Hey everyone,

I came out as trans when I was 14 (22 years ago) but got a pretty poor reception from my mother and shot back in that closet.  Ever since, despite knowing what I am, I have been attempting to suppress everything feminine about myself in order to fit in, even to the point of misogyny.  Now I've finally come round to accepting myself, I feel really disconnected from womanhood and struggle to remember the little girl of my youth.

So, I was just wondering how everyone else went about reconnecting / remembering that part of yourself after you've hidden it so long - particularly in relating to women in the broadest sense of sisterhood?  For instance, I'm devouring women's magazines right now, but that seems pretty abstract to me and somewhat separate from the real world...

I was fortunate to be able to work at organisations that always had way more women than men. I found it very helpful for being connected to women and the things they talk about, the way they discuss things amongst themselves and so forth.

Your femininity is what you make it for yourself - it is a very broad thing and a very personal/individual thing. I consider myself quite feminine but I don't bother much with makeup or doing my nails or wearing lots of jewellery and the like and yet I am still easily accepted by other women who do do those things.

I didn't reconnect. It just blossomed purely on its own. Amazing.

My advice is, don't worry about being feminine. Just worry about being you.