Changes in Hobbies/Interests

[Megan G]

This may seem like a silly question but for those of you that have been on the HRT path for a while now have you noticed that your hobbies/interests changed?

As I mentioned in my other thread I am now 6 months on HRT and I am starting to notice a change in my likes/interests/hobbies. I have noticed that my choice of music has changed. I used to be a die hard country person but over the last few months that has shifted and I am now listening to more pop and will skip a good country song to listen to a dance style song.

I also just finished reading my first book (novel) since I graduated high school 18 years ago. My wife has always been an avid reader and it never interested me until a week ago when I was in the airport and needed something to do on the plane. Now I am just waiting to fly home this weekend so I can get another book to start.

So is this something everyone goes thru?

[Rianna Humble]

I wouldn't say that my hobbies have changed, but some of my tastes have. For you it was music, for me it is in the type of book. I used to love nothing more than a "good" murder mystery or a "shoot up the baddies" book, now they bore me; but give me a good human interest story with a healthy dose of romance ...

[Marleena]

Trish it just may be you are allowing yourself to enjoy more things. I see it as a positive and have experienced the same type of thing. Change is good.:)

[Angela Campbell]

Maybe it is just feeling more comfortable in not pretending to be someone you are not, and now free to explore who you really are you find new doors to open.

[Aprilrain]

I took up sewing but it was something I'd always wanted to do but was too afraid to. My music taste broadened perhaps but it's always been quite eclectic. I'm less interested in woodworking but that's probably because my garage is a mess!

[Jorja]

You don't have to change the things you love to do. I can rebuild your car or cook you dinner or make you a dress. The key word here is "hobby" a regular activity done for pleasure typically done during leisure time. If you like to do something or want to try it, do it. Life is too short not to.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

None of my interests or hobbies changed..

I like mostly the same music...still enjoy a good action movie or video game....still avidly follow my sports teams (long suffering), still like dark beers and hearty foods.....

that's just my experience.

to be honest, at first I think I tried to change my likes and dislikes...I went to a couple romantic movies, took a dance class. I got pretty bored

It's funny april I remember my daughters sweater ripped last year and in the past I would have said tell your mother, but I admit for the first time ever I thought to myself "I wonder if I can sew that"....but that's about how far sewing goes with me!!!

[LeaP]

I've been on HRT 18 months. My interests have not changed, though I feel far less obsessed about them. I'm sort of on hold for most, as we are living in a small apartment for now. While getting the house ready to sell, I sold off a tremendous amount of stuff, including my very complete shop. So, when I became interested in Japanese braiding techniques recently, the easy thing would have been to knock the needed equipment out in the shop in a few hours. No can do anymore! So buy it will be. I'm also taking up making chain mail jewelry, which can be done out of a small toolbox - plus I need the jewelry.

[Kimberly Kael]

No noteworthy changes here. I'm still as much if a geek as always, I continue to love playing and listening to music for the same reasons, and other artistic pursuits fascinate me despite not exhibiting much talent. If anything, I'd say I have been even more myself. Violent media gets even harder to take as I read more about the lives real-world violence affects. Politics has become increasingly important to me, and equality has moved from being something I'm in favor of to something I'm downright outspoken about.

[Ashley D.]

Really everything like that has changed for me.
What I like on T.V. Books even the foods I like have changed.

[bas1985]

I wasn't a "normal" man at the start so I cannot say I have really changed. I could say that I express myself with more freedom. I am not any more "ashamed" of not liking gross talk, soccer and race Formula 1 (Ferrari :) ). I am in cooking, relationships, I have a female account in a message boards about "broken hearts" and I participate in the conversations.

Sometimes I do wonder about the "sci-fi" and techno interests, but there are a lot of women interested in technology.

[FurPus63]

This is so true for me. I really do think the adding of estogeon to my system and full-time transition helped bring out a lot of things I was "ashamed" to watch, read, or do. I have always been a femmine person, but since starting HRT and transitioning I have been free to really get into all the romance "gurly-girl" stuff way more than I ever did. I'm not sure if it's all due to HRT, but rather a combination of things which have contributed to this. There's much contraversy and diverse opinions on this topic as we can see in responses to your post. Everyone is an individual and hormones has an effect on each one of us as individuals. Some people will experience a sense of change in hobbies, interest, sexual desire, etc ... some don't. I don't know exactly why this is. I just know what I've experienced.

I love all the changes that have taken place in my life since starting HRT and living full-time as a woman. It's great!

Paulette

[StephanieC]

I like putting on music (Pandora or a CD) and dancing around. Before, I didn't listen much to music and never danced around the house.

...but I'm still afraid to dance in public.

