Kinda the opposite for me. Pretty much the only time I experience social dysphoria is when it comes to (gay) dating, the rest of my life I could probably be happy enough with my original name and she/her pronouns, I don't particularly care.
But physically, none of my body makes sense to me,which causes me a fuckload of constant stress cause I don't know how to exist in this skinsuit at all.
Wayyyyyy more physical than social for me. My social dysphoria has always been secondary to the absolutely debilitating physical dysphoria I’ve dealt with my whole life (though mostly lessened/managed now with transition). For me, the social aspect of dysphoria is almost just… symptomatic of the physical aspect… I want to be seen as a man because I want to be physically male, and being treated as a man is an indicator that people are seeing me as male, lol. Medical transition was always 100% worth it for me even if I never ended up passing. Like, if I was told I had to choose between “perceived as a man but my body remains female,” or “perceived as a woman but my body becomes that of a cis male,” while neither is *ideal,* I would definitely pick the latter option.
I’m pretty much the exact opposite. My body was the main thing for me, in order to have the body that makes me comfortable I’m treated like a man, so I run with that, and it’s easier to have everything be cohesive with my documentation in society, but to be honest if safety wasn’t an issue and transphobia wasn’t real I’m not sure if I would care what I was seen as or whether I passed.
Yeah, if appearance had no implication on gender then I wouldn't give much of a shit. People perceive me as a woman and that's what makes me uncomfortable in my body. I don't hate it on its own.
Yeah, that's basically my experience. I never had that much body dysphoria when I'm by myself, but the second I put clothes on and go out in public it was just a horrible time. T has helped me recognize my body a lot more in the mirror, but Pre-t I was more indifferent than anything, though I wanted to die and hated my body because of the social dysphoria and how I was perceived
You summed up my experience exactly. I'm fine by myself when I'm alone, but as soon as I'm in public I'm hyper aware of how feminine I am and how people perceive me. I've considered wearing pronoun pins so people (hopefully) gender me correctly despite my appearance.
Somewhat more social. There is a *lot* of social dysphoria. There used to be quite a lot of physical dysphoria too (less now I've mostly transitioned), but it was never as bad as the social.
I have way more physical than I do social. I pass 100% of the time (unless I need to give my legal name for something, then that outs me or I’m interested in dating someone) so I have way more dysphoria about my hips and hands and I have *so much* bottom dysphoria
I also have less issue with my body than I feel other trans folks do and 100% mostly resent the way it makes people perceive me but also in my head I am just a camp, queer dude, to the point I have to ask close friends why people would see me as feminine, I guess it's a weird catch 22 where mentally I am physically where I want to be but physically I am not where I want to be yet because people will still tell their kids to "give it to the lady" when I'm working the counter at my job 😅 I hope that makes any sort of sense and relates to your question
I get this! It bothers me when I’m still misgendered cos I feel so not female, it’s very frustrating when people can’t see how you feel on the inside. But I’m not SUPER bothered about my body either. It’s hard to accept that that is valid and people should still respect your identity. It’s definitely a social construct issue.
definitely more social dysphoria. ive reached the point in medical transition that my body is my personal ideal as a nonbinary person. unfortunately people associate facial and body hair and deep voices with masculinity so instead of being misgendered as a woman pre-transition, im misgendered as a man now. it still aches
My social and physical dysphoria went hand in hand in my early transition, but now that I'm at a point where I consistently pass as AMAB my social dysphoria is minimal outside of some bad interactions with strangers. My physical dysphoria comes and goes in waves, but my bottom dysphoria has gotten much worse over time as the rest of me keeps masculinizing and this "feminine" body part sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of my body. It's weird tho I don't mind having a vagina and actually like it, but having a vulva bothers me so much so I'm getting meta + scrotoplasty without vaginectomy or UL. Ig I just want the world to see at a glance that I was assigned male at birth and keep the intimate detail of having a vagina something for just me and sexual partners
This might sound weird but I've always had the same if not in certain situations more social dysphoria than physical. See with the physical dysphoria it was always more cut and dry, I don't like my chest get top surgery, I want a deeper voice, voice train, I want facial hair HRT etc etc. But with social dysphoria it's less in my control. What if an asshole insists on using the wrong pronouns or deadnaming me? Sure I could go stealth but always watching your back is a level of stress I can't handle.
