Hi, yes, I would still like my question answered! How do I know if I’m uncomfortable with being seen as a woman because I’m actually not a woman, or because being seen as a woman has made me feel unsafe/sexualized in the past?

transgenderadvicegroup:

From other anonymous askers

I’m not THE anon but i’d love to your imput on how to tell transness from internalized misogyny

So I’m not the anon thag that originally asked the question about being afraid that my feelings are internalized misogyny and not actual dysphoria (trans masc) but that definitely is a worry that I have and has caused me a great deal of confusion. If you could re-answer that ask then that would be wonderful…

This is a bit of a tough question. Most people who’ve detransitioned or who thought they were trans but realized they weren’t thought so because of gender roles, and stuff like this: disliking the way society treats women, so they thought they could deflect it by transitioning into a man.

For me, I know I was trans because of how uncomfortable I was in a female body. It wasn’t being a woman, necessarily, that made me uncomfortable, but my body itself. I was (and am) a huge feminist, and I wasn’t ashamed to be a woman. I knew I could be strong and brave as well as soft and caring while being a woman. But I just knew, deep down, that I couldn’t keep living as one because I just wasn’t. 

I’ve seen some videos by detransitioners (which can be really informative, just be careful if you’re easily triggered by transphobia, because some of these people go full-TERF after transitioning), and from the sounds of it, they transitioned because they wanted power, respect, and freedom from sexual harassment, which are all things they thought they could achieve by becoming male. They saw their female characteristics as the cause of their suffering, because of how society treated them because they were female. 

I think that’s the main difference between someone who is actually transgender, and someone who is a cis woman, but doesn’t want to be treated as one because of sexism. Transitioning for yourself because your body seems wrong, versus transitioning to escape societal expectations of your sex.

Granted, this isn’t a subject I’m especially educated on, so I’d appreciate input from anyone who is a detransitioner or who thought they were trans but realized it was internalized misogyny, etc.