-stephani

[DeeDee1974]

In the past couple years I have really gotten into yoga. Borderline obsession which culminated in a yoga retreat with a couple of my girlfriends. Pre-transition if someone brought up yoga I would have said I wasn't a fan.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

I admit I have danced around in my house but I still am scared silly to do it in front of anyone.

[Kathryn Martin]

I am fully transitioned for three years now with all the accoutrements. I have always sewn, cooked, cleaned, read, listened to music, went to see art in all it's forms and while some of my tastes have broadened my interests have always been like that. I still enjoy the occasional computer game but my tastes there are pretty eclectic as well. I like spending time with my family, my friends and especially my spouse. Oh and I like yoga... and that is new not the like but the activity....

[Laurie Ann]

Like Kaitlyn I still enjoy sports (Giants and Carolina Tarheels). I love a good action movie however, I am now enjoying the proverbial chick flick.

[Eryn]

I'm not sure that HRT makes a big difference. I'm not on HRT and find that my interest in mechanical hobbies has waned as i have come to better terms with myself. My two friends who are on HRT and who have transitioned are off riding dirt bikes together! Go figure!

[DahliaLeigh]

My spouse took up crocheting, I really wish she would either make all the squares the same size so I can so them into a blanket or keep going for scarves or something but I suppose crocheting 50+ squares is a start. Anyone need a pot holder?

[Chloe Renee]

My hobbies have always been evolutionary in nature. I get near obsessed and they fade away or at least to the background. So I am not sure what is the march of time and what is HRT causation. I do know once I started HRT I became more comfortable with myself so I could try things that "male me" wouldn't do in order to keep up appearances. I also lessened my fear of failing.

[Marleena]

Trish I found this on Lynn Conway's site and it seems relevant here:

Important inner changes

As transition proceeds, hormonal feminization causes not only visible physical changes, but also enhances subtle yet profound psychic changes. Under the influence of estrogen (especially after SRS), it becomes easier to shift one�s basic "inner vibes" from any vestiges of �vigilant masculinity" (especially a non-smiling "tight" face and avoidance of eye contact) to that of "warm femaleness" (with its projection of non-threatening vulnerability, especially via a warm, open-eyed smile). Here are some tips from Lynn about this important "inner psychic transition":

"While in the male role, social pressures reinforce a tendency to always "keep an eye out" and "keep some distance" between yourself and others. To guys it sometimes seems as if a "fight could break out at any moment" and they must always be on guard. It is very important during gender transition to phase out any remnants of such feelings. Relaxing and letting oneself feel vulnerable and open, and then smiling warmly, will help this inner transformation proceed.

Perhaps for the first time you�ll fully open up to your inner female feelings, now enhanced by estrogen. You�ll begin to experience a profound shift in inner emotional setting towards wonderfully soft warmth and vulnerability, and openness towards warm emotional contact with others. As this happens, you will �vibe� differently not only inside yourself but to others too. The warm social feedback you then receive as a woman will then reinforce your new internal feelings.�

Other people unconsciously read gender "vibes" just as they unconsciously read masculine facial features, and even very pretty transitioners may not seem female if they still "vibe" as males. Thus it's important to project one�s inner feelings as early as possible during transition. Otherwise, negative social feedback from others can stall progress towards self-acceptance and self-realization - enclosing the transitioner in a vicious circle of resentment and rejection.

Fortunately, the hormonal changes during transition tend to reinforce these inner emotional changes. But this can be scary too. At the beginning of transition, persons are often quite fragile. Many become much more emotional than before, with emotions and tears coming much more easily, and they need to be reassured that this is a normal response. Often they are a lot more open, talkative and interactive too. Sometimes for the first time in their lives transitioners are accepting and asserting themselves, and not hiding their true self or their pain at having to play a false role in the past. This is a profound experience for the transitioner. These changes can be so pronounced that friends, family and loved ones may become �lost� (confused by it) for a while.

It can take time for a transitioner to completely get rid of the mask she had to wear and the pressures she suffered under, sometimes for decades. Even though most transsexual women never really corresponded to the stereotypes of masculine behavior society tried to impose on them, most were subjected to extreme pressure to conform to those stereotypes. Their burden was often most painful during childhood, when they were less able to resist pressure, and when they felt totally alone and betrayed and tormented by those whose duty it was to protect them. Such experiences can have devastating consequences and cause lingering sadness in some cases. However, a carefully chosen, really helping, respectful, welcoming and loving therapist, one who places him/herself as a guide and as an ally (instead of a gatekeeper) can help a lot with issues like this, as with many other aspects of the transitioner�s journey.

In the end, it is by discovering and fully manifesting their true inner selves, and leaving behind unwanted vestiges of their pasts, that most MtF transitioners' identities as women become obvious to everyone.