People’s Perceptions
Someone wrote…
As a female and largely female-presenting androgyne, I’m constantly torn between fighting to have my masculine traits recognized and not overdoing it to the point people stop recognizing my feminine traits. I don’t want to have to do that. I am completely comfortable with my gender expression – it’s people’s perceptions which make me uncomfortable in my skin.
What’s your experience?
Posted by Freiya on February 11th, 2013 at 08:00 am
Category: your voice 2 comments »
February 11th, 2013 at 10:40 am |
Yeah, me too. I feel fine in my own body, but I don’t identify with other females the way I’m “supposed” to. I want to be seen as neither male nor female, but that doesn’t usually happen, so I feel tempted to go all-out FTM to make up for it. It’s important to be yourself, though, always. If you aren’t “out” yet, you might want to consider it, as that can influence the way people percieve you, too.
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February 12th, 2013 at 5:27 am |
I went through a phase about a year ago of changing my presentation to be very heavily male. It was fun for a little while, because I more often was mistaken for a man, but I eventually realized I was losing a part of myself…I went back to presenting more authentically. Now I am almost always mistaken as female, but I just try to remember who I am and that most other people are just operating on outdated social norms–they don’t know any better. (Well…some people might just be hating, but then they’re just jerks, so I don’t pay them any mind.) I think if one can balance the stress which comes from being mistaken for female with the stress of not being true to oneself so that you reduce both as much as possible, that is the route to take. Easier said than done, of course.
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