- Do you see yourself as a "new" or "recent" woman who's learning about female things now? (E.g. did you know what a pessary was? Did you read women's magazines in the before times?)
- Did your preferred sex (e.g. women for straight males) remain the same? Do you identify as straight or gay (or none of the above?)
It's none of my business, other than it helps me situate you (and maybe inductively other trans women) in these male-female ML things.
I still don't know what a pessary is. I didn't really read women's magazines before I transitioned, and I still don't.
I feel fine being a tomboy with "guy" interests. It's not an end goal of mine to go "stealth" (That is, pass as cis 100% of the time) or fit in to any female-coded social group in particular. Transitioning is something I do for myself, so presenting feminine but still being a little bit "masculine" in my interests and hobbies just doesn't bother me.
I've always been attracted to women, so I went from being a straight guy to being a lesbian. There's a few specific heterosexual scenarios where I can identify with the woman now, but not enough to say I'm attracted to men in general.
> it helps me situate you (and maybe inductively other trans women) in these male-female ML things.
Yeah I'm definitely speaking for myself here. The only things that are likely to be true of all trans women is that they use (or want to use, if they're still in the closet) she/her pronouns, and that they were not assigned female at birth.
Everything else can vary:
- Lots of trans people want to be stealth. It's safer on average, but I live in a queer-friendly town
- Not everyone wants to reclaim "queer" but personally I don't want to type out LGBTQIAA+ every time...
- Some trans people report that their sexuality changes (or they realize they're actually asexual) after they begin transitioning or after they begin hormone therapy. It isn't clear what percent of this is caused by the hormones and what percent is purely psychological.
- Most trans women don't say things like "I used to be a guy". I don't have an internal sense of gender, so I don't feel like the common story of "I was always a woman on the inside" applies to me, even though it applies to many trans women. When I was younger, people assumed I was male and I was fine with it, so I don't feel wrong to say I used to be a boy or used to be a guy. I transitioned when I decided that I didn't need an internal sense of gender - If I wanted to be a woman on the outside, that's all I needed, and maybe for me in particular, I only have an outside.
- Do you see yourself as a "new" or "recent" woman who's learning about female things now? (E.g. did you know what a pessary was? Did you read women's magazines in the before times?)
- Did your preferred sex (e.g. women for straight males) remain the same? Do you identify as straight or gay (or none of the above?)
It's none of my business, other than it helps me situate you (and maybe inductively other trans women) in these male-female ML things.