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Self acceptance issues

Started by Everyone, April 09, 2019, 11:22:28 AM

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Everyone

I'm not in denial about being trans at all, but I hate this aspect of myself and want to hide it from everyone I encounter
I'm so afraid of people finding out I'm trans and no longer viewing me as a man. In my experience, once someone knows I'm trans they start viewing me as something in between male and female, which I guess is accurate
But I hate it and I want to just be viewed as a man with no questions asked

At the same time, I know that I'll be happier if I can get comfortable with the fact that I'm transgender

For those of you who are doing well with this kind of self acceptance, what helped? I'm going to therapy right now but I want to work on this on my own outside of therapy
"If I have sex while I'm pregnant, will my baby get pregnant too?" - Yahoo! Answers question
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Anne Blake

I believe that most of us have had to deal with some form of internalized transphobia, I know that I did. I wrestled with it for some time and had problems overcoming it. I believe that what got me through it was getting out and experiencing life as me; spending time with others in the lgbtq community, shopping or dining or just hanging out. The turning point was when I finally fully realized that I not only enjoyed living as me but that I was a better person and fit into society much better as me. In short, spending time and gaining experience living as the woman that I am.

Good luck in your pursuits,
Tia Anne
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Ryuichi13

Quote from: Everyone on April 09, 2019, 11:22:28 AM
I'm not in denial about being trans at all, but I hate this aspect of myself and want to hide it from everyone I encounter
I'm so afraid of people finding out I'm trans and no longer viewing me as a man. In my experience, once someone knows I'm trans they start viewing me as something in between male and female, which I guess is accurate
But I hate it and I want to just be viewed as a man with no questions asked

At the same time, I know that I'll be happier if I can get comfortable with the fact that I'm transgender

For those of you who are doing well with this kind of self acceptance, what helped? I'm going to therapy right now but I want to work on this on my own outside of therapy

Warning: I have not read any other answers to your statement, and I am going to be blunt.  :)

First off, I am out, but I don't advertise my FTM-ness unless asked about the flag and button I wear on my hat, or the bracelet on my wrist.  So far, no one has asked.  Those in my local transgender community know what they mean, and those outside of it don't seem to care much.  If they ask, I'll tell them. 

I am male.  A man.  A guy.  Just because this body was born female does not change that.  It sounds like you are the same, a transgender male.  If not, then you are whatever gender you say you are at the moment.  Period dot. 

No one, and I do mean no one can tell you otherwise.  Only you know what's in your heart, mind and soul.  No one else can tell you that, nor make the decision for you.  Only you can do that.

I was born transgender, as many of us here on the forum were.  I did not ask to be born this way.  Nor did you. For example, like my being born African-American, being transgender is not something I can change.  Nor would I want to at this stage of my life.  I have come to accept that I am a transgender African-American man, and I love that fact. 

But only you can choose to accept you as you are.  Everyone else is not in your mind, heart nor soul.  Only you can choose to be the best person of any gender you are.  Only you.

Be strong, be true to yourself and most of all, be happy with yourself.  Its the only you you're going to get in this lifetime.

Ryuichi


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Gabriel_C

I haven't transitioned yet, but I understand. It's been two years since I found out I suffered from gender dysphoria and I'm still transphobic when it comes to myself... I hate the word "transgender". And I think I always will.
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Allie Jayne

I don't really like labels, so I don't really worry about what people call me. I just try to be the best me I can be. That way people respect me for who I am, and I believe they worry less about labels. Being me includes many male and female traits, which can be confusing to some, but, to date, everyone values my company. Just be yourself, and that way you can evolve and everyone can be part of it.

Allie
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Dani

"Everyone" has just mentioned the single most important issue that all Transgender people must deal with. If we cannot accept ourselves for what we are, how can we ask anyone else to accept us?