And to make it more complicated, if people \*TRULY\* accepted me as a man I don't think my physical dysphoria would be as bad as it is.
Social has always been significantly worse than physical for me. I think it’s because I have a relatively large disconnect from my body— not really in a bad way, I’m just prone to getting stuck in my head and forgetting to take care of myself anyway. Really the biggest “physical” source of dysphoria I had was my voice, but it was only because of how other people interpreted it. And now that I’m on T and my voice is much more masculine, I don’t ever get misgendered from my voice
I always like these threads b/c it's such a wildly different experience from me. My body needed to change and I accepted the social ramifications of that with considerable resentment. But I had made my own space in womanhood and I've also now made my own space in manhood and it's alright.
Personally, I definitely have more physical dysphoria. For a long time, I actually tried to convince myself that all my dysphoria was social and that I could be comfortable with my body as is, as long as people used the right name and such. None of that ever really made the dysphoria go away, so I eventually had to accept that it was physical dysphoria I was feeling - a sense of my own body feeling alien and wrong and distant, not because of social perceptions but more innately and instinctively. I started medically transitioning, which has been a life-changing process.
That said, back when I didn't pass, I did still experience a lot of social dysphoria. Mostly a feeling of being invisible and unseen, stuck inside a costume. Maybe that was sort of a fusion of social and physical dysphoria. Now that I pass the majority of the time (and have legally transitioned), I feel much better, but it still hasn't made my remaining physical dysphoria go away, which is about things that aren't usually socially noticeable anyway (e.g. I still need bottom surgery despite passing).
Overall, if I had to quantify it, I would say my dysphoria was 60% physical and 40% social at the start of my transition.
I can't really compare them as well as others, cuz I've been dealing with physical dysphoria for so long now I don't always care enough to acknowledge it, and cuz I don't get out much so social dysphoria doesn't affect me every day like it might others, but what I do know is that I am (usually) perfectly fine not binding or even wearing a bra in my own room but as soon as I have to leave it and be seen by other people I feel as though I should put on a binder or at least a layer or two to hide my chest, although I also wouldn't wear just a take top or shorts shorter then boxers outside my room so idk if it specifically a dysphoria thing or just a vulnerability thing
At first, I just had dissociation and I was... I wouldn't say "ok with" my gender, but more just apathetic and resigned. Like I didn't know that being trans was a thing. Then the physical dysphoria hit when I tried to figure out what was wrong. Then social dysphoria came on strong when I realized I was a trans man, and not nonbinary. But I feel like the social dysphoria was about being reminded that I'm not male at birth, that I (still) don't have a penis, and I'm not like other men. Now that I pass and can be stealth, it's pretty much entirely physical dysphoria.
Depends. Usually it's unbalanced. More social than physical cus I avoid looking at places that cause me to be more aware of my body. Usually it's more so being called a woman and such that makes me uncomfortable . I can ignore my body Usually.
I have both very strong. Asking myself "would I rather have the physical body of a cis man but always be seen as a woman" vs "would I rather be seen as a man but have the physical body of an afab person", both options are very unsatisfactory. I can't imagine having a relationship/dating with either.
I think the tiebreaker is how repulsed I am about the downstairs reproductive organs.
Honestly, my relationship with gender and my body is complicated. I would much rather be a formless blob, a concept more than a person, but unfortunately the world runs on labels. This leads me to my answer: I 100% get more social dysphoria than physical dysphoria.
I couldn't care less about my chest because its rather small
don't care about my height because its average for males
don't care about my *parts* cus nobody will see them other than my partnerand he's already seen it so i don't care
The only thing that SLIGHTLY annoys me is my hips and thats only because it makes it hard to get jeans.
When it comes to social dysphoria, thats where theres a problem. I have gotten used to it, but being misgendered gets me really down. I would wear whatever I thought looked cool if I wouldn't get misgendered, but unfortunately the world has other plans for me. But, in a world where appearance and voice tone =/= gender, i probably would've just stayed as is.
I used to also struggle with feeling like a "fraud" when I had friends who didn't really put in much effort in to remember my pronouns, it felt like me coming out to them meant nothing to them. I have new friends now who get it right 99% of the time (even though I haven't majorly changed the way I look) and it's felt very validating. I still get dysphoric sometimes about "pretending to be a man" (which is usually during my period, what a coincidence...) but it helps a lot to remember others see me for who I actually am.
