Susan's Place Transgender Resources

How many of you guys started shaving pre T, or are currently pre T and shave?

I started shaving about a month before I started T. I haven't shaved since I noticed some slight facial hair in the stache area, my bottom lip and some chin hair. It's all really fine and light still, but I was wondering if I shaved it off would it grow back faster and darker?

Hmmm I haven't tried and it's funny that you bring this up because I have been contemplating shaving as well.

I want to shave but I wonderd since I don't intend to have facial hair, if it would just be a burden.  However, I do shave my legs  :laugh: Haha it's the only place that looks manly (as a bio-female growing up, I had freakishly large calf muscles) and I show off my definition.

I shave.

I have like 5 chin hairs, but I figured I might as well get rid of the peach fuzz in case it helps me pass.  Also, practice!

Far less shaving than pits and legs.  I haven't shaved my legs in 3 months and you can barely see the hair (ie you really have to look).

Jay

Started shaving about a month before i started T...

supposedly shaving promotes growth, so i say shave it off.  I shave every four/five days 'cept i'm letting it grow 'cause i think i've got a few whiskers and i wanna see them.

Actually it's a myth that shaving promotes hair growth.  People only think that because more hair is going to grow in anyway and with shaving it all comes back evenly.  As an example of how it doesn't promote hair growth: a man going bald isn't going to regrow his hair by shaving his head.

I've been shaving since puberty. At one point, years ago, I underwent months of electrolysis because I was trying to "fit in", but its all grown back since and I can  grow a full goatee if I want to. I have to shave daily, as by the evening, its starting to show. I don't take T yet by the way, just the way i've always been.

Quote from: Scratchy Wilson on June 13, 2008, 01:51:38 PM
How many of you guys started shaving pre T, or are currently pre T and shave?

I started shaving about a month before I started T. I haven't shaved since I noticed some slight facial hair in the stache area, my bottom lip and some chin hair. It's all really fine and light still, but I was wondering if I shaved it off would it grow back faster and darker?

Maddie's right. It's a myth that it promotes hair growth. It might feel a little coarser when it grows back in, but that's because the end is blunt, having been cut off, rather than worn down.

It's a good idea to shave off the peach fuzz if you have it, as far as passing goes, but won't help hair growth overall.

Dennis

i just shaved for the first time like 3 ays ago.  it feels kindof stubbly in my sideburn area.  im afraid im going to rub them off (not really) because i like the feeling so i keep rubbing them. :P

I am pre T and shave. I have some hairs but i'm a damn blond >< so it doesn't show in certain light. It feels good for manly reasons but otherwise makes my face break out pretty bad :/

I've been shaving my face since I was around 13 hoping that something would grow but no luck yet! I just have a little stubble on my chin.

I thought about doing this. But I realized that there might be a bit of an issue. I noticed that the areas of my legs I shaved as a young teenager are darker and thicker than the areas I didn't shave. So I considered shaving portions of my face where I wanted something to grow would do something to that effect. But I worry that it won't really do anything, and so I'm leaving it alone for now. I don't mind the peach fuzz at all, to be honest. But I strive for T because of it's many elements, facial hair included.

I don't shave my legs. Someone told me that if I'm doing it only because I'm female that I should stop because it's in conflict with my gender identity and puts stress on me. I did and you know what? I stressed out a whole lot less about my legs.

I do, however, shave my armpits, for hygienic purposes. My dad said, "What makes you want to shave? Don't you think you're a guy?" I tried to explain that some guys do shave under their arms, like athletes and guys who like to be shirtless on a regular basis. I told him that armpit hair helps retain the smell, which is not something I want, because I have "girl smell." Well, he says that only gay guys tend to shave under their arms. I gave him a long look with my eyebrows up. He hasn't forgotten that I still like boys, just not in a "feminine" way. When I try to explain that to him, he doesn't get it. No one does. The feminine way is playing wife/girlfriend and having vaginal sex... providing that female role whether it's nurturing or tough or understanding or callous. It doesn't have to have stereotypes attached to it; being the girlfriend/wife is different than being the boyfriend/husband, especially in gay relations.

