I am not my body! I am my mind, my thoughts, my feelings, my personality. My body just carries me around.
Bodies change. Bodies age. Bodies fail. Bodies become defective (or are born that way).
Body parts are sometimes removed or added, sometimes modified. Bodies are sometimes decorated, ornamented, enhanced.
But I am not my body! I am my mind, my thoughts, my feelings, my personality. My body is just what you see.
When a person says that I must be male because I was born with a male body they completely dismiss who I am. When they say someone born male can't become a real female they are only talking about bodies and completely dismiss who I am inside – the real me.
That I am not my body doesn't mean bodies are not important.
When you see me you see my body. Though you may come to know my mind, my thoughts, my feelings, my personality, it is my body that forms you first view of me.
From my clothes you might see a punk, a hippie, or a business person. You might see me as fit or as fat. You might see me as young or old, pretty or ugly, male or female. But you don't see ME. I'm hidden by my body and many people can't see past it.
So I change my body and its decoration.
I've hated my body most of my life. If the rest of the world would have seen the real me instead of my body would I have been ok with my body? Maybe not. Even if seen as female would I have been unhappy with my body and envious of other women's bodies? Even cis women get envious and change their bodies so probably yes.
My mind is female. So that you see me as I am, I decorate my body with female clothes and female hair and makeup. I take hormones and have surgery so that when you see my body you see me as I am inside. Please see ME.
Julie
