Quote from: Annah on December 30, 2011, 12:06:29 AM
You don't transition to become a cover model for Marie Claire, rather, you transition to become yourself.
Ugh, I see MTF transitioners in two categories:
1. Transitioning to align your appearance with your feminine character.
2. Transitioning to look like a woman.
Most will fall under both categories 1 and 2, a lot will fall under just 2, just a few will fall under 1. For example, your character may be quite masculine; your gender presentation tends more towards the stereotypical male than female, in which case if you transition you will be in category 2. On the contrary though, people who are just in category 1 may not have to transition at all; who says you need to look like a woman to act like one? Wanting to look like a woman is a rational choice.
What I'm trying to say is, there is no switch inside your brain exclusive of all other components including personality characteristics which tells you that you are a man or woman, or that you're stuck somewhere in between. That "switch" is actually the vessel in which your character lies within - your body, and it's not as ambiguous as some people make it out to be.
Say if you were a man living amongst other men, and your character tends towards male, your "switch" is set to biological male. There is no need to transition because you simply are not aware of the female sub-species. This is category 2, and if made aware you feel as though you must transition into a woman, you made a rational choice which isn't based on some pre-destined memory you were born with.
Why do I feel this way? Well, I think if the woman in the above example didn't have any attributes which made her stick out from the men around in a positive way, the chances of wanting to transition are greatly reduced. For example, she might have been really ugly, or not very intelligent etc... I belive the reason why so many people are transitioning nowadays is to do with the positive aura surrounding women (in terms of their appearance), as well as less limitations socially.
If OP wants to transition to look like a woman, or to look like a beautiful woman, that doesn't make him any less TG than many others out there. If you ignore personality, wanting look like a woman or a beautiful woman are in line with each other. It's logical to want to be a beutiful woman, given the light they're portrayed in via the media. I don't think anyone has a right to tell OP they're not true transgender and to seek psychological help elsewhere.