So my question is regarding the peach fuzz: only girls have this? A guy passes easier if he has NO hair on his face rather than the light fuzz? Because I will mind the fuzz if it is what's giving me away (more recently people have been calling me "she," but my dad also gets around and often says, "this is my daughter" to people and stuff, not to be mean, he's just being honest with himself). But I know I pass pretty well. My dad said to his neighbor, "My daughter's staying here for the summer" and his neighbor did that slow nod and went, "Oh..." I'm sure he thought I was a guy until my dad said that. And I wasn't mad at my dad. I haven't started transition. I'll only be mad when people do that while I'm transitioning.

I don't think I should start this because once I do there's no going back. I think I'd rather wait the 18 months to two years my counselor said I'm going to have to wait before I have T.

When I was pre-t, my doc recommended that I shave in order to pass easier. She said that the fine hairs make it obvious that you dont shave and having a clean-shaven appearance helps pass. That and I just liked the way it felt to shave my face  :D

Quote from: 4Sparky on June 26, 2008, 08:23:42 PM
When I was pre-t, my doc recommended that I shave in order to pass easier. She said that the fine hairs make it obvious that you dont shave and having a clean-shaven appearance helps pass. That and I just liked the way it felt to shave my face  :D

Maybe I should give this a shot... I'll wait until I've heard many opinions from people. Maybe I'll even ask the counselor what they recommend. That won't be until July...

I'm preT and shaving's definitely made a difference for me. I use to have only one or two hairs on my chin, now I can grow a bit of a beard and my mustache grows in thicker and faster than it use to.

Though this won't work with all types of peach fuzz.

If you pluck out a few hairs, especially those that seem darker than others and the tip is lighter than the root, shaving could help turn them into "whiskers," if it's all light then it'll grow back just the same.

No shaving for me..I don't plan on it since I want to have that androgynous look.

I'm testing the myth. I've shaved a portion of my leg I never shaved before, and I'm going to keep track of the progress.

I used to shave up to just barely above the knee when I was "playing girl." But I stopped a few months ago and my legs came back looking pretty dang furry, which I had to laugh about. My legs used to have blond hair on those portions, but it's far darker than my arms now. The hair is also wiry, implying that it is thicker than the soft fuzz more girls have. Because I still have fuzz on my thighs, I gave that a shot. I'll see if there is any significant change.

I still don't think shaving my face pre-T is something I'll do. Shaving will not suddenly put me through male puberty. It's a different kind of hair that makes up a guy's beard, just like the arm pit hair and pubic hair is different. I don't think shaving it off will make your body say, "time to make that hormonal switch."

I used to shave pre-t and it felt good. I shave now on T however my sides feel like there is a ton of hair there but its only peach coloured.. so its no point having it there.. I have about 3 black hairs on my chin and the side bits of a moustache in black but that's it only 6 weeks on T though...

I have a ton of peach fuzz now, and I've had 6 shots. I only have about 4 dark hairs on either side of my mustache and about 5 on my chin. I know I should probably shave it off so I don't look pre-pubesent, but I like looking at them. lol

I think age is also a factor. A lot of guys don't have a lot of facial hair until they're in their mid twenties. My brother is 21 and he can't manage a full beard or mustache yet. So if I start T before I'm 21, I'm not going to expect magic to sprout from my face or anywhere else.

Posted on: June 27, 2008, 05:02:06 PM

---

Well, I started shaving. Thought I'd mention; it DOES make a difference, guys. It doesn't make hair grow faster, but it does make your face appear more masculine. It's very subtle, but people notice. Since I started, people have been seeing me as a guy in public far more often.

