aspects of your shape, you might want to consider autologous fat transfer -- a sort of reverse Brazilian Butt Lift, having fat transferred from your hips and butt to your waist, to create a more straight figure.)

Worse, even when all is said and done, it still takes time for the brain to readjust. See, our brains have images of ourselves and other people stored away in memory, and to facilitate the processing of reality those memories are invoked over and over again based on sensory input.  When I had facial surgery, for example, it took a while for the face I saw in the mirror to actually resemble my real new face.  And not just for me, but for people who knew me very well, too, while people I just met had no problem seeing what was actually there -- there weren't any memories of a previous image getting in the way.

This is also why it's so hard for people who've known us prior to transition to gender us correctly and consistently.  My extremely supportive parents, for example, took a good couple years to get it down.  "Friends," on the other hand, didn't have the motivation to do so, and none of them made it to my post-transition years.  So it goes.

It's like being haunted by a ghost.  But ghosts are just figments of the imagination.  They go away when they're not constantly invoked.

Anyways, give yourself more time.  You haven't had your surgeries yet, which will make a huge difference. 



Thanks, Sophia! This is beautifully written and makes a lot of sense to me. I hadn't really thought of the time it would take my brain to readjust, but I certainly am still getting used to things, even the new pronouns. I'm so used to being misgendered that now when people gender me correctly I don't immediately realize they're talking about me, lol. And I suspect that image disconnect is a lot of the reason I still get misgendered. Most of the people I interact with are used to a different image of me. I think it's also extra weird for me because I gained a lot of weight very quickly a few years ago so I already didn't recognize my face and body. I'm hopeful that one day everything will feel integrated again.

Quote from: Raell on December 10, 2016, 05:10:06 PM
Yes, it's all in the mind.

Until I started taking derris scandens, a local Thai evergreen which blends my right brain/left brain gender personalities, my male side could not recognize my face in the mirror as being his. Sometimes I'd glimpse my reflection in window glass or in the mirror when not expecting it and think I was seeing a pretty girl. My male side would actually have thoughts like, "Who's that hot chick?" and do a double take (Now you see why I take derris scandens).

But otherwise, I thought I looked deformed, hideously ugly.

That's fascinating, Raell. It's funny how difficult it is for us to see ourselves clearly. I'm glad you found something that helped though.
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SidneyAldaine

I'm mtf but I think I can help a bit..some of my male friends hate even 5 o'clock shadow on their face and shave every day. And some of them love having long beards. Just like women, men come in all sorts of shapes and sizes too. So don't worry about hating on facial hair. Cis men do too. Some of them.

As for looking like a girl, it's just like people here said. A big part of being male or female depends on little nuances your brain has to adjust too first. Give it a time.

Odoslané z Moto G (4) pomocou Tapatalku

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

- Paulo Coelho

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Kylo

Quote from: Jonathan L on December 09, 2016, 06:53:33 PM
So I've been on testosterone for eight months and I finally have facial hair. I should be happy, but when I look at my body I still just see a girl. I've actually lost several inches from my hips, but it seems to have stalled out and I still very much have the typical hourglass shape, huge hips and chest. If I look at my face I see a guy. But if I look at my body I just see a hairy girl. And it's almost like it's hard for me to believe I'm really a guy because of what I see. I keep thinking if I looked more like a cis guy then I could believe myself, but since I don't I just feel like an imposter. And it doesn't help that I still get misgendered and I know that a lot of the people around me don't really see me as a guy. I guess I was just wondering if any of you have struggled with that disconnect. I keep trying to tell myself that one day I'll have top surgery and over time my hips will get smaller, etc, and then I won't feel so weirdly in between but in the meantime it just sucks.

I expect this will probably happen to me.

But I'm not expecting miracles in my transition so hopefully it won't bother me too much. All I really want is to be free of the estrogen dominance in the brain (and hopefully feel calmer which is happening), and to at least get rid of the chest.

I suppose I am so very disconnected by my body it might even be hard to feel disappointment at this stage.
"If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."
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WolfNightV4X1

The feminine figure doesnt bother me personally as much, though. I have the hair, the face, the body hair...I wish I lacked the chest but I didnt have much to begin with so that could be hidden well.

I think of myself as a slim, slender, feminine male anyways so I like my figure. It helps if you look at pictures of males with that shape and realize to yourself "hey, thats me!" It makes the acceptance process easier to see yourself as male


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lionheart

I feel the same. I've been on T for a little over 2 years and haven't had a whole lot of luck as far as fat redistribution goes. Top surgery did help a little bit, but I still feel like I look out of place next to other cis guys.

I've been going to the gym for a while, but I worry that even if I do gain a ton of muscle, it'll look even more out of place. The thing is, it's not just that I have fat around my waist, but my hip bones themselves are so wide, and it's frustrating that there's really nothing I can or ever will be able to do about that. Usually I just get by by blaming it on my current weight status, but part of me worries that it'll still be an issue, if not worse, once I do get in better shape.
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