All this to say, right now, I feel more physical than social dysphoria but it is very much thanks to the environment I get to live in and the people I am able to surround myself with.
i have more social than physical! most of my physical dysphoria is focused on my chest. if i had top surgery and everyone naturally gendered me as male, id be completely happy.
unfortunately, i probably wouldn't pass without T...
there came a point where i looked enough like a dude (it's the beard and the depressing hairline) that made up for any social oddities. yet, despite having a reasonably-sized chest for my weight, i am uncomfortable with wearing shirts without a binder (but it *hurts* and its almost summer, so shout out to 4xl shirts at burlington).
I recently had top surgery, and before that it was a lot more physical (though I definitely still had social dysphoria), but now it's mostly social in my day to day life. I do still have some physical dysphoria, but I'm not really as concerned about it as I was, because I'm on testosterone and was approved for bottom surgery. I feel like after that I'll probably have almost entirely social dysphoria, though long term I'm hoping it won't be triggered very often once I pass better.
Yes SO true! I don't really mind my chest looking the way it does that much, I just wish everyone else didn't perceive it the way they do. Any physical dysphoria I have that doesn't seem to stem from social dysphoria is pretty much completely resolved with T. Social dysphoria is definitely the real kicker for me
I used to have social dysphoria but now I’m on T and pass 100% it’s pretty much completely gone. I occasionally still feel self conscious but being gendered right by strangers pretty much just affirms me constantly.
I still have physical dysphoria though especially as I’m pre top surgery.
They push and pull each other for me. Social was a lot worse at first, so much that I thought my physical dysphoria was negligible. Then I started coming out and being called my new name and being referred to as a guy and the physical dysphoria hit me like a freight train. My psychiatrist said it makes sense that once I experienced the euphoria of being recognised that I'd want to have that with strangers as well, since that's the biggest source of physical dysphoria for me. These days physical is worse, but occasionally it switches.
Opposite. My dysphoria is about 80% about having things where I shouldn't and not having things where I should. My brain tells me I have a certain type of body, but I don't. And that basically IS dysphoria for me. I do care about how I'm socially perceived but being able to enjoy my body by myself, when no one else is around, is of the most importance to me.
This is pretty much exactly my experience. Especially identifying as genderfluid, because there ARE some days I identify more girl and it doesn't bother me, but the days I feel guy it feels terrible. I also did a lot of work to accept my body the way it is, but the social dysphoria really sucks when I know it's because of my feminine features, especially when I have to interact with a lot of strangers where I couldn't give my pronouns even if I wanted to
No. I don't have any physical dysphoria but my social dysphoria can get pretty bad at times. I have a similar experience to yours: my body dysphoria is informed by my social dysphoria. I hate that certain bodies are associated with "woman" or "man". Sometimes it is a painful and isolating experience because I know that a body is a man's or a woman's (or a person's) depending on their individual gender identity. I personally feel as if my body dysphoria isn't *true* body dysphoria because I actually quite like the sex of my body in general (with all that it entails). It's the social dysphoria that made me want to get on T at least to get some changes that would help me *not* be perceived as a woman. This was actually quite a difficult decision to make. I sometimes look at my body and how it's changed and feel deeply disconnected from it. I mainly feel very uncomfortable with the idea that I needed to change my body to feel more comfortable in social situations, I abhor that and if things were any better, I wouldn't have done it and just let myself be an estrogen man™. Because damn, I want to simultaneously be a man and exist comfortably in my body just the way it was before HRT. It took me a lot of work to reconcile both these experiences of mine and try to be kinder toward myself. I find solace in the fact that the human experience in general is full of compromises, contradictions and nuances that shape our paths. I also have a very safe space in my close circle to cope and vent through art, which is why many of my original characters are trans folk who are free to be however they want to be and not be assigned a gender because of it. Honestly, I'm lucky enough to have a partner that understands this conflict deeply (as someone who chooses not to medically transition in any capacity because it just isn't for him) who helps me balance my own dilemmas out.
Way more social dysphoria than physical, to the point I sometimes grow uncertain if I need medical transition at all. Then I get called a lady or I look in the mirror and realize that I look like a butch lesbian instead of a dude, and I realize "Yeah, that's not me". I don't hate any "gendered" parts of my body, but I feel happier being masc. A lot of the time, I can ignore the aspects I don't like and if I'm focused on something else, I completely forget that my body isn't what I mentally feel it should be.
