I socially transitioned before I started hormones, and when I went out in public wearing women’s clothes, people would look at me frequently, and some people would stare at me. It was obvious I didn’t pass from these kinds of responses, but I also got somewhat used to that treatment.
Over time, with hormone therapy, I get fewer and fewer instances of this. I haven’t been stared at in a long time, and I think people look at me less.
At one point I would describe my experience as being a “woman shaped object” - in people’s peripheral vision I looked like a normal woman, but if someone interacted with me they could tell I was trans.
I went out yesterday and got my nails done, went shopping, went out for dinner, etc. and interactions with people made me think they couldn’t tell I was trans, but I just don’t know whether they can actually tell or not.
While waiting in line to buy some clothes, a woman wanted to chat about how long the line was taking, and she interacted with me as though I were a normal woman - there wasn’t a hint of stigma, curiosity, etc.
Anyway - this just makes me wonder: what are others’ experiences with passing and not-passing, what are little clues that you aren’t passing or when you are?
I assume you just can’t actually tell when people are being polite vs not knowing, but maybe there are little hints.
Thanks!
it’s so weird, I feel like I’ll never pass, but other people seem convinced that I almost do or something, maybe it’s just friends being nice, but then people I didn’t know will act like i pass and gosh it’s confusing.
When Instagram starts censoring your nipples.
haha, but seriously the algorithm does a poor job of correctly identifying women or the “female” nipple
Get into a fight with a stranger and see if they call you slurs. (Please don’t do this.)
For real tho, I transitioned 20 years ago and I still doubt if I pass despite all of my friends assuring me that I do, and never getting misgendered in public. It stressed me out nonstop til my therapist asked “Why do you care if you pass?” - “Well, because I don’t want anyone to know I’m trans, obviously.” And he said “So what if they do?” And I couldn’t come up with a good rebuttal. I’ve found a new confidence in life now that I don’t give a shit if I pass and just live my truth. I wish the same strength to all my trans homies.
lol, I am not even sure how to start a fight with a stranger if I wanted to. I think I would find it difficult to do.
But seriously, 20 years is a long time to feel like you are not passing 😭 I don’t get misgendered in public either, but I think that’s because people are polite, not because they think I’m a cis woman.
Where I live being trans is a risk, so in my mind the rebuttal to “so what if they do” is that it’s unsafe, but tbh I have all sorts of negative feelings about being trans, like feeling embarrassed for not having the “right” body. For the most part I just try to ignore the gender and interact authentically, but I obviously have to pay attention to my voice and I suspect I am implicitly changing a lot based on the social situation I am in. Probably I need to leave this place, it is not healthy for me to be somewhere that is so hostile to what I am.
While waiting in line to buy some clothes, a woman wanted to chat about how long the line was taking, and she interacted with me as though I were a normal woman - there wasn’t a hint of stigma, curiosity, etc.
That’s great! <3 I’m not out so not much to add, other than I hope to reach the same stage one day
I wish I would pass to myself 😭 I felt so dysphoric yesterday, I just can’t believe anyone would not see me as trans - but I also don’t know how to explain their behavior.
Yeah it definitely sounds like you’re passing, at least mostly!
I also suffer from dysphoria so often, and feel I’m not passing when I do. Our brains are trained on the previous data of our faces on bodies as they were prior to transition and can still nitpick bits and pieces of what we used to look like that was masculine. Our brains mean well but… It can be hard to forget.
On the plus side it sounds like people see you and know you’re a woman, at least most of the time if not all :) 💜
If you’re perceived as a woman people tend to be friendlier and more polite towards you. My expierence with transitioning into a man is that people are generally more indifferent and cautious towards me now. I have to be a lot more mindful of coming across as “creepy” or “dangerous” than I used to be specifically with women who are strangers. I’m neither of those things, but the expectation of men being inherently threatening still prevails.
ooo, this a useful observation, thank you.
Thinking about it, I have found even when people know I’m trans, like when laser techs are lasering my genitals so there is no room for ambiguity, they treat me as a different gender than “man”, i.e. the way they talk to me and themselves is in a way that I know as distinct from when I was perceived as a man (higher pitched or feminine, more warm, more talkative in general, nicer, etc. even between themselves). Being a trans woman, contrary to anti-trans rhetoric, seems at least in my case to be perceived as at least partially disarming.
Other good examples include when I went out in public pre-hormones and wore dresses and such, and people (usually liberal white women) would regularly tell me they love my dress or skirt or whatever, and I would get over-friendly looks from some people. It seemed like the opposite of the glaring conservative men, I got overly kind supportive liberals. This over-friendliness has been replaced with indifference and maybe normal polite-friendliness instead over time.
Thinking about your experiences, I do feel for trans men who cross the threshold into that lonely life, but having lived as a lonely man, there are definitely some men who can offer close fraternity - it is just hard sometimes to find those men and form relationships, but it is possible!
Oh! Is that what it is?
I’ve been using my “girl voice” all the time now, and while I might be said to present somewhat androgynous, I’m perhaps not obviously trying to appear feminine. BUT, when I talk to people, they (particularly men) have started responding in much softer tones after they hear my voice. I thought they might just be imitating me, but could it be their “talking to women” voice? I hope so :3
I had a person do this when I first transitioned, he started emulating my higher voice in unusual ways. I tended to feel like I was being perceived as a gay man in those moments, rather than as a woman. I think often androgynous expressions lean into “feminine man” territories that lots of people perceive as “gay”. It has been a real struggle for me to break out of “gay man” into “feminine woman” territory.
That said, it could be that the softer tone is for lots of reasons, I don’t think it’s a bad sign - much better than being viewed as a fellow man and treated as such!
At this point in my life I am content with the good friends that I’ve made in college. I find that I have the closest friendships with queer men because there’s less of an atmosphere of us both constantly trying to signal and prove our masculinity and more of a “whatever make you happy, I don’t care” attitude. Less repression and insecurity, essentially.