As for testing the theory of if it makes hair grow faster/thicker, I tested on my thigh for what's roughly a month now and really, it's done nothing. In fact, it took forever to grow back. Maybe repeated shaving will make a difference over a very long portion of time...\\

So anyway, shaving before T is not useless because it gives your face a slightly more masculine texture.

Shaving is an art. I recommend the shave my face forums. The site leans towards double edge razors but is all around good site. I eventually chose a straight razor but they teach you everything there is to possibly know about shaving. Trust me there is more then you could possibly imagine. I was shocked at how little I knew about shaving. I shouldn't have been considering my face after shaving but that is a different issue. The other good option is manic's shaving videos on youtube.

Oh and shave that peach fuzz not because it will grow better but because it will give you away most times. Guys just usually don't have peach fuzz. Shavemyface is an amazing community that could care less if you are bio or not. All they want is a better shave, I learned quite a bit from them. Don't hurt yourself with dollar store razors or even those twin blades. Go out and get a single blade razor. Even the cheap single blade bics are better then most multiblade razors. If you are poor contact me or one of the guys at shavemyface and they will help you out. I have a few razors that I decided I didn't like that you are welcome to PM me about. The blades are dirt cheap and it is less impact on the environment.

->-bleeped-<-boy

I personally don't care about using multiple, magictastical methods of shaving. I just want my face to feel and look like a baby's ass. I don't care how it gets that way. And eventually, after T, then I'll have fun with what facial hair can do.

I would love to shave, especially when I start T and begin growing a beard. I mean, I'll keep the beard but shave it into the style I want it.

I'm pre op but I don't currently shave...My face is just too smooth, there's no hair on it whatsoever (well besides the top of my head). I feel like I'd just be scraping away skin and giving myself cuts for no reason :-\

Yeah, if you have no peach fuzz, I wouldn't worry about it.

I, however, am furry. But it's peachy. Ugh. So yeah, I have to shave, I feel.

So today/tonight I was flipping out over my gender identity issues and crying and everything like that. And its like 6am over here and I can't sleep because its keeping me awake(as well as my injured shoulder.) So I go to the hall cabinet and I'm about to grab some tylenol when an idea hits me.

I walk into the bathroom, which is right next to the cabinet and I start going through the drawers, hoping my father shaves there. Bingo! I find his shaving stuff... and I don't know why, but I decided I needed to shave. Never shaved my face before, except for that one time when I was 12 but that was just the upper lip, anyway... I put on the shaving cream and at first it was just going to be my upper lip and my chin, but it was so relaxing and it calmed me down so much that I just tried to do the rest. Unfortunately when I was done, I realized I had missed some spots... but I have blonde hair and its hard enough as is with peach fuzz. Razor burn isn't that bad either, and I have sensitive skin.

... I love shaving. Although I'm a bit worried my parents will 'smell' it even though they're cool with the transgender stuff.

Meh. It can help with dysphoria, I believe, on the most subtle level.

I don't love shaving. But I like it enough to do it, I guess.

I'm a bit of a quirky person, though. I like doing really weird things, so that might be why.

But yeah, I don't think it'll be the solution to everything.

Yeah.

I was a little bummed because people were saying you get prickly. I was going to enjoy that so much (heck, I'll come up to my dad once in a great while and rub his cheeks because it feels funny) but my peach fuzz isn't thick enough to feel like sandpaper, lol...

lol i rub my dads cheeks too.

Quote from: Chett on July 23, 2008, 08:38:39 PMlol i rub my dads cheeks too.

Isn't it great?  ;D Hahah.

when i was a little kid sitting on his lap, hed rub his cheek on my cheek and id be like "youre gonna rub my face off!"

Haha, I never really did that.

I've got some stubble going on though, or it feels that way. I think I'm going to rub my own face off. :laugh:

I guess I can say my hair's a little pokey by the end of the day. But it doesn't show (no shadow) and it doesn't really feel that way to me (though I think if other people touched my face, they'd notice).