It is not necessary to be totally in love with ourselves in a narcissistic sort of way. We just need to be able to function daily in a manner that resembles the culture we live in. We have many choices on how to do this, depending on where and how we live, of course.

For me, self acceptance means that I no longer want to experience the discomfort of gender dysphoria and I can live with the problems that are common to just about everyone who transitions. The most important word in that previous sentence is "live". Too many times, people like us have felt that our condition was just too overwhelming and the only option open to them was to end their life prematurely.

We must also accept that some people will never accept us as the gender we identify with. I fully realize that we will never change the opinions of some people, but on the other hand, there are so many other people who, when the topic of my transition comes up, are so supportive and genuinely happy for me because I now live my life as I want to.

I am at that point where most people I meet on a daily basis just accept me as the gender I present. As I developed self confidence, other people just accept me as I am.
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Kylo

You don't have to tell anyone about it. Out of sight out of mind as they say.

I think of myself - strictly personally/internally speaking - as a hybrid. I'm fine with that. I know my biology presented me with certain average advantages as well as disadvantages. The female brain has a knack for better memory association and recollection for starters, because rather than compartmentalizing things it tends to link them more dynamically and easily. I know I have this ability AND the ability to compartmentalize now, thanks to T. It can multitask better, I have that... AND with T I get the added ability to focus as well. Can pick and choose. I might be smaller than the average man thanks to my biology but that just means I'm cheaper to keep myself fed. Etc. etc.

In many ways I've got the advantages of both sexes thanks to this situation as well as the ability to pass as either of them if I really want to. Looking at it from a logical perspective, advantages are better than disadvantages, and I have more of them than before. I like myself and I like being in powerful positions as opposed to less powerful positions. As it happens, being what I am puts me in a variety of better positions, provided I know how to utilize myself and my talents properly.

Being a normal man or a woman? Meh. I'll happily be abnormal provided I can manage the risk of being so and turn it to my advantage. So.... being what I am doesn't keep me up at night. The philosophical and ideological connotations got left in the dust. Truthfully, I'm apparently a female homo sapien running on male hormones, with the capacity of understanding more broadly than the average person what being a man or a woman is hormonally and socially all about through experience. Fundamentally we are ALL nothing more than a consciousness in a meat suit. I don't read much deeper into it than that because that gets into the territory of mysticism, even zealotry, about what a man or woman "really is". Nobody knows, nor can compare precisely what being a man or woman is because we only know what it's like to be ourselves. We have no idea what some other man or woman actually, truly feels and whether it is properly similar to our own experiences. That said, what's the use getting upset about how "real" or not you are or feel? You'll never know. Nobody will ever know. Except that you're here and alive.

Sure, being treated "authentically" has its importance when we talk about how one is treated in the social sphere. There are risks, alienation, ostracization and being treated differently by people from before associated with people coming out. That's a legit concern worth thinking about, if you think there are risks. But the metaphysics of the matter really don't matter when you realize how little about anything is ever confirmed for us about anything in life, or from other people. When was the last time you got a full appraisal from someone else of exactly what they thought about you? I don't know about you but for me it's rarely to never, and usually it's only when people have some trivial complaint. It reveals how little they know about you anyway, your internal self, and motivations. And they'll never really know and even more likely probably won't be all that interested in the details. People I've known all my life and who are close to me are not interested in the details. Not much point in me getting bogged down thinking about what they think, either. It's a waste of time in fact, I believe.

The only thing you should definitely be doing is making sure you have a good mental relationship with yourself and what you are. If you have that? Good. Then go get on with life and try to enjoy it as much as possible. It's short.   
"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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Jen61

In my case I accept I am trans and hate it. I only hate it because I know I won't be accepted. If I could be accepted I see no reason that I would hate it. I've told my siblings who basically would accept me transitioning. I had my sister tell my father who seems to have either forgotten or is just in denial. I live a pretty convincing "normal" life. Besides all of the self destructing things I do. Some of them with him.

Jen

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