Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Shaved my beard for the first time in months and though being clean shaven feels weird, I've been getting some positive feedback on it and am thinking about keeping it like this... what do you guys think? Beard or no?

Beard (excuse the dumb expression lol, it's the most recent pic I have): http://i.imgur.com/Bov3o.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/Bov3o.jpg)

No beard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbeydxQfdcg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbeydxQfdcg)

I like you with the beard.  Also is there a reason your videos cut off like 20 seconds in?

Beard.
Just because I think beards are sexy.

You look like a young attractive latino male with out.
Btw I know how old Hispanic family members can be dude.
I feel your pain lol.

No beard. I always like guys with clean shaven look. Just my personal preference.

Quote from: wheat thins are delicious on November 29, 2012, 12:41:46 AM
I like you with the beard.  Also is there a reason your videos cut off like 20 seconds in?

They do? Hmm that's the first I've heard of that...

Quote from: Aeris on November 29, 2012, 12:42:41 AM
Beard.
Just because I think beards are sexy.

You look like a young attractive latino male with out.
Btw I know how old Hispanic family members can be dude.
I feel your pain lol.

Haha, yeah... explaining this stuff to that side of my family is so hard.
How old do you think I look with/without? I feel like I look younger without but a colleague was telling me that that's just in my head, lol... dressing professionally probably helps there though since she never sees me dressed down

Quote from: mintra on November 29, 2012, 12:50:15 AM
No beard. I always like guys with clean shaven look. Just my personal preference.

Yeah, I'm starting to think it's more of a personal preference than anything else...

Hispanic people are probably the most judgmental and shady people out there haha.
My family talks about me behind my back all the time and I recently just found out.

I see you in your early twenties with the beard.
And about 19/20 with out.

Was going to say, you look older with the beard, but you look good either way.  Whichever you like, you're good to go.

Quote from: Aeris on November 29, 2012, 01:00:57 AM
Hispanic people are probably the most judgmental and shady people out there haha.
My family talks about me behind my back all the time and I recently just found out.

I see you in your early twenties with the beard.
And about 19/20 with out.

Story of my life! My Hispanic family is so judgmental, it's ridiculous. When someone gains a few lbs it's all they'll talk about. My grandma told me they don't talk about me but I have a hard time believing that given how they get down on gossip.

Do you feel like you can be around your Hispanic family comfortably? I feel ok with them here but don't think I'd be comfortable in Honduras again...

Oh and btw a beard will age literally anyone.

You don't have a baby face. You have a pretty chiseled one, with complementary big brown eyes :P

Oh my family gossips alllllll the time.
Gossip and loteria, then more gossip.
All they do when we all get together lol.

I can be around them because my family consists of mostly women younger than 35.
They're young ish and are a bit more understanding.
My grandma is so traditional though. She's just confused with me lol
She realizes I was always different than my male cousins growing up.
But she doesn't think that means I'm a girl.
It took her a while but she's fine with seeing me present female.

But female pronouns?
you can forget about that .

Your beard is sexy >.< lulz. But you should've trimmed it a little.

I'm suddenly unable to get videos to play. Don't know why. But I also couldn't get a good look at the still because it isn't big enough for me to judge.

Beard, because beards are awesome.


(I can't believe I'm posting here because of this.)

Quote from: JasonRX on November 29, 2012, 05:02:48 AM
Beard, because beards are awesome.


(I can't believe I'm posting here because of this.)

Ha I was thinking the same about myself posting--it's a rare sighting anymore!

Please don't take this the wrong way, lexical, but the beard was sexy.  I would definitely go back to it.

Quote from: Aeris on November 29, 2012, 01:23:20 AM
My grandma is so traditional though. She's just confused with me lol
She realizes I was always different than my male cousins growing up.
But she doesn't think that means I'm a girl.
It took her a while but she's fine with seeing me present female.

But female pronouns?
you can forget about that .

