Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Just want to know how other people here feel during these activities. Post-ops, please vote for how you felt before your surgery.
If you feel comfortable in doing so, please post about your feelings.
Thanks.

YUCK YUCK YUCK. Ok it's not that bad. I am going for the skiny man with the nasty fat man boobies look right now. Lets just say if my shirt flew off somebody would say look man boobies.

Quote from: Nero on June 14, 2007, 08:02:35 PM
Just want to know how other people here feel during these activities. Post-ops, please vote for how you felt before your surgery.
If you feel comfortable in doing so, please post about your feelings.
Thanks.

nothing, not so bad =0  I don't get too upset over it.

Hrm, I would suppose "frustration" would qualify under

Quote
some discomfort

More often than not I really do not pay that much attention to the er my anatomy. (Because it is considerably less tolerable when I do.)


This said, I avoid being nude like the plague.

I don't mind seeing myself nude really. I like my body in an overall sense, though it has hints of masculinity I don't much like. I REALLY hate my masculine upper back for example. And the face... waaaaay too male to look at.

I don't pay much attention to the genitals. I HATE it when aroused (doesn't happen anymore thank god), but otherwise... they're just sorta THERE. Out of place, sure, but no worse than the knobby knees, upper back muscles, thicker neck, etc.

Keep in mind though I see my body as being much more feminine than masculine overall, which is why I like it. If I was 7'9" with gorilla-like body hair and house-lifting muscles... I'd be miserable ;)

~Kate~

Quote from: Tink on June 14, 2007, 11:26:16 PM
Even pre-transition, I was never able to remove my shirt in front of other men.  I had a male body then, I didn't have breasts, I was anatomically male, but still, it felt very WRONG to expose my torso in a locker room full of young men.  Somehow, I felt violated, raped...can't think of another word really.

Ah, I thought the question meant WHEN NUDE ALONE.

Me too. I can't undress in front of men. It's irrational, I know I'm a male, but it's terribly embarassing and WRONG... and felt so even as a very small child. I never, ever showered after gym in high school. Ewww! But god... parade naked in front of a couple dozen boys? NOT happening.

Women though... no problem. Not that I've had a lot of experience undressing in front of girls, lol, but there's no self-consciousness about it except when I "realize" my genitals don't match.

So undressing alone or amoungst women = Some Discomfort
Undressing in front of men = extreme psychological pain

~Kate~

Some discomfort.

Slight Body hair and of course, the penis, remind me of what I am not. I also try and get over my large hands and feet. Then there is the stuble and irritation from shaving always fresh on my face. I have gotten more comfortable with mirrors since resolving to fix things but any comfort that comes from them is rooted firmly in the idea of one day looking in and seeing a more feminine visage.

I do have to mention that in the last 8 months or so, I have lost close to 50 pounds so I like seeing that progress. I have always wanted to be smaller.

Also yes, I could never take my shirt off in front of a guy. Or a woman for that matter. I always figured that I was just ashamed of my figure, but then wondered why I went out of my way to cover my pecs and nipples above all.

I think that in undressing amongst men, social dysphoria is added to body dysphoria, making it a big goo of pain  :D. I never really felt that pain since I never did it and never showered with in a public shower except with a bathing suit on (at a pool or beach).

Most time, I had to wash as best I could with towelettes in the bathroom stall (again). I smelled nice at least ;-).

I never in my whole life undressed in the locker room, went to the locker room's restroom; I didn't quite understand why, I wondered if I was a prude? But, in general I was not, so I didn't get it.

I had one of the best body of any guys in all my high school, I was one of the two top athletes, yet never showed it off to anyone, It was for my track and fields performance and not for use in proving my so called manlyness...

I felt extreme psychological pain undressing in front of men.  It bothered me quite a bit. 
Undressing with women around was much the same.

Myself...well it really bothers me.  It is not as extreme as the previous two, but it does bother me quite a bit. 

So quite  a bit body dysphoria. 

I hated gym classes everyday in middle school and high school.  Middle school was much worse, I had constant fear.  I would NEVER shower. 
High school was bad, just not as bad as middle school. 

With myself...well I do have a high level of psychological pain, I don't like being naked, but its the only way to shave in the shower and get dressed.  Its more of I have to do this, than I really like doing this. 

