I feel quite unsettled about my body in general, and would usually wear full pjs to sleep even though I am alone in the room. I have an apartment-mate, who is busy with classes and work a lot, and has family in a town nearby so he hasn't been home much the past few months and I got used to having the place to myself. It was really hot in my room (and it was around 1 am), so feeling good for a change I went shirtless and then at some point decided to go to the bathroom as is (its a shared one). As I opened the door it took a few seconds to register that there was a smell of something cooking, and that he was back. At the same time he opened his door to go check on his food and saw me (I am pre-everything). I quickly retreated and we tossed sorrys around but the incident has been making me very anxious the past few hours.
Just wanted to get it off my chest, as it was one of those nightmare scenarios coming true all of a sudden. Any advice on coping with emotional aftermath of this?
I had an experience like that many years ago when I had a housemate. I was wearing a lot less than you though so he got the full show! Even though it lasted less than a second I still felt pretty mortified and OMG NOOOOO!!! about it for quite a while afterwards. I just decided I needed to laugh it off (it was pretty funny, the look on his face was priceless) and it did help lessen the anxiety I felt about it.
I recall walking into a male housemate when wearing a rather cute baby doll nightie.
Mmmm.
It ended up a lot of fun :laugh:
The fact that people with dicks are allowed to show their chest in public whereas people with vaginas are not, is an unfair concept in its own right. The fact that they are always referred to as 'men' and 'women' respectively makes it a lot worse for me - "hey, all those guys are topless! I'm a guy, so why can't I be topless like them and, more importantly, look the same as them? My dear chest, I do wish you'd be less floppy..."
Heh.
Thank you for your responses, it did help to hear that I wasn't alone in such an awkward experience. He knows about me being trans, and is cool with it, so hopefully he would forget about it faster than I will. People that support us are rare to come by, which was one of the main reasons I went with this place even though it wasn't the cheapest. It does take some mental effort to tell your brain to stop misgendering someone, so hopefully it wouldn't get in the way of that.