What is ...

[Janice Ashton]

Transition is a pathway for change,
Taking a person who holds an Intrinsic, inherent and fundamental feeling different to that which is generally conceived through a conversion, to create a new and Extrinsic emergence of the real ‘Person’ we know we should be to align our body and mind.

[Nigella]

Transition is the journey, for me at least, of changing from male to female. The methods used have been listed most ably by Paula Q, although not all of them.

This thread does show that whilst there are many differing definitions of transition there is quite a common theme. It is a journey, a process of change.

[Kathryn Martin]

For me transition begins after all of the external issues are resolved such as: Living full time, presenting sex appropriate, surgery and hormones. It is the full integration socially into the class "women" as witnessed by others.

[Frances]

I feel like Kathryn that there is no transition in a vacuum. It has to be witnessed or reflected back to the transitioner or it did not happen. Kind of like the tree in the empty forest.

[KellyJameson]

For me once I transitioned out of fear and ignorance, I was compelled to be able to stand naked in front of anyone or mirror without leaving any doubt to my gender. I could not fully believe in my gender or experience it fully without this.

To never again feel that experience of being trapped between the two sexes. The in-between state of gender dysphoria that I was born into.

I left behind gender and concerned myself only with the sex of my body so that my gender became unquestionable.

For me anything less would have continued the torment I had lived with since childhood.

[Lorileah]

I have transitioned in my idea of transitioning. It constantly changes. For me it is a goal that I have refined and corrected over several years. Will I ever finish transitioning? That would mean, to me, an end. I will only get better and more comfortable being who I am.

[Michelle789]

PaulaQ laid it out nicely what are the various steps and paths to transition. There is no right or wrong way to transition, and any combination of steps from Paula's list can constitute transition.

Transition begins and ends when you feel it has. There is no hard rule that starting HRT begins transition. Starting HRT is a huge deal for many of us, and it certainly was for me. However, my transition started months before I started HRT. For me, my transition started the very first time I ventured outside the house as a woman, which was six months before starting HRT. The start of transition is very personal and only you can define what the start (or end) of your transition is.

Your transition is very personal and only you can decide what steps you need to take, and in what order to take them.

I do believe that some sort of social transition is a good idea before going on HRT, coming out to your job or going full time. This is that phase where you live part-time as a woman, say on weekends outside of your job. You might even start with attending a support group once a week as a woman and build up to living on weekends, and then to "128". "128" means full-time outside of work. The purpose of this is to get you out of the house and in public so you can feel comfortable presenting as a woman. You probably won't pass, and you might get mis-gendered a lot, and it sucks to be mis-gendered. You might do or say a lot of awkward things. But this phase is really necessary to build your confidence in presenting publicly as a woman. It gives you an opportunity to make friends in the trans community. It gives you a chance to let yourself come out and to start the process of freeing yourself.

Even if you start with TG events, you'll eventually want to start presenting outside the TG world. Going grocery shopping, to the mall, running errands, going to the post office, the mechanic, a doctor's appointment are all things I would recommend doing during the later part of this phase. Because you'll need it. After all, these are activities you'll do in real life. You may want to come out to some friends, preferably female. If you can socialize with a cis female friend who is accepting, this can help you with some of your social transition. After all, unless you want to spend the rest of your life in trannyland, you'll probably want to learn to socialize with cisgendered women.

Oh, and you'll certainly need to gain the confidence to walk into a women's restroom in public. And learn how to use it properly. Never even think of exercising the male privilege of standing while doing your business. Always sit.

This step also can help you decide whether or not transition is for you, especially if you're not certain if you're TS, CD, gender fluid, or somewhere else on the spectrum. You may decide that you are still comfortable as a man and that a gender fluid life may be better for you rather than transition. You may quickly discover that you really dread going back to male mode and might feel a heightened state of anxiety when in male mode - which is a good indication you'll need to transition.

For me personally, after 4 months of going back and forth and a 9 day stretch of presenting as a woman made me quickly realize that I cannot go back to male mode. When that 9 day stretch came to an end and I had to return to work in male mode, I was completely miserable. Thankfully, I got laid off from my job within a week and could go full-time. I ended up getting re-hired at the same company and I came out and I still work that job as a woman.

By living part-time as a woman initially, you get a chance to get some social transition before you make permanent changes to your body, and you get a chance to get some social transition before you take the high risk step of coming out at work - a step that can cost you your job. The downside of going back and forth between male and female modes is it's very stressful. You face a number of hurdles.

1. Remembering which name to refer to yourself in public.

2. Remembering which name to answer to in public. I remember before I came out at AA or at work I had to be careful not to introduce myself as Michelle or answer to someone calling Michelle - that would out me.

3. Remembering to switch between male and female behaviors.

4. Switching your ID, credit cards, and cash between male and female wallets. Yes this is such a tedious step, and I hated it. But it was a necessary evil.

5. If you've tried to feminize your voice in female mode, remembering to revert back to male voice in male mode.

6. Going back and forth can have an emotional and psychological toll, especially if you're TS. If you're gender fluid, you will never be able to settle for long stretches in either male or female mode. It becomes necessary to live as both at different times. If you're a CD, you'll need that necessary girl time, but once you go back to male mode, you'll be comfortable being a man again. If you're TS presenting as male can be exhausting as presenting as female will feel liberating.

7. Eliminating traces of perfume, makeup, and nail polish when going back to male mode.

8. Having to re-paint your nails every time you go back to female mode.

9. If you wax, shave, or epilate, which is highly recommended when in female mode, worrying about being outed if someone sees you in male mode with no hair on your arms or legs.

This list can go on and on.

So yes, if you're TS, this awkward phase, which was my first step towards transition, while stressful and awkward, was truly necessary to give me enough confidence to go out in public as a woman. By the time I had started on hormones and was full-time, and out at AA and work, there was no going back for me. I am grateful I got to experience that most awkward part of my transition, because those few awkward months were the building blocks I needed for going full-time and to be able to transition successfully.

And finally, my awkward going back and forth phase lasted only for 4 months before I went mostly full-time. I say mostly because I would attend my AA meeting once every other Friday for two more months in male mode before coming out. So I guess it was really six months before I was 100% full-time. This phase for me lasted six months before I started hormones. Plenty of transwomen for whom this phase lasted a lot longer. Many transwomen will go back and forth for years, even thinking they're a crossdresser, before starting hormones or going full time. Not all transwomen go through this phase either. I know of some who just one day switched from full-time male mode to living full-time as a woman. Other transwomen may go on hormones for a year or so before going out as a woman, or before going full time. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

[PretzelGirl]

I am thinking outside of the Transsexual forum. I have a friend, identified as female at birth, stated identity of genderqueer, that is now transitioning to male. I have another that just transitioned from a presentation and legal identity of male to female all while identifying as genderqueer. So to me the definition needs to encompass all, which always complicates wording.

So, if I hit this right, transition is the process of changing from a current state of gender presentation, physical attributes, and all legal and social accompaniments to align those elements as much as desired or possible with your true gender identity. The part I don't like about that is some of those things require financial elements that many don't have, so I added "or possible" after typing it out.

[Rianna Humble]

Just to clarify, when I stated that I was answering in the context of what we discuss in these forums, it was to differentiate it from (for example) slide transitions in a presentation and other uses of the term transition that are not related to gender