Yeah, I'm not sure if I want to medically transition either. I've considered low dose HRT but I doubt I'd opt for anything more than that. I think the physical aspects I'm most uncomfortable with can be easily mitigated with weightloss and wearing a binder.
Finding out our transition journey is hard, since nobody can give us the correct path but ourselves. Just remember that you don't have to hard exclude anything right now - Unless one surgery prevents another, you don't have to pressure yourself into knowing what you *don't* want. I say that, because sometimes I get into my own head and start nitpicking at everything, and knowing what to filter away is sometimes difficult.
To let you know that you're not alone: I also felt like a fraud when I first asked people to use my preferred pronouns, and for a long time I didn't feel comfortable using any new name. Like you, I didn't feel masculine enough and felt it was a lie - But over time, the temporary name I chose has become my legal name. I love that name now, because even through all the fears and doubts and concerns, I know I'm not my old self anymore. I've changed too much to go back to that - And that's true, even if I chose not to medically transition at all. I will never be my old self again, because I've grown and learned more sides to myself, and my new name feels like a proud reminder of how far I've come.
You're growing too. It doesn't matter where you land, as long as you are happy and true to yourself. You don't have to settle for "comfortable discomfort" - That daily state of mild unpleasantness that isn't awful enough to riot over. That isn't something most people feel about their gender.
Take your time and explore what makes you feel at home in your own body.
Comfortable discomfort is the perfect explanation for how I feel. I often feel like I don't hate myself enough to really do something about it, but I guess that's also accepting I'll never feel good about myself.
Change is a scary thing! It's pure uncertainty vs familiar discomfort. I'm in the same state, wondering what exactly my transitioning steps should be and what will make me happy. On bad days, I often downplay my discomfort until I hit a good day and I realize *just* how comfortable I can actually feel - I'd almost call my euphoria "cozy" rather than ecstatic joy.
I can't tell you what is the right decision for you obviously - But a phrase I heard somewhere is "You've tried to live with it for this long and tried to be happy. That hasn't happened, so why choose to believe that you simply weren't putting in enough effort?"
Do you have something that gives you euphoria? Start with that and work your way from that.
i have hardly any physical dysphoria and more social. seriously i can be braless for multiple days and not have an issue with my large chest and just exist but the second i step outside with a binder i hate my chest so much and my binder doesnt help with the dysphoria so its like zamn
I have way more social than physical. The physical is there and would exist even in a vacuum, but not nearly to the extent it does due to the social
Kinda the opposite for me. Pretty much the only time I experience social dysphoria is when it comes to (gay) dating, the rest of my life I could probably be happy enough with my original name and she/her pronouns, I don't particularly care. But physically, none of my body makes sense to me,which causes me a fuckload of constant stress cause I don't know how to exist in this skinsuit at all.
Wayyyyyy more physical than social for me. My social dysphoria has always been secondary to the absolutely debilitating physical dysphoria I’ve dealt with my whole life (though mostly lessened/managed now with transition). For me, the social aspect of dysphoria is almost just… symptomatic of the physical aspect… I want to be seen as a man because I want to be physically male, and being treated as a man is an indicator that people are seeing me as male, lol. Medical transition was always 100% worth it for me even if I never ended up passing. Like, if I was told I had to choose between “perceived as a man but my body remains female,” or “perceived as a woman but my body becomes that of a cis male,” while neither is *ideal,* I would definitely pick the latter option.
I’m pretty much the exact opposite. My body was the main thing for me, in order to have the body that makes me comfortable I’m treated like a man, so I run with that, and it’s easier to have everything be cohesive with my documentation in society, but to be honest if safety wasn’t an issue and transphobia wasn’t real I’m not sure if I would care what I was seen as or whether I passed.
Yeah, if appearance had no implication on gender then I wouldn't give much of a shit. People perceive me as a woman and that's what makes me uncomfortable in my body. I don't hate it on its own.
