Over the years, I’ve seen many folk talking about their relationship with femininity and how it relates to their transition and to their sense of identity, of who they are.
I’ve never understood it though. I don’t feel like I have a relationship with femininity, or at least, nothing beyond pragmatic necessity. It doesn’t relate to my sense of identity or who I am. In many ways, it feels like an obligation, rather than a source of empowerment or self understanding.
So, I’m curious how it works for other folk who find empowerment in it. What does it mean to you? How did it help you find yourself? How do you relate to femininity now vs earlier in your life?
Edit - To add some context. I’m 7 years transitioned, and “post transition” for want of a better term. I’m quite comfortable with my own relationship (or lack of it) with femininity. This is more an exercise in trying to understand different perspectives :)
I suppose this question is basically, “what are my goals?” I consider myself fairly feminine in mind, but I lament how unfeminine I am in body. In mind, I am emotional and empathic. I deeply care about other people and their feelings and I feel a lot, but I find myself unable to express it without inebriants.
What’s feminine to me is the ability to be emotionally available, freely expressive, caring, and nurturing. I don’t want to be tough and stoic. I don’t want to be strong and unwavering. I want to be flowing and expressive. I don’t want to uphold masculine expectations because emotionally, I feel trapped inside my own head. The main issue is that I don’t yet hold the keys to the cell. I wear a mask whether I want to or not and I live inside my own head.
As for expression, I want to be small, graceful, and delicate. I want my body to flow in movement and shape just as I want my emotions and mannerisms to flow from within me. I want my wardrobe to be complex and for my outfits to match my internal state. My current wardrobe is so boring: it’s just the same cuts of shirts and pants and I’ll only ever find more of the same off the rack at the department store. It should be vibrant and varied. Without going into detail, there are a few pain points on my body that need to be addressed. I guess it’s a roundabout way to say that I want the outside to match the inside.
I also want to be allowed to feel vulnerable and for that to be acceptable. I’m not good at being a man because… I’m not. And I shouldn’t be expected to be if I don’t want to. Nobody would expect me to be a carpenter just because I own a hammer, so why should this be different? I hope that answers your question. My neurospicy brain likes to tangent and ramble a bit.
This. Everything you wrote is how I feel about it. Thank you for writing this