Quote Originally Posted by Adina View Post
What I don't get is how someone can "become" a woman i.e. late onset transsexuality. Is late onset transsexuality essentially a variant of TS wherein the individual has so completely suppressed their underlying identity that they convinced even themselves they were male? Can someone truly be a "man" i.e. genuinely at the core of their identity feel they are male, then as they age become a woman and truly feel their identity is female? Can someone possibly genuinely at the core of their identity be both?
Yes, that is exactly what late onset transsexualism is. The truth is that even if a late onset TS starts to self-reflect on her past she will realize that she did know all along that she was a girl, and repressed it so deeply that she was in a deep state of denial, causing her to think she is actually a man.

I don't believe in late-onset or early-onset TS. I believe that gender dysphoria is progressive, and progresses at different rates for us. Whether we are able to "man up" well or not, and the age we end up transitioning at is decided by both our core personality and societal pressures.

A core personality that consists of a lot of stereotypically feminine or androgynous personality traits often has a harder time creating a male persona and often transitions earlier.

Examples of stereotypical feminine personality traits include: Examples may include someone who is more sensitive, not athletic, not physically strong, shy around women, is more of a friend than a lover with women, nurturing, emotional.

Examples of stereotypical gender neutral or androgynous traits: objective thinker, nerd, intellectual, computer programmer

A core personality that consists of a lot of stereotypically masculine personality traits often has an easier time constructing a male persona and often transitions later.

Examples of stereotypical masculine traits: physically strong, athletic, outgoing, knows how to hit on women, stoical, more emotionally detached

Our environment also shapes us too. Many of us face more social pressures to "man up" than others. A lot of late-transitioners grew up in the 50s or 60s at a time where showing any sign of femininity, which includes traits that are gender neutral, faced discrimination and mistreatment by family, friends, and society. So a lot of these people put on a strong male persona, joining the military, getting married, having kids, masculine occupations, positions of power and prestige, to hide that they are trans. At some point late in life they could no longer keep up the male persona, and hence transition.

People who grew up after 1980 might have faced significantly less pressure to "man up" than our Baby Boomer counterparts, combined with the internet, the might have figured out they are trans and transition in their 20s.

But it's really a combination of your core personality traits and the degree of societal pressure you face. You might be very stereotypically feminine but faced tremendous pressure to "man up", or be more masculine but faced less pressure to "man up".

I also think the availability of the internet in the last 15 years, and more trans awareness and pushing for trans rights in recent years, is allowing people of all ages to finally transition.