What procedure would you say really made you feel like the woman you were always inside. Was it SRS or BA? Maybe a trachea shave or FFS? Maybe it was when you got your first subscription for HRT. I am just curious to see the different answers and see what was the turning point in your transition that had you sit back with a sigh of relief and say " now I am complete".

Great question.

First, I'll have to say that my womanhood is not complete. I'm post-op and more than 1 year full-time, but I'd still not say I'm completely a woman.

SRS didn't help. It made my body the right shape, but didn't make me feel like a woman.

HRT grew (small) breasts on me. Also totally changed my emotional makeup. But didn't make me feel more like a woman.

Actually, I'd say the first time I put on women's clothes and went out in public (actually the first time I'd EVER dressed non-male) was really the defining moment for me. It's when I told myself it was OK to be as feminine as I wanted to be. I think most of my feminizing happened at that moment.

I have had many procedures/events that helped define my womanhood... things like..

dressing up as a woman for the first time
getting my ears, navel and nose pierced (3 holes in each ear)
shaving my legs and armpits
getting a pedicure and manicure
starting hrt (I remember the feeling of getting the first injection.. almost feeling my estrogen entering my body)
growing breasts (HRT was kind to me D cups) and actually requiring to wear a bra
getting my feminine  tattoo on my lower back (I want another tattoo)
waking up after SRS knowing i finally have a vagina.. 5 months post-op

but there are two events and these sound very silly after the impressive list above,,,

The other week, I had to attend a work function with supplier and I wore an evening dress.. and with this I had a wear a strapless bra and this stupid bra, kept on poking me and made me very uncomfortable..I dunno why, as i have worn this type of strapless bra before.. My roommate who is g-girl.. said well woman suffer for beauty.. welcome to womanhood sister. She also said.. to make me feel better as I was not a happy camper.. try having the same bra problem and period cramps on top of that..

the second one,  during SRS recovery, its a good idea to use pads to line your panties, and I needed to change mine.. and I run out..(had not got around to the shops). after panicking my roommate gave me one of hers.. She just said welcome to womanhood... this is what we go through every month.. this one i think connected me to the sisterhood..

Those two events which I think woman suffer from everyday, I think defined me and said now you are a woman.

I have found, that sometimes to look good.. and yes my breasts looked fine in that bra.. woman do suffer some comfort issues...

Mine was just not fighting the male me anymore. When I accepted I was who I was, everything else fell into place. Not concentrating on walking, mannerisms, etc. of being male the female side naturally took over. HRT just cemented the physical aspects with the emotional aspects of it. SRS is going to be the icing on the cake for me!! 

Quote from: Jessica Merriman on July 11, 2014, 11:19:53 AM
Mine was just not fighting the male me anymore. When I accepted I was who I was, everything else fell into place. Not concentrating on walking, mannerisms, etc. of being male the female side naturally took over. HRT just cemented the physical aspects with the emotional aspects of it. SRS is going to be the icing on the cake for me!! 

Quite similar to my case. Although I'm incredibly happy with what HRT is doing both to my physical and psychological aspects and that's when I truly started to feel like a woman when outside. Before my girl-mode was rarely recognized outside family or work as it hardly looked good :-) . After HRT it will be up to the SRS (most likely fall 2015) to seal the deal :-) .

I do not think any procedure can be said to define your womanhood.

I feel womanhood comes from when you truly inside accept yourself as female is when you turn the corner.

My corner turned when i went full time.

Procedures can help you more accept but not define.

Each holds there own feeling and when it happens you will know and show your confidence of a woman.

Izzy

Being born.  I'd have to say that being born pretty much defined the kind of woman that I've grown up to become.  Everything that has occurred since I was born has all been part of the process of becoming... of becoming me.  And what a wild ride it has been!

I love and adore being me!  Just sayin'.  I wouldn't have missed this ride for nuthin'!

My womanhood was not defined by any procedure, nor will it be by taking any further steps.  I am female between my ears and always have been.

For me, it was transitioning publicly to full-time and the name/gender change that went with it.  So I guess in a way it was "defined" the day I decided I was a woman and set out to do something about it.

Physically, I suppose I wasn't "complete" until GRS, but I considered that my business and something I did to make *myself* more comfortable with my own body - what was in my pants wasn't relevant to anyone but my wife, and I'd been living as female for years by then.

I can say, years ago, the first shot of E ended my years and years of denial. Although I tried to detransition twice since then, I somehow knew I was past the point of no return. That defined my path forward, FFS will cement my womanhood, GRS will complete it.

Quote from: Miharu Barbie on July 11, 2014, 01:12:50 PM
Being born.  I'd have to say that being born pretty much defined the kind of woman that I've grown up to become.  Everything that has occurred since I was born has all been part of the process of becoming... of becoming me.  And what a wild ride it has been!

I love and adore being me!  Just sayin'.  I wouldn't have missed this ride for nuthin'!

Oh hedgehogs and slimey snails,you beat me to it.  Being born was the fing wat dunnit, all the rest of the nonsense was me being a characteristically slow on the uptake.

Rosie

Quote from: Jill F on July 11, 2014, 01:24:20 PM
My womanhood was not defined by any procedure, nor will it be by taking any further steps.  I am female between my ears and always have been.

Yes!

I've been a woman all my life, but I'd have to say I had a moment of validation 5 years ago when no matter how I dressed or presented myself I could no longer pass for male. It was a male fail of the highest order for from then on I've rejected other peoples wishes and lived as me, full time, the woman I've always been. There have been other moments but none quite as validating as that one.

I'm sorry if mine is a little sideswiped from topic. My womanhood can't be defined by any procedure, for it is who I've always been. The procedures I'm currently, and will be having only serve to correct my birth defect/s, and align my outer body with my inner mind and soul.

Ally

Add me to the chorus of what makes me a woman is my brain.

Well, the orchi was a huge help. It was nice to toss out the twins and get rid of that stupid "M".