Honestly, when Im by myself, I am only somewhat bothered by physicality... actualy less bothered now than I used to be...  Its an anoyance, but I can survive for now....

If I had to do it infront of people... total shutdown... sorry... not happening... I used to get written up in gym class for not changeing... or atleast not changeing properly... Id sneak off to the restrooms before class started and change there very quickly... and then into another pair of jeans instead of swats or shorts...  I was not going to stand in my undies infornt of all those jerks... Lucky in HS I didnt have that problem what so ever.... I was a pickle and wearing a uniform once a week was way better than changeing and showering infront of others.

QuoteAh, I thought the question meant WHEN NUDE ALONE.

Hrm, Yeah it seems we have two answers in this consideration.

Alone I don't like but I deal.

In the presence of others... uh, NO.

Quote from: Kate on June 14, 2007, 11:40:04 PM
Ah, I thought the question meant WHEN NUDE ALONE.

~Kate~

I thought the same thing.  When in front of people?  Marcy loves me nekkid, but you could not pay me enough to take off my clothes in public.......no, no, no.......won't do it.  At the beach now, it's a one-piece swimsuit.  No bare-breasted activities in public for me. 

Bev

Nothing, usually, and by myself. I hate showing my body right now as I tend to get alot of questions that i'd rather not try and answer. This is why I have stopped swimming and haven't even tried to tan. :(

There's some discomfort alone, but I deal with it. There's much more if/when others are around. As a kid in school, I was always extremely uncomfortable changing in the locker room, and tried to get out of having to change into gym clothes at all since I was never picked for any teams and always ended up sitting on the bench. I never showered in the locker room. I forget which grade it was, but I'd cut gym  class so much they were going to flunk me.

zythyra

It doesn't really bother me. I mean, my body is nowhere near what it would be ideally, but oh well. My wife loves me despite physical "abnormalities," and it does a wonder for my self-esteem. Isn't being trans partially about seeing past the physical, after all?

Dean

Quote from: DeanO on June 16, 2007, 09:33:53 PM
It doesn't really bother me.

same w/me.  gonna be better after top sergery. no more bindin'  july 20 man :icon_dance: :laugh:

Some discomfort, but this is improving over the transitional continuum.

Were it not for the BA, radical penectomy and orchiectomy, it would be intolerable.

Indeed, in the case of the latter two listed items, it would have been fatal, were it not for the excision of those parts.

Honestly?  I hate it. 

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)

Quote from: Kristi on June 17, 2007, 08:15:05 AM
Honestly?  I hate it. 

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)

Even so, I wish that I looked like you.  :)

You are much sweeter than I am, too. You're OK, girl.  :)

Pre top surgery, I hated it. Now I can live with being totally nude. I've come to an acceptance about the bottom bits. And being shirtless is absolutely no problem.

That's alone. I felt uncomfortable undressing with women around before and never did with men around.

Dennis

Quote from: Rhonda on June 17, 2007, 08:17:41 AM

Quote from: Kristi on June 17, 2007, 08:15:05 AM
Honestly?  I hate it. 

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)

Even so, I wish that I looked like you.  :)

You are much sweeter than I am, too. You're OK, girl.  :)

Thanks, Rhonda, you nut!
(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.govteen.com%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Fhug2.gif&hash=88c38d21d7ed276e6457a21174fe96797e4af246)

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fganjataz.com%2F01smileys%2Fimages%2Fsmileys%2FloopyBlonde-blinking.gif&hash=4545ddf8251cf9c32ae6074d56e48bc34a755857)Kristi

I always felt uncomfortable pre-op, I not only hated my sex organs, but having to look at a hairy body and face.

I would never get changed in the mens locker rooms, but went to and from in the sports gear I was wearing and would shower at home.

I hated bathing and showering, It was functional rather than a pleasure and I always used plenty of bubble bath and a strategically placed rubber duck in the bath. I never liked touching my penis (or enjoyed anyone else touching it)

I hated shaving, but the only thing I hated more than shaving was growing facial hair, it was a catch 22 situation.

It is so depressing when I had baths or showers with my ex wife, she loved this but it only served to remind me how hideous I found my own body.

