I've been curious about something. For some reason I don't like wearing shorts anymore and I don't like people seeing me shirtless. I'm still in the closet about who I am to most, so I still have my hair and everything, which could explain the shorts problem: I don't want people seeing my hairy legs. But I'm not sure about the shirtless part. I mean my stomach is fairly average, not fit, but not bad either. I've been wondering if it could stem from wanting to be a woman. So did any of you feel this way during pre-op?

Sorry I was kinda blank when writing the post. I had it all planned in my head what to say and then I just kinda zoned out lol. I'm asking if being a man got in the way of wearing shorts and going shirtless. It's not a completely serious question, more trivial and hypothetical.
But you have a point. If only I could do it. I'm still living at home and I would get crap for it. I know I should say screw it and do it anyway, but I don't want to deal with it if I can help it. Plus she said she'd kick my ass if I painted my nails lol.

That sounds amazing, I wish I could be like you and just do that. I told myself as soon as I start the process I'm gonna get the piercings I want:ears, nose, and belly button. I'm sooooo looking forward to it. Is it as painful as it looks?

The shorts thing, if your presenting as a guy no one is gonna care, guys are hairy  so what....i still live part time and shave my legs, but the shirtless thing i fully understand. I have always felt weird not wearing one, and i haven't always been chubby either. When i lived in Florida yes there were a couple of people who gave me odd looks when i showed up in board shorts and a T-shirt or a shirt i ripped the sleeves off of but once i reminded them of jelly fish and Man O War fish they all thought i had been stung in the past and was hiding the scars.

Btw with the piercings....nope they kinda tickled a little. I have my ears at a 10g, my septum (sneezed a bunch and my eyes watered but wasn't that bad) my tongue, nipples (those i felt and stung like crazy) and several tattoos. Then again i have a freakishly high pain threshold.....i separated my shoulder to the point of needing surgery and hardly felt anything....just couldn't move my arm.

Yeah, I'm presenting as a guy. But I was thinking it could be some deep subconscious reason that had to do with wanting to be a girl. I mean I love short shorts and would like to think I'd wear them if I was out. I'm kinda glad I'm not alone with having to wear a shirt. I feel too naked with it off. When I use to swim I didn't want to take it off lol. But I feel like I'd be more comfortable with a bikini top. Hmm I think I answered my own question lol maybe it's not so deep.

That makes me feel better, a little. I wanna get tattoos too, but those will have to wait until I'm 100% sure I want to be a female. That sounds really painful, I would probably bawl my head off!

Well, I'm not out to customers or the general public in my conservative small town yet, but my body is all smooth and I don't have issues at all wearing shorts with my smooth legs, here in California it's not unusual at all for men to have hair free legs if they ride or race bicycles or work out a lot.

Now the shirtless thing might be awkward as I have obvious bikini tan lines from working around the yard in the sun

I haven't been comfortable in anything less than full pants and a t-shirt since I was 14--I stopped swimming entirely then. I was too miserable about my body to let anyone else see it. That's only changed since being post-op.

Piercings are fun! I have my lobes at 4g, 2x helix in my left ear, an industrial in my right ear, and my tongue. Next up are my nipples and a tragus in my right ear. Working on the tattoos: only have two so far. None of it has been particularly painful.

Yeah, I admit I was kinda confused - if the "op" you mean is GRS, I couldn't have legally gone shirtless for about two years before I was post-op. I was legally female and had pretty obvious breasts to boot!

If you meant pre-transition, which your clarification sounds like you did... I definitely liked wearing the cutest, shortest jeans shorts I could find in the men's department back when I was still presenting male but planned to transition, and I've *never* been comfortable being shirtless, even when I was a teenager. It felt like people were going to yell at me for being immodest, even though I knew perfectly well nobody batted an eye at a bared male chest.

Stopped wearing shorts when I hit puberty and my legs started giving off that satyr vibe... 

I never really felt comfortable exposing my chest either. Although my gynecomastia was slight, it was still quite visible, seeing as I was thin as a rake. Felt odd, sort of scared that people might "recognise" me. After 3 months of HRT, I'm not going to be exposing my chest in public any time soon either though...