Childhood Drawings

[JaimeJJ]

About an hour ago my mum shouted me downstairs, as she had randomly been looking through all the things she had kept that I made when I was a child (drawings, birthday cards, hand made cards etc).  Whilst I was looking through them, I noticed I had made quite a few drawings of myself (aged somwhere between 4-7) of me as a girl! With long blonde curly hair and wearing colourful dresses!

It made me realise that at that stage in my life, that is how I saw myself for who I was on the inside.  They say gender identity doesn't usually kick in until around aged 8, I guess they were right!

I felt such a strange indescribable feeling whilst I was looking through these... I also felt a little mad that nobody ever thought to question me about this, like my parents and school teachers.  Surely, if a child draws tons of pictures of themselves as something that they clearly arent, shouldnt this be flagged up? Why didn't anybody question me on this or try and take me to speak to a professional or something?!

Has anybody else experienced anything like this?

[CaitJ]

It made me realise that at that stage in my life, that is how I saw myself for who I was on the inside.  They say gender identity doesn't usually kick in until around aged 8, I guess they were right!

I've heard that gender identity can be set as early as age three.

I felt such a strange indescribable feeling whilst I was looking through these... I also felt a little mad that nobody ever thought to question me about this, like my parents and school teachers.  Surely, if a child draws tons of pictures of themselves as something that they clearly arent, shouldnt this be flagged up? Why didn't anybody question me on this or try and take me to speak to a professional or something?!

Has anybody else experienced anything like this?

Clueless parents and teachers think it's all normal play; kids draw pictures of themselves as pirates and dinosaurs, but no-one believes that the kid actually wants to be a pirate or a dinosaur when they grow up.
Of course, we're more enlightened these days and a boy constantly and persistently drawing himself as female should raise some concerns 

[Morgan]

I first drew myself as a boy when I was 12 or 13, years before I even knew the word transsexual. I did always pretend to be a boy when me and my friends would play pretend, which is a similar situation to the drawings.

[n00bsWithBoobs]

There are a few pictures of me at the ages of 2 and 3 where I'd break into mommy's makeup and make myself all pretty.

I remember when I started going to grade school that there was a difference between boys and girls and I was sad because I wasn't a girl.