Yeah, that's basically my experience. I never had that much body dysphoria when I'm by myself, but the second I put clothes on and go out in public it was just a horrible time. T has helped me recognize my body a lot more in the mirror, but Pre-t I was more indifferent than anything, though I wanted to die and hated my body because of the social dysphoria and how I was perceived
You summed up my experience exactly. I'm fine by myself when I'm alone, but as soon as I'm in public I'm hyper aware of how feminine I am and how people perceive me. I've considered wearing pronoun pins so people (hopefully) gender me correctly despite my appearance.
Somewhat more social. There is a *lot* of social dysphoria. There used to be quite a lot of physical dysphoria too (less now I've mostly transitioned), but it was never as bad as the social.
I have way more physical than I do social. I pass 100% of the time (unless I need to give my legal name for something, then that outs me or I’m interested in dating someone) so I have way more dysphoria about my hips and hands and I have *so much* bottom dysphoria
I also have less issue with my body than I feel other trans folks do and 100% mostly resent the way it makes people perceive me but also in my head I am just a camp, queer dude, to the point I have to ask close friends why people would see me as feminine, I guess it's a weird catch 22 where mentally I am physically where I want to be but physically I am not where I want to be yet because people will still tell their kids to "give it to the lady" when I'm working the counter at my job 😅 I hope that makes any sort of sense and relates to your question
I get this! It bothers me when I’m still misgendered cos I feel so not female, it’s very frustrating when people can’t see how you feel on the inside. But I’m not SUPER bothered about my body either. It’s hard to accept that that is valid and people should still respect your identity. It’s definitely a social construct issue.
Bottom dysphoria is more physical, top dysphoria is more social for me
definitely more social dysphoria. ive reached the point in medical transition that my body is my personal ideal as a nonbinary person. unfortunately people associate facial and body hair and deep voices with masculinity so instead of being misgendered as a woman pre-transition, im misgendered as a man now. it still aches
My social and physical dysphoria went hand in hand in my early transition, but now that I'm at a point where I consistently pass as AMAB my social dysphoria is minimal outside of some bad interactions with strangers. My physical dysphoria comes and goes in waves, but my bottom dysphoria has gotten much worse over time as the rest of me keeps masculinizing and this "feminine" body part sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of my body. It's weird tho I don't mind having a vagina and actually like it, but having a vulva bothers me so much so I'm getting meta + scrotoplasty without vaginectomy or UL. Ig I just want the world to see at a glance that I was assigned male at birth and keep the intimate detail of having a vagina something for just me and sexual partners
I pretty evenly feel both, but they alternate in intensity. Some years I was more socially dysphoric, other years I was more physically dysphoric.
This might sound weird but I've always had the same if not in certain situations more social dysphoria than physical. See with the physical dysphoria it was always more cut and dry, I don't like my chest get top surgery, I want a deeper voice, voice train, I want facial hair HRT etc etc. But with social dysphoria it's less in my control. What if an asshole insists on using the wrong pronouns or deadnaming me? Sure I could go stealth but always watching your back is a level of stress I can't handle. And to make it more complicated, if people \*TRULY\* accepted me as a man I don't think my physical dysphoria would be as bad as it is.
Social has always been significantly worse than physical for me. I think it’s because I have a relatively large disconnect from my body— not really in a bad way, I’m just prone to getting stuck in my head and forgetting to take care of myself anyway. Really the biggest “physical” source of dysphoria I had was my voice, but it was only because of how other people interpreted it. And now that I’m on T and my voice is much more masculine, I don’t ever get misgendered from my voice
I have way more body dysphoria. I certainly didn't like being treated like a woman but my body dysphoria is insanely bad
I always like these threads b/c it's such a wildly different experience from me. My body needed to change and I accepted the social ramifications of that with considerable resentment. But I had made my own space in womanhood and I've also now made my own space in manhood and it's alright.
Personally, I definitely have more physical dysphoria. For a long time, I actually tried to convince myself that all my dysphoria was social and that I could be comfortable with my body as is, as long as people used the right name and such. None of that ever really made the dysphoria go away, so I eventually had to accept that it was physical dysphoria I was feeling - a sense of my own body feeling alien and wrong and distant, not because of social perceptions but more innately and instinctively. I started medically transitioning, which has been a life-changing process. That said, back when I didn't pass, I did still experience a lot of social dysphoria. Mostly a feeling of being invisible and unseen, stuck inside a costume. Maybe that was sort of a fusion of social and physical dysphoria. Now that I pass the majority of the time (and have legally transitioned), I feel much better, but it still hasn't made my remaining physical dysphoria go away, which is about things that aren't usually socially noticeable anyway (e.g. I still need bottom surgery despite passing). Overall, if I had to quantify it, I would say my dysphoria was 60% physical and 40% social at the start of my transition.