But times change and its now a pleasure to walk naked round the womens locker room, lounge in the sauna and enjoy long baths, or showers washing my bits and my hair, feeling a soft and sensuous body.

The worst thing about Gender Dysphoria to me was how uncomfortable I always was in my own skin. It was fundemental to my life and that didn't really change until I transitioned.

Buffy

Somehow I managed to ignore my 'male' bits during necessary hygiene, etc.  Those aspects of me were just not there as much as I could ignore them and didn't have to attend to them.

I was told there was nothing that could be done -- you are what you're born as.  And I was just doing my best to carry on.

At times of undressing, whether in private or public, I performed it as a utility -- something that the situation required of me.  In locker room situations, I was annoyed by the jocks who would be strutting and showing off, never understanding their joy in exhibitionism.

Bathing privately, again the blind spot, broken by the necessity of proper care & hygiene.  If there were any thoughts, they were of the 'what would it be like if' variety.  I was well aware of the common heritage of male and female genitalia, and what structures had common beginnings on the fetus, so I could content myself with visualizing what it would be like if this bit had ended up there instead.

Welcome to my coping mechanism  ::)

Karen

Quote from: Kate on June 14, 2007, 11:40:04 PM
Ah, I thought the question meant WHEN NUDE ALONE.

Same here.  When I'm bathing I turn off my emotions and don't look.

Undressing in front of other people?!  No way!

Quote from: Amy T. on June 15, 2007, 12:38:10 AM
I hated gym classes everyday in middle school and high school.  Middle school was much worse, I had constant fear.  I would NEVER shower.  High school was bad, just not as bad as middle school. 

Ya.  Exponential pain.

Quote from: Karen on June 17, 2007, 10:50:42 AM
Somehow I managed to ignore my 'male' bits during necessary hygiene, etc.  Those aspects of me were just not there as much as I could ignore them and didn't have to attend to them.

I was told there was nothing that could be done -- you are what you're born as.  And I was just doing my best to carry on.

At times of undressing, whether in private or public, I performed it as a utility -- something that the situation required of me.  In locker room situations, I was annoyed by the jocks who would be strutting and showing off, never understanding their joy in exhibitionism.

Bathing privately, again the blind spot, broken by the necessity of proper care & hygiene.  If there were any thoughts, they were of the 'what would it be like if' variety.  I was well aware of the common heritage of male and female genitalia, and what structures had common beginnings on the fetus, so I could content myself with visualizing what it would be like if this bit had ended up there instead.

Welcome to my coping mechanism  ::)

Karen

I unexpectedly reached the point where I could not tolerate the presence of 'it' [the other parts had been long since excised].

I did not want this to happen, as I wanted to preserve the tissue for penile inversion GRS.

I just couldn't believe it, Karen. That's the way that it has been: merciless.

I tried to fight it and then one day, I found myself engaging in targeted self-mutilation of 'it' with a #12 scalpel and after a while of this, I thought to myself,

"OK girl, this is serious. Something must be done, now."

I was shocked that I was actually doing something like this; astounded, really.

Not long after that, 'it' was radically excised by a local urology department.

My Lord Karen...I had forgotten about that time until now....

I was utterly astounded.

Very, very, uncomfortable. I shower in my underwear. In the locker room I didn`t even like t change my shirt. The locker room seemed like some kind of hell I had to walk into. Teenage boys are mean and scary. To defend myself from them I did the prison thing. I stood up to the bigest, badest, wants to fight with everyone bully and became untouchable through Jr. high.
  Fogged mirros, bubbles , lots and lots of shaving.

Quote from: Karen on June 17, 2007, 10:50:42 AM
Welcome to my coping mechanism  ::)
Karen

This is very private stuff here, but I was always tiny, and now 3 times my previous tiny self since hrt.  My other 2 "bits" arent the size of 2 bits at all, but tiny cashew halves.
I consider my part (when I can see it) to be a larger than usual clitoris, and treat it as such.  The sac?? Hell, it's so shrunken, it serves as pseudo-labia.

Anyway, Karen, that's my coping mechanism at the moment.