Yeah, I don't really have much of a shadow without the fuzz. When I do have it, it seems more visible, its weird. The texture of my skin, though, does appear more masculine. The hair on my upper lip has always bit a bit coarse, but that could be because of my previous shave there when I was 12.

The things we do when we're curious...

Since I was like, 12, people would say I had a mustache. And before I shaved, I realized it was kind of true. A blond short stache. But because it's blond and peachy, it isn't masculine... I just looked like a girl with a mustache.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Theres a difference between a female 'moustache' and a male one. Girls usually don't shave it, so its still fluffy and soft, but a guy will have a bit of a rougher texture usually because he shaves.

It actually used to piss me off during grade 7-9 when guys would start to get facial hair, but they would not shave their moustaches no matter how thick it got. They didn't even look good! It looked really dirty and really stupid because the hair was still on the soft side. If it were me, I would have shaved.

Hahah. Well, because I'm into that terrible 70's look... I'll try a stache eventually.

Haha, no problem with a 70's moustache. The only reason I had issues with other guys keeping their unshaved moustaches was because they didn't have enough hair and it was too soft. Looked like they smeared dirt on their face and then drank chocolate milk and never bothered to wipe their face.

I personally want to try a soul patch or something with sideburns... maybe both.

Wish I had a choice about what to grow. I have a goatee because it's all I can grow credibly. Also because it's the only area I'd have to shave every day and I'm too lazy.

My left sideburn still doesn't meet my hairline, so I can only grow sideburns when my hair's a bit long, then I have to hack them off when I get a haircut because I have this gap.

I'm hoping post-hysto that I'll get a few more areas, or at least sideburns I can keep on. Although I suspect that what'll happen is that the hair on my neck will grow to the point I'll have to shave it daily or look like some kind of cross between an Amish horse-cart driver and mountain man.

Dennis

I have a goatee because it's all I can grow credibly

That's cool, it seems to be the 'with it' look this year, for reasons (like all 'with it' looks any given year) I can't understand. 

A bunch of us at one of the theaters started a contest back in the spring, but now after working so much in the spring and early summer sun we're stuck with them till fall, as shaving them off now would give us this white patch around our mouth and chin.

Well, hair growth in my family isn't too great. Genetics aren't really on my side. My brother's 21 and he can't grow a beard.

I'd definitely have sideburns, no doubt about it. Every old guy I've seen with sideburns was either bad ass or a sex offender. I'd like to hope more of them are bad ass.

South patches are okay, but my mom absolutely hates them, and I know I shouldn't do everything she likes but I'm already ruining her life by being a man. I don't want to make her look at a little dirty beard, too.  :-X

Yeah I could understand. Its the least you can do, right? :laugh:

Genetics seem to be on my side. So I'll probably be able to grow something at least.

-sigh- My genetics are horrid. They made a lot of the men in my family petite. My dad's 5'11", though.

Oh geez, genetics,  I hope I do not get the neck hair that my dad has, the kind that looks like the back of the neck of a wolf and trails down the spine like some sort of scruff.  Eww.  :eusa_sick:

Quote from: noxdraconis on July 25, 2008, 09:56:14 PM
Oh geez, genetics,  I hope I do not get the neck hair that my dad has, the kind that looks like the back of the neck of a wolf and trails down the spine like some sort of scruff.  Eww.  :eusa_sick:

Hahaha! Nice!

Quote from: Elwood on July 25, 2008, 05:24:55 PM
-sigh- My genetics are horrid. They made a lot of the men in my family petite. My dad's 5'11", though.

Genetics weren't on my side either, if it makes you feel better. Most of the males and females on my dad's side are really tall (my dad is six foot even) and I leveled out at 5'6 even though I've always wanted to be taller. It was disappointing, but I've mostly gotten over it. Mostly.

