Sometimes it pops into my head about wanting to be a woman inside, like whenever I think of women wearing bikinis or something else. It's not just sexual though. I never felt truly like a woman inside, but I'm looking into therapy to see where I truly stand. I'm just afraid if I go through with this, I will feel guilty abandoning personal interests I always had, if I were to take some hormone that makes my body more female. Does this usually change personal interests for the trans-woman out there?

Well.... no. If anything, you'll lose your current mind numbing fascination with being someone else and move on to life.

Cindi

The only difference I have seen in my personal interest is that I have added to them. I already have so many that I don't have the time in the day to pursue all of them but anything I could do before the transition, I can still do and enjoy just as much.

I don't feel like a man or a woman inside, but I feel comfortable in a woman's body. I don't think about being a woman, I just am. This is something that takes place in the transition or shortly after where you become one with yourself. You may discover things about yourself that you didn't know, but the hormones will not change the person that you are.

Who said anything about HRT making you lose interest in your interests? All of mine from pre transition stand intact, except one. That was a dark sexual interest which I was very happy to lose. My interest in sci-fi, still there. My interest in comics, still there. Many other interests, still there. Disturbing sexual interest which I'm not going to go into, gone. Without testosterone you might find some aggressive and fetishistic tendencies abate or leave altogether but other than that you aren't simply going to drop your current interests. Regardless, I'm sure you've dropped other interests in the past without really minding, in ten years - transition or not - who's to say what you'll care about?

My ability to focus, general youthful improvement in my outlook and other positive factors allowed me to more richly enjoy my personal interests. I lost all my interest in porn, which netted me more time as well

Quote from: redhot1 on December 18, 2015, 01:37:34 PM
Does this usually change personal interests for the trans-woman out there?

Hasn't for me. I still love watching football and hanging out with geeks. I've become more interested in clothing and shopping (all pre-HRT - that came from beginning to go out dressed as myself).

I know transwomen who drive big trucks, rewire houses, and hang drywall. HRT and transition don't change who we are, though it will allow sides of ourselves to come to the surface that had been hidden.

Quote from: RobynD on December 18, 2015, 04:48:07 PM
I lost all my interest in porn, which netted me more time as well

Ahaha, yes! Though recently I've watched a few videos here and there but the interest has changed dramatically, as have a few of my other sexual interests, but that's just the change in my sex drive. I was concerned at first that I was losing some interest in things that I did and do enjoy, but I think that was just my brain shifting the way it works a bit, and the increase in emotion and social activities. Like, sometimes it will be hard to focus on my interests because my social life will take center stage and I'll be thinking about all that, or my brain will just run in circles... That can be a bit annoying sometimes, but I think I'm learning to cope with that. Otherwise, most of my interests are still there, just sometimes seen in a new light if anything.

Hi:

I loved to fish, hunt, shoot, hike, read, exercise, loved mathematics, systems theory . . . Guess what, I still do those some 15 years later. You get to decide these things.

Take care,

Rachel

Yes, a big hang-up that I'm still trying to get over was "I like too many masculine things."

Then I remembered there was a cis girl who regularly attends the Pathfinder RPG sessions I'm part of, talks just as loudly and irreverently as any of the guys present there, dresses in masculine outfits, and is basically "one of the guys" except female. Nobody has ever claimed she's really a guy because of it. The idea that trans women must be feminine or they're really cis guys is just a stupid double standard.

Why do you think you'll lose current interests? I still fix my own cars, attend car shows, cut the grass and do pretty much the same  things I did before I transitioned. I didn't like sports before, I don't now and have no desire to rush out and join a sewing circle. Same person on the inside, just different wrapping on the outside.

Love,
Clare.

Quote from: TG CLare on December 19, 2015, 01:24:32 PMSame person on the inside, just different wrapping on the outside.

I do wonder about that though. I've heard that personalities can change as a result of HRT.

I don't know for sure but my personality has changed. I'm happier, content and more confidant. Still have the same interests but personality wise it's because I no longer have two people fighting to control me. I am one with myself now and that is really good!