Weird Bev, Who shares waaay too much.   :icon_weirdface:

I'm only somewhat uncomfortable.  When I see myself naked, I see a female body with the exception of the genitals.  If I tuck it between the legs, I look totally female.  Usually I get to distracted by my breasts to look further down, which is a good thing.  My body hair is pretty much female at this point, so that's not an issue.  I only really shave my legs and armpits and nothing else.  That being said, I've gotten used to seeing the unsightly bits down there and now it's not too bad, most of my discomfort with my genitals at this point is situational, whereas I have to limit my activities due only to the fact of what I have down below.  In that sense, it is very frustrating.

Sexy and nasty at the same time, it all depends on what parts LOL :)

Quote from: Kate on June 14, 2007, 11:40:04 PMI can't undress in front of men. It's irrational, I know I'm a male, but it's terribly embarassing and WRONG... and felt so even as a very small child. I never, ever showered after gym in high school. Ewww! But god... parade naked in front of a couple dozen boys? NOT happening.

Heh, I was exactly the same way. I simply played hooky from gym class all through high school. I didn't care in the least that I got an F, because it did not figure in my grade point average. And I graduated with a sweet 3.5  ;D

I answered the question in terms of being alone or with my sweetie. These days, when she and I get naked together, I usually wear a thong and tuck to minimize the physical difference between us.

Before I got on hormones, and before I sugared the hair off my body, yeah I did feel "extreme psychological pain." But now I'm consoled knowing that my transformation is well underway and one day I'll have the vagina I should have been born with. That gives me enough hope to get by with "some discomfort." The discomfort serves some useful purpose. It keeps prodding me to keep moving, keep trying, don't slack off, "KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOLD ON."

Quote from: Karen on June 17, 2007, 10:50:42 AMIn locker room situations, I was annoyed by the jocks who would be strutting and showing off, never understanding their joy in exhibitionism.

Your post reminded me of something I wish I could forget. At the age of about 11 I was traumatized in a locker room by the sight of an older boy who stood nude with an erection, and showed off to the others by moving his hips, causing it to swing around in a circle. Some boys had gathered around to watch and he had a goofy grin on his face. His erection was dark red and scary looking. I had never seen such a thing before, and my brain pretty much refused to take in what my eyes were seeing. I had long loathed my genitals and turned my face up to avoid seeing them when changing. That image in the locker room scarred my visual cortex and made me try to avoid boys as much as possible. Unfortunately, my parents sent me to an all-boys high school... years of absolute miserable hell.

i don't even like undressing in front of my cats.

Quote from: ht on June 26, 2007, 12:39:58 PM
i don't even like undressing in front of my cats.

Yeah I know what you mean. My cat used to give me really funny looks when she saw me naked. I used to get embarrased and say "pssst go away! Im naked! Why are you looking at me like that?"Then I would look in the mirror and go "Oh I see!" :o

Quote from: Tink on June 14, 2007, 11:47:36 PM

Quote from: Kate on June 14, 2007, 11:40:04 PM
Ah, I thought the question meant WHEN NUDE ALONE.

~Kate~

That's what I understood, but I guess I confused you kitty cats.  So,

extreme psychological discomfort in both cases.

Undressing in front of men = extreme psychological pain

Quote from: TinkEven pre-transition, I was never able to remove my shirt in front of other men.  I had a male body then, I didn't have breasts, I was anatomically male, but still, it felt very WRONG to expose my torso in a locker room full of young men.  Somehow, I felt violated, raped...can't think of another word really.

Undressing alone = extreme psychological pain

Quote from: TinkDuring my pre-op years, I tried not to look in the mirror when I was nude.  The ironic part was that the more feminine-looking my body became, the more pain I felt looking at *that thing* hanging from my female body.  To me, it was a feeling of disgust and repugnance and though I tried very hard to overcome it, I didn't succeed.

Better?  :P ;D


tink :icon_chick:

i TOTALLY agree with tink. I felt so wrong, about being topless, even before i knew why. and i was always ashamed of my body, like, even tho i had a male body, i felt ashamed that people might see that thing, and think it weird, even tho it wasnt. I went to great lenghts to avoid nudity in hightschool.
Alone, it feels worse, it was worse when i knew i was a girl, and my body said otherwise. but now im becomeing more beautiful, and feminine, im with tink, it looks VERY out of place. and im starting to feel like some ->-bleeped-<- pornstar, body of a young woman, genetals of a young man. It disgusts me.

Gonna answer for the flipside...