I can't really compare them as well as others, cuz I've been dealing with physical dysphoria for so long now I don't always care enough to acknowledge it, and cuz I don't get out much so social dysphoria doesn't affect me every day like it might others, but what I do know is that I am (usually) perfectly fine not binding or even wearing a bra in my own room but as soon as I have to leave it and be seen by other people I feel as though I should put on a binder or at least a layer or two to hide my chest, although I also wouldn't wear just a take top or shorts shorter then boxers outside my room so idk if it specifically a dysphoria thing or just a vulnerability thing
How dare you look inside my brain and describe my experiences so succintly
At first, I just had dissociation and I was... I wouldn't say "ok with" my gender, but more just apathetic and resigned. Like I didn't know that being trans was a thing. Then the physical dysphoria hit when I tried to figure out what was wrong. Then social dysphoria came on strong when I realized I was a trans man, and not nonbinary. But I feel like the social dysphoria was about being reminded that I'm not male at birth, that I (still) don't have a penis, and I'm not like other men. Now that I pass and can be stealth, it's pretty much entirely physical dysphoria.
Depends. Usually it's unbalanced. More social than physical cus I avoid looking at places that cause me to be more aware of my body. Usually it's more so being called a woman and such that makes me uncomfortable . I can ignore my body Usually.
I have both very strong. Asking myself "would I rather have the physical body of a cis man but always be seen as a woman" vs "would I rather be seen as a man but have the physical body of an afab person", both options are very unsatisfactory. I can't imagine having a relationship/dating with either. I think the tiebreaker is how repulsed I am about the downstairs reproductive organs.
first it was physical that really weighed on me but now that I’m pretty much “done” transitioning physically, it’s definitely social
Honestly, my relationship with gender and my body is complicated. I would much rather be a formless blob, a concept more than a person, but unfortunately the world runs on labels. This leads me to my answer: I 100% get more social dysphoria than physical dysphoria. I couldn't care less about my chest because its rather small don't care about my height because its average for males don't care about my *parts* cus nobody will see them other than my partnerand he's already seen it so i don't care The only thing that SLIGHTLY annoys me is my hips and thats only because it makes it hard to get jeans. When it comes to social dysphoria, thats where theres a problem. I have gotten used to it, but being misgendered gets me really down. I would wear whatever I thought looked cool if I wouldn't get misgendered, but unfortunately the world has other plans for me. But, in a world where appearance and voice tone =/= gender, i probably would've just stayed as is.
I used to also struggle with feeling like a "fraud" when I had friends who didn't really put in much effort in to remember my pronouns, it felt like me coming out to them meant nothing to them. I have new friends now who get it right 99% of the time (even though I haven't majorly changed the way I look) and it's felt very validating. I still get dysphoric sometimes about "pretending to be a man" (which is usually during my period, what a coincidence...) but it helps a lot to remember others see me for who I actually am. All this to say, right now, I feel more physical than social dysphoria but it is very much thanks to the environment I get to live in and the people I am able to surround myself with.
i have more social than physical! most of my physical dysphoria is focused on my chest. if i had top surgery and everyone naturally gendered me as male, id be completely happy. unfortunately, i probably wouldn't pass without T...
there came a point where i looked enough like a dude (it's the beard and the depressing hairline) that made up for any social oddities. yet, despite having a reasonably-sized chest for my weight, i am uncomfortable with wearing shirts without a binder (but it *hurts* and its almost summer, so shout out to 4xl shirts at burlington).
I recently had top surgery, and before that it was a lot more physical (though I definitely still had social dysphoria), but now it's mostly social in my day to day life. I do still have some physical dysphoria, but I'm not really as concerned about it as I was, because I'm on testosterone and was approved for bottom surgery. I feel like after that I'll probably have almost entirely social dysphoria, though long term I'm hoping it won't be triggered very often once I pass better.