Wow, so much this... especially the recognizing the difference from cousins but not connecting that with gender identity issues. Glad she's come around to your female presentation though. It looks so natural on you which I'm sure helps her -- nice avatar pic btw, you look great ;D

Quote from: Arch on November 29, 2012, 01:59:55 AM
I'm suddenly unable to get videos to play. Don't know why. But I also couldn't get a good look at the still because it isn't big enough for me to judge.

Ah... sorry about that.

Here's a gpoy close up beard pic heh: http://i.imgur.com/ih3LQ.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/ih3LQ.jpg)

Half-way through shave: http://i.imgur.com/aa2IW.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/aa2IW.jpg)

Posting as links because when I embed them they get all out of proportion...

Quote from: JasonRX on November 29, 2012, 05:02:48 AM
Beard, because beards are awesome.

(I can't believe I'm posting here because of this.)

Quote from: Adio on November 29, 2012, 06:55:46 AM
Ha I was thinking the same about myself posting--it's a rare sighting anymore!

Please don't take this the wrong way, lexical, but the beard was sexy.  I would definitely go back to it.

Haha, thanks for posting guys... glad I could bring ya out of the woodwork  ;D

I'm wondering if more beard lovers are men. I'm definitely noticing a pattern of more women over men preferring a clean shaven look... could just be my experience though

I like the beard, granted...I kinda have a thing for beards xD

I'd go with the beard. It looks good on you.

Alex i hope you dont take it the wrong way everyone is saying facial hair haha.
We're pretty much saying you can grow a very nice beard, that even cis guys would be jealous of.
So stick with it, because you do look good like that. :P

I like the beard.  It's hot.

I like beards, but the one in that picture looked too unkempt. Maybe a light beard would be better? I always liked that scruffy look.  :eusa_drool:


PS--> As a Hispanic, I must say that I am offended by some of the content on this thread.
PPS--> As a Hispanic, I must say that I am offended by the aforementioned content being so totally true.  :laugh:

I personally like your look without the beard. But then I'm biased because I've never been a big fan of full beards.

I like the "halfway through shave" beard/chinstrap/whatever it's called on you.

whoa dude, you really do look so different w/out the beard. I had no idea you had such an awesome jawline hidden under there! lol. I think the pic where it's all trimmed short (the "halfway shaved" beard or no beard looks really good. I feel like your full beard was really hiding some great features you have. Your T results are an inspiration homie! Congrats and really do whatever you want with that awesome facial hair! :)

Beard, beard all the way :> But maybe a little shorter c:

I'd say get a beard trimmer and go with either a well maintained facial hair pattern, or just scruff. Full on beard is a bit much and clean shaven is too little. Sexy stubble is the way to go.

Quite a while ago I had a beard for about 6 months. A nuisance is they require maintenance, trimming and eventually it became very itchy especially by my Adams apple, I couldn't stand it any more and shaved it off. The advantage was I looked a lot younger without the hair. Todays look seems like guys wear a day or so growth. You don't have to have facial hair to look manly & my personal take is men look more handsome clean shaven. For me to dress as a girl, the hair had to go for sure lol.

hope this helps.

Jamie

Quote from: Aeris on November 29, 2012, 01:15:01 AM
Oh and btw a beard will age literally anyone.

I have found that FTM beards sometimes do the opposite. FTMs tend to look like younger guys anyway, and the addition of a sparse teenage-looking beard makes people think we are younger still.

BTW, now that I've seen other pictures (thanks), I'm going with beard, too. Trimmed close.

Wow, thanks for all the opinions everyone!  ;D

I'm enjoying the very slightly grown in look, just past stubble -- gonna keep it like this for now. I think in general if I let it grow back out I'll just keep it pretty trimmed. Took this pic today to show where it's at now:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FcE0KL.jpg&hash=a560b378b970c3a7945e916d55c14ac193e94493)

you look really good with or without i would go light beard because most me look best with a little bit past the stubble.

Either way you look great!

I can see from your videos you lost weight too. Are you exercising or did T do that? 