Seeing Jaycie naked is I guess the best I can describe it -weird-... when I actually LOOK and pay attention to what I'm seeing my brain goes "uhhy thats not right... it shouldn't be like that o.0"  But I still find her beautiful... when we're uhh.. having private time. :D  we force our brains to believe it's not what it actually is... and that it's what it should be.

oh and I dig her boobs :D

Alone I'm really bothered by my masculine qualities, and the scars/deformity from my scoliosis. The hair here and there, the scar, that kind of thing. But I spend a lot of time in front of the mirror, admiring my hair, my developing waistline (go healthy lifestyle! though... wish I had bigger bones there.)

Taking off clothes around others, I'm fine as long as I'm not covered in stubble. Hairy (as much as I loathe that, I went with it when I was acting and had to change with the guys) or hairless, being stubbly just feels ick beyond words. Sadly right now I'm relatively stubbly from not enough time to unwind and take care of myself.

Intimately, I don't mind it at all as I've only been with two women and they were both extremely attracted to me. Though the masculinity compliments always stab me hard. But...being called beautiful is nice, regardless if they mean as a man or a woman.

Pool/swimming/etc, i'm far more fit than most people so I don't mind it. :V

If your careful enough it's not going to be noticed no matter how skimpy the clothes you wear on the beach...but I would feel more confident without it..

As for boobs I have't gone topless as my boobs are quite small which doesn't give me too much confidence..

i will readily wander around my house in my bra and knickers... and i share it with two people, as long as the offending item is not in sight, im ok with my body.

I hate being naked, always have. I used a medical excuse to get out of Physical Education in Jr high and high school, because they required students to shower in group showers and dressing rooms. I have always been very uncomfortable being nude and was never one of those guys who went without a shirt. Even at the beach I always left my shirt on, even when swimming. Like Kate, I knew I shouldn't be embarrassed in front of other men, but I was.

Even as an adult when I joined the health club, I always dressed in a stall where no one could see me. I still hate being nude. I hate showering because of it. Yeah, extreme discomfort is what I feel.

Love always,
Elizabeth

I'm okay with my upper-half. I'm not very muscular, and therefore I look like a prepubescent girl. This I can handle. I'd prefer breasts, but I just need to wait until they grow ~
My lower-half... Well... I try not to look. I hate everything masculine about me (face, lower legs, my height (though I can cope with being a tall girl)), and so naturally I despise the most masculine thing about me. It isn't very girly to have one, after all.

Around others, I cannot undress. Around girls I feel self-conscious, and don't like it. Around guys, it just feels so wrong. I absolutely hated the changing rooms in school, even before I realized I'm TS - I was always out of place, always quite girly. And getting completely undressed in front of someone, I could never do that, not as a boy. Maybe as a girl, but never as a boy.

You all have simlar stories to tell and mine at childhood just matches thous, the discused, imbarrisment and hatred. Doing any thing possible not 2 b seen naked. I now however even though i dispise my body and at times been physicly sick looking at my self naked, i am no longer inbarrised by it. It is a good male body its just anoying that its  my body and not some mans. I would change it for all my possestions. To b the same on the out side as the inside is just a dream that may never happen.

I'm sick of it. Hopefully my HRT regimine will exterminate what I see now with extreme prejudice. Maybe I can reply with a different answer in a year or two  ;)

I don't particularly like being nude or partially nude around anyone.  Luckily when I was in middle school I convinced my doctor to write me out of gym due to my asthma, so I never had to deal with locker rooms, as she wrote me notes that lasted through the end of high school.

Quote from: Elizabeth on July 12, 2007, 07:56:26 AM
I hate being naked, always have. I used a medical excuse to get out of Physical Education in Jr high and high school, because they required students to shower in group showers and dressing rooms. I have always been very uncomfortable being nude and was never one of those guys who went without a shirt. Even at the beach I always left my shirt on, even when swimming. Like Kate, I knew I shouldn't be embarrassed in front of other men, but I was.

Even as an adult when I joined the health club, I always dressed in a stall where no one could see me. I still hate being nude. I hate showering because of it. Yeah, extreme discomfort is what I feel.

