Gender Dysphoria

[Tracy Irving]

Some of our members claim no (0%) gender dysphoria while others seem filled to the top (100%). Are you all, nothing, or somewhere in the middle?

Please round your percentage to the nearest tens place. Thanks.

[VS Fan]

I’d have to say 0%... I know I’m a man, and while I hate everything about myself (topic for another post I guess or maybe another forum altogether lol) I don’t feel like I was born in the wrong body. I *wish* I were a woman sometimes, but I know I’m not one... and I don’t honestly think I would be happier becoming one now (not unless they can make me shorter, younger and beautiful lol)

[Felicia M]

Absolutely love Jessica's term 'society dysphoria'. We need to coin that and send it out into the world.

We are so far from a world of outside acceptance but it is slowly changing. I would imagine for most the removal of that barrier would be a massive weight lifted.
I no longer try to think in binary terms and just try and see the spectrum but I catch myself every once in awhile wanting to be more one than the other. It's a difficult balance
and it changes daily.....

[jessicabf]

For me it’s society dysphoria. (Not sure that’s a thing) essentially, I know I am a man, and am cool with that. I enjoy many things associated with my maleness. (Glad I don’t deal with some of the female health issues too) My frustration is at society I think. The fact that a man can’t enjoy femininity. Soft things. Being pretty. Allowing my emotions to show though in my expression of myself. So many times I would enjoy wearing a pretty skirt to work, as it would express my state of mind better than pants. Not in a way to “pass” as a woman. But a man who likes creative colors and styles. Wouldn’t mind chatting with female co-workers about a cute out fit I saw.

If that barrier where gone, I think there would be actually less pressure for those like us to “identify”. Just be you. A genetic male who enjoys the broad range of experiences and expressions of life.

[Mary Lawrence]

No. No gender dysphoria here (although a psychiatrist might disagree). I am thoroughly male in body and orientation, but I love dressing as a woman. That part I do not understand at all. I contemplate what it would be like to not have male appendages, but have female ones, instead. But I doubt very much that I'd ever go that surgical direction even if given the opportunity. I like my male self too much. I guess I, too, am a victim of society dysphoria as is Jessica BF above. I just wish I could, when desired, wave a wand and--poof--my voice and skin would be feminine with no beard. At least until midnight.

[Michaelasfun]

For me it’s society dysphoria.

Me too. With about 30% chance of GD.

[Lana Mae]

I am on HRT for 8 months now! I never hated myself as a man! Lana Mae and Harry are becoming one! Next month I will change my name! Then I will head toward the necessary physical changes that will become me! I will be a tall, older, ugly lady, but I will be a lady! My boss has cleared me as long as I change my name on my nursing licence! Since she is fine with it, I do not care about anyone else! Yeah, maybe 100%! LOL Hugs Lana Mae

[Jenny22]

As I grew up, I force trained myself to be male in all things, even though the girl lived in my head and heart. I'd say gender dysphoria is near 100%.

[Confucius]

Gender dysphoria? I have to confess an uncomfortable "yes". I believe gender dysphoria still occupies about 25% but as a child it was closer to 90%.

As a very young child I would hear my mother talk about our births. When my older brother was born she was hoping for a boy. I was her second pregnancy and she prayed and prayed to make it female. When I was born she was very disappointed. But when I was only six months old she found herself pregnant a third time. She was almost afraid to pray for a girl. However the third time was the charm. When my sister was born it was the happiest day of my mother's life. My sister grew up as my mother's pampered little princess. I grew up thinking that if I was a girl my mother would love me more.

As a young boy I believed all boys would have preferred to be girls. When I was three years old I would raid my mom's closet and tell my mom that I was playing "mommy". I thought that wanting to be a girl was normal, and I also thought that all parents preferred daughters because they were nicer, smarter, prettier, and never caused any trouble. Girls got all the attention, all the shiny items to make them pretty, and they were praised simply for their appearances. Of course I had gender dysphoria as a child.

I did identify as a boy, but I saw being a boy as a handicap in life. It wasn't until I was in puberty that I began to believe that their may be some advantages to being a boy. Gender therapists say that 75% of the young boys with gender dysphoria grow out of it by the time they reach adulthood. I believe I am one of those. I will also add that overcoming my gender dysphoria wasn't easy, and I'm still working on it. I still find more things to be admired from females than males. I don't believe I will ever transition. I want to be a loving husband, and a great father to my children. I see them as more important in life than my crossdressing, but crossdressing is a part of my life.

[Teresa]

Confucius,
You raise one ot two interesting points .
The first is not knowing if other boys had the same feelings , especially as it was more sexual then . How many were slipping on their sister's or mother's clothing items , how normal or abnormal was it ? I wonder if we do totally grow out of it or it lays dormant ? What is the trigger later in life , it certainly explains late onset Cders .

Aunt Kelly ,
Thanks for the dysphoria definitions, I may not tick all the boxes but it's not important , the acceptance that I have dysphoria has made it far easier , I know what I'm dealing with and how to find a balance .

I'm not sure if I totally agree with your last line , sometimes people don't realise or choose to ignore what drives them , living with a gut feeling most of my life I wanted to know , I had to have answers to deal with it .