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 01, 2012, 04:59:48 PM
Either way you look great!

I can see from your videos you lost weight too. Are you exercising or did T do that?

Regular exercise and T have definitely helped me build muscle, but the weight loss was mostly from dietary changes -- what's been most helpful for me is maintaining a consistent caloric deficit (burning more calories than I consume). Once you figure out how many calories you're burning each day (your basal metabolic rate and whatever you're burning through exercise) you can make adjustments accordingly. I don't count calories obsessively but it helps me stay focused knowing I can have a bad meal or few hours of eating and still have a good day overall. But T definitely builds on the work you put in... when I was inactive and significantly overweight I felt like my changes were more subtle than they are now.

It depends who you are trying to attract. Generally I noticed that people seem more attracted to a smooth face, and in common it seems more professional, but I feel people are even more attracted to a clean cut face, and it often not only can look professional, but can also make you as a person seem superior, more adult like, masculine, etc. A clean cut beard can be hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. Based on your old photo with you having a beard, you were not so clean cut, so that may be why you got a positive response. People are also more likely to respond to change than they are to something that is the same. Even if it did not  look good, someone will likely notice a change. If something looks good, but it was not suddenly changed, you may not get a response as quickly, so don't let not getting a positive response about your beard take you down. It all comes down to what you prefer.

Quote from: lexical on December 01, 2012, 08:59:56 PM
Regular exercise and T have definitely helped me build muscle, but the weight loss was mostly from dietary changes -- what's been most helpful for me is maintaining a consistent caloric deficit (burning more calories than I consume). Once you figure out how many calories you're burning each day (your basal metabolic rate and whatever you're burning through exercise) you can make adjustments accordingly. I don't count calories obsessively but it helps me stay focused knowing I can have a bad meal or few hours of eating and still have a good day overall. But T definitely builds on the work you put in... when I was inactive and significantly overweight I felt like my changes were more subtle than they are now.

Nice! I definetly got to change my eating habits. Slowly I'm starting too anyways. I just have to get an exsercise routine going, but I'm not sure what kind of activity I can do for winter time...?

Your beard looks great, but I'm going to have to vote for no beard or some stubble.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 02, 2012, 02:54:33 AM
Nice! I definetly got to change my eating habits. Slowly I'm starting too anyways. I just have to get an exsercise routine going, but I'm not sure what kind of activity I can do for winter time...?

There's always the option of going to the gym if you don't ski or snowboard or don't want to go biking/running in a winter jacket when there isn't snow in your path.

Basically, there's plenty of options.

Quote from: lexical on November 30, 2012, 11:32:39 PM
Wow, thanks for all the opinions everyone!  ;D

I'm enjoying the very slightly grown in look, just past stubble -- gonna keep it like this for now. I think in general if I let it grow back out I'll just keep it pretty trimmed. Took this pic today to show where it's at now:

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FcE0KL.jpg&hash=a560b378b970c3a7945e916d55c14ac193e94493)

Going to say that I definitely prefer this look.  It's a bit more 'rugged' to me than the beard.  Beards are very...gross, in my opinion.  Food and such always seems to get caught in them even if they're cleaned up and trimmed and it just grosses me out.  Clean-shaven also shows off the jawline and the facial features a little more and I prefer seeing guys clean-shaven.

Quote from: JasonRX on December 02, 2012, 10:32:57 AM
There's always the option of going to the gym if you don't ski or snowboard or don't want to go biking/running in a winter jacket when there isn't snow in your path.

Basically, there's plenty of options.

I have no money to join a gym and no money to buy any exsercise equipment. I do have a stationary bike but I hate it and I do have a jump rope but I still have no energy to exsercise. I guess i Just have to focus getting better eating habits for now until I have some energy.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 02, 2012, 07:16:27 PM
I have no money to join a gym and no money to buy any exsercise equipment. I do have a stationary bike but I hate it and I do have a jump rope but I still have no energy to exsercise. I guess i Just have to focus getting better eating habits for now until I have some energy.