Love always,
Elizabeth

Ya know, I've always felt the same way. But until you and Kate mentioned it, I never suspected it was GID related.
I've always felt extremely uncomfortable, embarassed and nervous when changing in front of girls. I felt like they were staring at my body scanning its flaws.
I've never felt uncomfortable being undressed in front of males though, even though I almost always had a sport bra on to hide the only aspect of my body I despise.
Most girls feel exposed and vulnerable when undressed around males. When they do expose their bodies to males (other than a boyfriend, etc), it's for kicks because they get a thrill out of feeling naughty doing it.

saw myself naked last night with somebody, boy that was a turnoff, i hate being naked, i vow this to never occur again...

to be honest I have gotten used to having this body and the parts that dont fit me attached to me for long enough now so I have gotten used to it there is some discomfort. But just something I have to put up with.......

The only time I dressed in front of others was when I was in High School Gym class. I didn't like it then. I felt very uncomfortable. I thought the question was alone while at home. I felt nothing, I never liked what I saw, but I was born with it and up until recently, I didn't think there was anything I could do about it. In other words, live with it. I did. When I found out about others who were trans and that it wasn't something that was in a freak show, I changed. From the time that I found out about all of this until my surgery was less than ten years. It would have been shorter had I not been married. I took my time as so my wife could catch up and understand. I know I got off the subject like I always do.
Sheila

Quote(Yea! "She Talks To Angels" is on the radio right now. I need someone in the UK (anywhere other than US) to download Bob Dylan's "Knocking On Heavens Door" please!)

Why someone in the UK?

because you touch yourself at night...  >:D

???

*sigh* my work here is done ;)

Being on hormones for about a year, my body has femininized really welll, and even improving month to month. I feel very lucky for that.

Others have seen me fully naked, my girlfriend, obviously. I have gone without my shirt around the house, so my roomates have seen me topless -- I've also shown other friends. And I've been drunk enough to flash people. Last Halloween, I went out with a fishnet shirt and electrical take to cover my nipples.

So, showing the female part hasn't been much of a problem for me. I feel happy for that.

Having the male part, however, has been getting harder and harder to live with. I've almost finished one year of real life, and I'll have another to go before I'll get into into surgery.

For a long time, I've been able to try to ignore it, and so on. But as time kept going, it just got harder. I actually had a break down the other day because of it.

i know how u feel, one part is getting better, another worse in my mind, part more tollerable, part less so :( im exactly there. it sucks majorly :(

Quote from: gothique11 on July 18, 2007, 03:43:36 PMLast Halloween, I went out with a fishnet shirt and electrical take to cover my nipples.

Last Halloween, my first one with breasts, I did the fishnet shirt thing too.

But I skipped the tape... it was a private party.

Quote from: morticia on July 19, 2007, 03:35:49 AMBeing in this inbetween state is pretty stressful.  I think things will get a little better once my hair grows out and I've got more months on the moans.  I just want it to all be over so I can have a life.

You said it exactly, Morticia, this in-between state is so stressful. It's causing me to feel greater and greater pressure from within to accelerate the process and "just do it." Now that I'm halfway female, I don't fit into either binary slot, and this is what's pushing me harder and harder all the time to hurry up and complete the whole process so I can just live my life as I need to. Now that I'm half womanized, the male designation constantly galls unbearably, imposed on me against my will. Every cell in my body is screaming to burst free of it.

I absolutely can't stand to be nude... ever.

I just keep my eyes straightforward when I'm taking a shower.

I have to agree with Elizabeth. Although I don't really know how to swim, when I have a swimming suit on, I always have my shirt on. I don't go around without it on.

Gym class... that brings up a lot of bad memories. I did like playing sports (although I had no talent, was too short and always picked last etc.) I was embarrassed not only in the locker room/showers but with just trying to keep up with the boys.  I've read that upper body strength lessens on hormones. I've never really had upper body strength as with climbing the ropes, pull ups and monkey bars. Not much upper strength to lose really.

Dora

Quote from: morticia on July 22, 2007, 12:14:13 AM

Quote from: Dora on July 21, 2007, 11:59:50 PM
Gym class... that brings up a lot of bad memories. I did like playing sports (although I had no talent, was too short and always picked last etc.) I was embarrassed not only in the locker room/showers but with just trying to keep up with the boys.  I've read that upper body strength lessens on hormones. I've never really had upper body strength as with climbing the ropes, pull ups and monkey bars. Not much upper strength to lose really.