Quote from: trapthavok on July 25, 2008, 10:07:29 PM

Quote from: noxdraconis on July 25, 2008, 09:56:14 PM
Oh geez, genetics,  I hope I do not get the neck hair that my dad has, the kind that looks like the back of the neck of a wolf and trails down the spine like some sort of scruff.  Eww.  :eusa_sick:

Hahaha! Nice!

Not really.  I already have enough that I have had to become very adept at the art of neck line shaving.  The only satisfactory result of an increase of hair there would be that I would be able to gel it up and continue my faux hawk all the way down to my shirt collar.

If I was at least 5'5" I'd be happy, because well... that's the "middle range" for females, and at least I wouldn't be shorter than most girls.

Ideally I'd like to be 5'8" or taller. 5'8" is like the shortest I ever see male actors... (Matthew Broderick, John Belushi)

Danny DeVito (who is 5'0" tall) is really short, but he's KNOWN For being short, and I don't want short to be my trademark.

Haha, an extended faux hawk might actually look pretty cool... but it'd most likely weird out everyone else.

I'm 5'7", and 'normally' thats a little bit tall for a girl, but where I am, the girls are giants. I've seen a lot of girl's around 5'8"-5'11" and the majority of men are already 6'.

I probably wouldn't have any complaints if I was 5'7". Try being 5'3" or 4'11". I know of a transman who is 4'11" and he's not going to get any taller.

I think you're oversizing the male population. In my art class of about 30 students, most of the guys were between 5'7" and 6". One guy was about 6'4", and that was unusual.

Average height for white Americans between 20-39 years old is...

Male, Five feet, ten.two inches
Female, Five feet, four.six inches.

Quote from: Elwood on July 26, 2008, 01:12:32 PM
I probably wouldn't have any complaints if I was 5'7". Try being 5'3" or 4'11". I know of a transman who is 4'11" and he's not going to get any taller.

I think you're oversizing the male population. In my art class of about 30 students, most of the guys were between 5'7" and 6". One guy was about 6'4", and that was unusual.

I'm in a different country and area though. I rarely run into males who are my height unfortunately.

You've made the gap of 19 years in your statistic. People I've been exposed to are generally in my age group. People don't stop growing until their mid twenties (yes, despite what a lot of medical books say). So people from the 20 age group vs. the 39 age group are going to be very different. Since I am 18, what is happening to a 39 year old doesn't apply to me. To want to be as tall as a 39 year old is an unreasonable expectation, and we are not to set unreasonable expectations for ourselves.

Also, the "average" is not what's acceptable. It's the average. 5'8" is a perfectly acceptable height for a man.

Robert Wadlow, 8'11" tall was not more of a man for being taller than any man in history. In fact, he was just a boy when he died.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy168%2Fpenguin_furuba%2FPeople%2Fwadlow.jpg&hash=84363c836546f703ea3e43e835714f62a652fa95)

Then there's Matthew Broderick (5'8"), Will Ferrell (6' 3½"), and Nathan Lane (5'5")...

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy168%2Fpenguin_furuba%2FPeople%2F22221.jpg&hash=d0e3c5d4e8c6a2d4b984008b7a2f89b4da0cddec)

As you can see, there is variance amongst this "average." The average is the product of everyone's heights added together, then divided by the number of people. This mathematical average is not the same thing as "the majority of men/women are this height."

Those stats come from the National Institute of Health, i.e. the Federal Government.  I'm sure they reason they picked those ages is that people are growing up to 20, and after 40, women in particular tend to shrink a bit due to something in the ostroprosis cycle I would guess.  So 20-40 is a normal adult range. 

I know I'm within a .1 or so of what I was at 20.  So at 19 you might grow more, T might help, I don't know, there seems to be no stats on average   

And its a mean/median average, which means that exactly one half of all males in the group are taller, one have exactly are shorter than the given number.  Why stats is not a mandated course in High School amazes me.  So sure, some male are taller, some are shorter.  Hell,

* Tom Cruise
      (5' 7" / 1.702 m)
* Dustin Hoffman
      (5' 6" / 1.676 m)
* Dudley Moore
      (5' 2 1/2"/ 1.588 m)
* Al Pacino
      (5' 5 1/2"/ 1.664 m)

And if you can act half as well as Dustin or Al, well you will make it.