If you force yourself to excersize then you'll probably find that you have more energy.  It snaps your body out of the routine of doing nothing.  You can make some stuff pretty easily for next to no money as well, using household objects as weights etc.  Just tonight I made myself a punchbag out of things that I had laying around (I took a sidepouch from my rucksack, put some cat litter in bags and put those inside and then padded it out with the fluff out of an old cushion as well as sticking some plastic bags/old envelope in there as well, and hung that from a beam by the strap of a broken rucksack that I got free from something.  All in all it cost nothing because I already had all the stuff in the house, but even if I was to buy it I'd guess that I could make it again for less than £15.)

You can make almost anything from things you've got laying around if you get creative.  My packer (rubber gloves, tights and cornflour/water), harness (an old T-shirt and bra) and STP (part of a household cleaning bottle) were all made from things we already had so cost me nothing except a little bit of time and several pricked fingers from sewing.  It feels good to look at something useful you've made and feel like you've accomplished something.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 02, 2012, 07:16:27 PM
I have no money to join a gym and no money to buy any exsercise equipment. I do have a stationary bike but I hate it and I do have a jump rope but I still have no energy to exsercise. I guess i Just have to focus getting better eating habits for now until I have some energy.

Making excuses not to work out isn't a good way to get/see results - and I'm not saying this to be mean; I'm saying this because it's the truth. For some people, the hardest part about working out is getting themselves to do it, but in the end, it'll be worth the while. You should still make the dietary changes though even if you do choose to exercise, if you really think you have that poor of a diet.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on December 02, 2012, 07:16:27 PM
I have no money to join a gym and no money to buy any exsercise equipment. I do have a stationary bike but I hate it and I do have a jump rope but I still have no energy to exsercise. I guess i Just have to focus getting better eating habits for now until I have some energy.

I'm gonna have to agree with Jason... there will always be excuses. Before I made the commitment I just kept saying tomorrow, next week, after this weekend, etc.

Then one day I remember seeing a pic of myself that someone else had taken and was honestly disgusted with what I saw. I'd been trying to deny how much weight I'd gained but there it was right in front of me. That was in December of 2011. I've lost 95 lbs since then and gained a lot of visible muscles/pecs. I'm sure your situation is much less extreme than mine was but man, my life has gotten so much better since then. I have so much more energy, look forward to social situations, and am just generally a lot happier.

For exercise I do pushups and situps/crunches (with weights) and pull ups/chin ups when I have a bar to do them on. I keep a set of kettlebells around too, they give you a great workout in just 10-15 minutes. If you can scrap together a few bucks for 1 or 2 of those, they are well worth it trust me. I also play tennis 2-3 days per week for a few hours. That's been my lifesaver... if you can find some form of vigorous cardio that you actually enjoy doing, it makes this whole thing a LOT easier. Otherwise, just go to a park and do pull ups on the monkey bars. Jog or run there to get some cardio in. Find something in your house with decent weight and hold it while you do situps/crunches. Pushups are an excellent workout and a great way to build up your endurance. I used to be able to do barely 1 pushup. Now I can do 40 consecutively. Some guys can do a lot more heh but my arms aren't very big. Like I mentioned before though, it is ALL about the eating -- the working out is just icing on top.

It really doesn't matter how much you need or want to lose, it's the fact that you know you're not happy with your body/eating habits and until you do something about it, it'll always hold you back. It's just that simple. When I look back I just wish I'd done it sooner.

If there's anything I can do to help out, send me a PM - I know how hard it is to find that motivation in the beginning.

dude, nice beard!  I wish mine would fill in that much.  I think you look good either way, and if I had your facial hair I'd be rocking the beard.  4 years plus on T and all I have is an Amish/Neck beard.

Thanks guys. I know some day I will have the body I want, I just can't seem to get myself motivated right now. Definitely in the summer I want to get this bike I found fixed so I can go biking. I'm just gonna work on changing my diet for now.