Dora

Oh my..  I've lost a lot of physical strength since hrt and I find that I strain myself easily now.
A 22lb bag of dog food is a struggle for me to carry from the car to the house now.  Before I would carry 4 times that weight with ease.
And I pulled some muscles or something in my arm the other day just dipping leaves out of my pool with a net pole.
Bottom line, I'm not the man I used to be..  :D

>>>Bottom line, I'm not the man I used to be..  :D

LOL! Great line. I'm going to have to remember that for future use!
I started HRT 4 days ago. I'm actually looking forward to straining some muscles (along with the other changes of course.)

Dora

Quote from: morticia on July 21, 2007, 11:40:43 PMI'm just at the point now where I should be wearing a bra all the time so that my breast tissue will be forced to move to the right places and they'll shape up properly.  Once I start doing that I'm really going to be sweating like a whore in church because I know that one of the things that a bra is designed to do besides give you support is to make your tits noticeable, not hide them.  Yep, it's going to get interesting pretty soon for me.

I'm right there in my development too, Morticia, I know just what you mean. I completely ceased doing any sort of male presentation a couple years ago, began wearing women's pants, blouses, shoes every day and cast aside every last bit of menswear, and all this time I've had really long hair -- though unless I wore a skirt and a ton of makeup I would still get called "sir."

Lately I've begun wearing a bra more and more even with pants, and like you said, I feel very conscious that it calls attention to my bosom. I went to shop at Whole Foods where I'd been shopping for many years, but nobody gave me funny looks... I think I'm starting to pass better.

I began to notice this while wearing a bra at the same time as pants. I'd long been been getting advice I would pass better if I would just wear pants and not too much makeup. Well, yeah, of course. But that option wasn't any help when I was just so basically unpassable to begin with. Now that I've begun to get laser and can get by with less makeup, I find that bra and pants is a promising combination. (I still personally like skirts better, but I don't wear them most of the time.) A bra defines the bosom unmistakably. Drag queens do not wear pants. Kind of ironic that pants have become the identifier of real women, but there it is.

At work I've been going braless in tight, stretchy tops... and I don't hunch over or cross my arms over my breasts as much now, I stand up straight and hold my head up and shoulders back... people surely notice my tits but no one has dared to say anything to my face yet. My face too has become awesomely feminine, impossible to ignore. Surely by now some of them must have figured out what I'm up to. How I hate this weird halfway in between condition and yearn to just clearly present woman all the time.

As for nudity, I love the sensuous feel of the air all over my skin, but letting anyone else see me naked is out of the question! I can't wait for SRS to allow my body to feel truly free again.

Quote from: Sheila on July 17, 2007, 07:08:23 PMI know I got off the subject like I always do.
Sheila

No prob. I love detailed replies and antidotes about others' lives.

Quote from: morticia on July 21, 2007, 11:40:43 PMOnce I start doing that I'm really going to be sweating like a whore in church because I know that one of the things that a bra is designed to do besides give you support is to make your tits noticeable, not hide them.  Yep, it's going to get interesting pretty soon for me.

yep. A catch 22 for me - because I would never go without a bra because the 'bouncing' effect made me puke, but I hated that conical thing most bras do. Mine are completely spherical, round, and the cone effect makes them stick out more. :icon_blah:

Quote from: Nero on July 22, 2007, 03:24:54 PM

Quote from: morticia on July 21, 2007, 11:40:43 PMOnce I start doing that I'm really going to be sweating like a whore in church because I know that one of the things that a bra is designed to do besides give you support is to make your tits noticeable, not hide them.  Yep, it's going to get interesting pretty soon for me.

yep. A catch 22 for me - because I would never go without a bra because the 'bouncing' effect made me puke, but I hated that conical thing most bras do. Mine are completely spherical, round, and the cone effect makes them stick out more. :icon_blah:

Sports bras.

They're comfy, made of nice soft cotton and they don't emphasise teh boobees.

I loved mine.  Then my best friend found out I'd never owned a "real" bra in my life.  Dragged me out.  Had me measured by a stranger.  Made me buy a whole bunch of "real" bras.

I'm now phasing those out in favour of sports bras again.