What I meant to say is the area where I live, most girls are 5'8"-5'11". Most men here are close to 5'10"-6'4".... I had a kid in a grade behind me who was 7' and that was considered unusual but 6'4" wasn't all that much abnormal. The other day I was at the theatre and I saw girls who had to be in the 8th or 7th grade who were 5'6". The fact of the matter is, where I live specifically, the women are taller than me. There are various other countries and towns/cities/villages where the population is either considered taller or shorter when compared to others.

These things can also vary state to state, province to province, city to city, country to country and so on.

I'm not talking in averages like the mathematical sense that requires a census and divide, because I honestly do not have enough direct information on my province let alone my own city. What I am talking about, though, is the height gap I've observed out in public. Other than being statistically correct with that information, it doesn't quite help me when I actually do encounter a majority of women who are taller than me and men who are significantly taller.

"Most" men and "most" women are just the people you see. I hate to say it, but you are not a reliable source. No individual person is.

I was not meaning to be a 'reliable' source, I'm talking about where I am and my own experience. I'm speaking strictly from my own experiences and I would not use them to dictate what other people's experiences would be because that would be silly. If I came off like I was trying to say it was absolute fact for everyone, then I'm sorry it was interpreted that way because its truly not my intention. I think I've tried to state several times that it was from my own experiences and I did not mean to apply it to anyone else. If my wording made you feel like I was trying to, then I don't know what to say other than I try to explain myself as best as I can.

I'm not going to rely solely on statistics because they are only that. What I see and what I experience don't always follow the statistics and rarely do... the world would have to be incredibly organized and almost computerized for such a thing to work like that. So I don't try to bother focusing on something like that because obviously where I live, the women are that tall and so are the men. I know several people from my city and province who could back me up on this... however when it comes to the actual mathematical average of everything, it could very well be different and I absolutely realize that. However, what I see and experience on a day to day basis is different and if the statistics say otherwise, then perhaps I just see one part of the statistic rather than the opposing side.

In the end, when it comes down to it... what I see and associate with on a day to day basis will not automatically change because of a number, but rather, the type of people that live in my area.

the world would have to be incredibly organized and almost computerized for such a thing to work like that

In fact, the world is - at last check - both organized, and the NIH is very computerized.  I'm going to trust them on this much at least.

But I did check and the figures from the UN Health Organization is consistent with the NIH figures.  They too are very organized and computerized.

I was meaning the distribution of people, not society and organizations. ;)

Yeh as far as shaving goes, I started to shave my legs at my father's insistence when I was 13, finally stopped when realized why was different and didn't want to do another thing to hide who I was.  Although kinda wish had grown back more even, as the bottom part of my lower legs has longer hair than rest of legs, but it's grown out thickly, although darker.  I was fortunate in one thing of being naturally fairly hairy for a woman lol.  No beard though, and even with T not sure how would turn out since my father has some bald spots in his and I have a bit of native american in heritage (not a lot, mostly irish, scottish, and german)

Height wise, am short for guy at 5'4" but I have a thicker build which to me satisfies me well enough.  Got larger than average feet and hands for most women as well so thats good.  Unfortunately I got larger than average everything woman too :(

Arm pit wise, still shave occationally if going whear something sleeveless...  figure better not push my luck on what people can handle on a female body...  always done that though, so not sure why I keep itching now LOL

Odd, I started shaving my legs at 14.  Never quit.  So everyone I know who knows me thinks - because they know no different, that I just don't have leg hair.

Meh. I stopped shaving my legs because I didn't have a "need" to. I only did in the first place because girls are "supposed to." I was teased when I didn't.