[GaleWarning]

0% here. It's just clothing and I am me, not matter what I am wearing.

[Aunt Kelly]

Theresa,
Again, one needn't check all those boxes, but in order to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, one must suffer from at least two for six months or more. That's an easy thing to grasp, so why do so many here insist that they suffer from GD when they don't meet those straightforward criteria?

[Elizabeth G]

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. There are times that I have felt so strongly about transition I didn't know how I could continue in my Male existence while at other times I'm quite happy as a guy. Based solely on that statement I'm clearly not a candidate for transition but I certainly don't fit the binary model.

What about you Tracy?

[sarah_hillcrest]

50% But growing.

[Alice Torn]

I can relate with everything Jessica, Mary, Jenny, and Elizabeth wrote. I have the dilemna, and conflict with my male self and wanting to be a lady for short periods. Males are stifled, and straightjacketed in many ways. I wish there was a pill that made me a lady for a day or two, then back to guy!!

[docrobbysherry]

50% before I figured out I'm not trans. Maybe a CD or female impersonator?

Since then? ZERO!

[Fran-K]

Jessica almost nailed it for me.

I'm a man. I think I'm a man. I'm a man in a man's body. Etc. But at the same time, I like dressing up (in dresses), makeup, lingerie, and so on. I also like to wear women's clothing while doing 'Manly Things" - I had a project to do in my workshop this afternoon and it was jeggings/panties/bra (no top, pretty hot here) ... and taps and dies and drills... Go figure.

As best I can figure out (putting things _very_ _simplistically_), some GG's have at most a passing interested in femininity (as we use it here), plain cotton undies, etc, etc. Others are very into dresses and makeup and hairstyle and so on. So why do those interests have to be confined to GG's? If a GG can be interested in machine tools and fast cars and not be considered a deviant ... why can't a GM be interested in dresses/etc? That's me ... a GM, who likes a lot (but not all) of "manly things" ... and a few "womanly things" too. So yeah, it's society that is "dysphoric", decreeing that these are for men, those for women with no objective basis for it.

That all ignores the question of why I want to "look like" a woman. Doesn't that mean, deep down, I want to be one, and therefore am dysphoric/trans/pick-a-term? I will say no, I do not want to be one. But when I dress, I'm looking more for the style/form/beauty/etc rather than the "underlying human". But even when I'm dressed, I don't have a moment's doubt that I'm a man but I'm not a MIAD because I'm attempting to emulate what society has said people who wear dresses and skirts should look like.

So I guess I'm 0% dysphoric, but about 99.999% feminine-wanna-be (at times). Does that make any sense?

Fran

[2B Natasha]

Tracy, that is an interesting question that is not easy to answer.

Do I have issues with my male self and body? Not at all. I've had a rip roaring good time in it. It has served me really well. I have beat on it, broken it, crashed it, wiped pieces off, had them sewn back on, generally abused it. Still. It just keeps ticking with no issues. My knees are good on no medication for anything still ( i think the next visit to the doctor will change that ).

Does that mean I want to keep it then? Nope. I think about changing it almost everyday. I dream, or day dream about rearranging the plumbing to fit what's in my head almost everyday. I've gone so far as to tell my wife that I will not die with a p&@#s. told her the car on our way to the theatre one night.

So where do I fit on the scale of 0 to 100. Probably a hundred and zero %

Does it help to answer your question? Doubt it but it's the best I can do with honesty.

Cheers
Natasha

[HannahB]

Jessica and several others pretty well defined it for me, too.

I'm a man. Always have been and always will be. But I also love being and dressing feminine at times. I believe that any dysphoria I experience comes from society's pressure on how I should dress and behave, not from any internal conflicts in my mind.

[Marcia Blue]

I have to have some gender dysphoria. I love my duality. That being said, there are times I have to dress. I would say maybe 30%. I do hate my male body but would love to have real female breasts maybe more.

[Robertacd]

My dysphoria is so strong that I have basically given my self breasts by sleeping in a tight bra for years.

[GretchenJ]

For me , it averages around 20%, going at times at 0 and as high over periods of time (say over a week) at 70%.

[Rachelakld]

0%, don't want or need anything removed.
My work mate is 100% - tried killing herself, tried drugs, never touches downstairs, will have trouble in the future with jobs etc - not a fun life.

Maybe we should specify percentages? -
50% is wanting real breasts,
65% is wanting to cut off the old fella,
80% the full operation,
90% includes all the above and months of FRS ???

[Cheryl T]

Maybe we should specify percentages? -
50% is wanting real breasts,
65% is wanting to cut off the old fella,
80% the full operation,
90% includes all the above and months of FRS ???

If a number must be assigned then I'm definitely nearing 60% with a 65% leaning...
There are days when it's much higher but rarely anytime when it's below 50%.
I suppose it's gotten higher now that I've retired and no longer have all the restrictions on me that were there before. I spend so much more time as a woman that it just keeps getting more and more natural.
Growing my hair out now and in process to remove all body hair permanently.
One day at a time ...

[Princess Chantal]

0 percent here