Love,
Clare

Quote from: Jamie_06 on December 19, 2015, 01:32:49 PM
I do wonder about that though. I've heard that personalities can change as a result of HRT.

My personality has changed quite a bit, but it's partly hormonal, partly a result of being more comfortable being me, and life experiences after transitioning. Still, majority of my interests are still there.

I feel more free to express feminine aspects of my personality.  In that way, my personality has changed.

One random example -- for as long as I can remember, I've been able to jump crazy high.  I vault railings, jump over or onto tables, hop over obstacles in my path, etc.  If I'm about to miss a bus, I instinctively chase it down.  Nothing gets in my way, and I almost always win.  This instinct has not diminished.  I've gotten tripped up on long, flowing skirts before -- so I don't wear those skirts on days when I might even remotely have the need to take a bus.  If I ever own heels... I'll learn to run and jump in them, too... never stilettos though; I'll only consider sturdy heels that can take serious impact.

Like ms grace, the only interest I've lost is one that I desperately did not want to have.

Still like punk rock, ( go to the Rebellion festival every year)
Still like metal & rock
Still like bikes & muscle cars and go to shows, starting riding again when the weather improves on my first Harley Davidson Sportster.

Transitioning doesn't  have to involve losing interests, maybe your talking about stereotypes 

I still have my deep seeded interest in the outdoors, hiking, nature, aspirations to get into forestry and wildlife conservation, with a slight side of engineering on the side.

I used to hate clothes shopping due to no clothes would ever fit me right, and now that I shop in the women's department, I find much more clothes that fit my body shape and fit me properly.

Kate <3

I'd say it's not about "losing" interests as such, rather that I feel more empowered to take decisions about what I spend my time doing instead of taking hours over those things that I felt I needed to do.

Quote from: Vinyl Scratch on December 19, 2015, 05:08:34 PM
Transitioning doesn't  have to involve losing interests, maybe your talking about stereotypes 

It's one of those, I don't know really but I'll try, grey areas that doesn't necessarily have much to do with stereotypes. 

I found that, as part of attempting to fit into the mainstream brotherhood and whatever I had to contrive various interests traditionally seen as masculine. This was partly to please my Dad, who was concerned  I was becoming feminine at a young age, and partly for my own sanity. Enforced socialisation with males wasn't fun; but I had to have things to talk about. That said I was still categorised as weird.

For me, transition has been all about self awareness to a degree - it's all about getting to know what's inside. And part of that was giving up things that I was supposed to enjoy but didn't really. For instance I remember trying to do something to some horrid old car, lying on my back in the dirt whilst I wrecked my hands trying to reach an inaccessible screw and thinking 'this isn't for me' 

Things I used to enjoy or have once claimed to have enjoyed:

Cars, Driving fast and racing, Welding, Military History, Action Films, Drinking Heavily, Girls (I couldn't actually have sex but I'd pretend), Sarcasm, Chess, Science, Maths, Competitive Conversation/Banter, Weight Lifting, Martial Arts, Thrillers, Computer Games etc etc

Unfortunately the above list is stereotyped - sort of macho detritus. I never fitted in and hopped from activity to activity without being good at any of them. I also lacked the physical strength to do a lot. Please don't take that as sexist; I've got some sort of condition that's left me un-naturally weak regardless of my actual sex. 

Things I actually like:

Socialising, Dancing, Pop Music, Jogging, Shopping, Baking, Creative Writing (doing), Reading, Poetry, Art, Family Time, Eating Out, Clothes, Hair, Make Up, Nail Art, Vintage and Retro Home Decoration, Christmas!!!, Cleaning (weird but I love it), Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, Healthy Living.

It goes on and I understand the new list is feminine, for want of a better word, but then so am I!!

And I tended to find that guys tend to categorise themselves in terms of external factors socially??? Where I had trouble fitting into boxes: not geeky or nerdy enough, not sporty enough, not arty enough, not cool enough and so on. I wasn't disliked but I didn't have many close friends. Now I do, which is partially down to not having to conform but also possibly getting older lol!!! 

xx