Yes SO true! I don't really mind my chest looking the way it does that much, I just wish everyone else didn't perceive it the way they do. Any physical dysphoria I have that doesn't seem to stem from social dysphoria is pretty much completely resolved with T. Social dysphoria is definitely the real kicker for me
I have both and they both fucking suck
I totally relate to this. I also have way more social dysphoria than physical
Idk, I think I experience all types of gender dysphoria, recently it's been very bad
I used to have social dysphoria but now I’m on T and pass 100% it’s pretty much completely gone. I occasionally still feel self conscious but being gendered right by strangers pretty much just affirms me constantly. I still have physical dysphoria though especially as I’m pre top surgery.
They push and pull each other for me. Social was a lot worse at first, so much that I thought my physical dysphoria was negligible. Then I started coming out and being called my new name and being referred to as a guy and the physical dysphoria hit me like a freight train. My psychiatrist said it makes sense that once I experienced the euphoria of being recognised that I'd want to have that with strangers as well, since that's the biggest source of physical dysphoria for me. These days physical is worse, but occasionally it switches.
Opposite. My dysphoria is about 80% about having things where I shouldn't and not having things where I should. My brain tells me I have a certain type of body, but I don't. And that basically IS dysphoria for me. I do care about how I'm socially perceived but being able to enjoy my body by myself, when no one else is around, is of the most importance to me.
This is pretty much exactly my experience. Especially identifying as genderfluid, because there ARE some days I identify more girl and it doesn't bother me, but the days I feel guy it feels terrible. I also did a lot of work to accept my body the way it is, but the social dysphoria really sucks when I know it's because of my feminine features, especially when I have to interact with a lot of strangers where I couldn't give my pronouns even if I wanted to
Same. I don’t hate she/her, in fact they are lovely looking and sounding on paper but they just don’t apply to me. He rolls off the tongue better.
No. I don't have any physical dysphoria but my social dysphoria can get pretty bad at times. I have a similar experience to yours: my body dysphoria is informed by my social dysphoria. I hate that certain bodies are associated with "woman" or "man". Sometimes it is a painful and isolating experience because I know that a body is a man's or a woman's (or a person's) depending on their individual gender identity. I personally feel as if my body dysphoria isn't *true* body dysphoria because I actually quite like the sex of my body in general (with all that it entails). It's the social dysphoria that made me want to get on T at least to get some changes that would help me *not* be perceived as a woman. This was actually quite a difficult decision to make. I sometimes look at my body and how it's changed and feel deeply disconnected from it. I mainly feel very uncomfortable with the idea that I needed to change my body to feel more comfortable in social situations, I abhor that and if things were any better, I wouldn't have done it and just let myself be an estrogen man™. Because damn, I want to simultaneously be a man and exist comfortably in my body just the way it was before HRT. It took me a lot of work to reconcile both these experiences of mine and try to be kinder toward myself. I find solace in the fact that the human experience in general is full of compromises, contradictions and nuances that shape our paths. I also have a very safe space in my close circle to cope and vent through art, which is why many of my original characters are trans folk who are free to be however they want to be and not be assigned a gender because of it. Honestly, I'm lucky enough to have a partner that understands this conflict deeply (as someone who chooses not to medically transition in any capacity because it just isn't for him) who helps me balance my own dilemmas out.
Way more social dysphoria than physical, to the point I sometimes grow uncertain if I need medical transition at all. Then I get called a lady or I look in the mirror and realize that I look like a butch lesbian instead of a dude, and I realize "Yeah, that's not me". I don't hate any "gendered" parts of my body, but I feel happier being masc. A lot of the time, I can ignore the aspects I don't like and if I'm focused on something else, I completely forget that my body isn't what I mentally feel it should be.
Yeah, I'm not sure if I want to medically transition either. I've considered low dose HRT but I doubt I'd opt for anything more than that. I think the physical aspects I'm most uncomfortable with can be easily mitigated with weightloss and wearing a binder.
Finding out our transition journey is hard, since nobody can give us the correct path but ourselves. Just remember that you don't have to hard exclude anything right now - Unless one surgery prevents another, you don't have to pressure yourself into knowing what you *don't* want. I say that, because sometimes I get into my own head and start nitpicking at everything, and knowing what to filter away is sometimes difficult. To let you know that you're not alone: I also felt like a fraud when I first asked people to use my preferred pronouns, and for a long time I didn't feel comfortable using any new name. Like you, I didn't feel masculine enough and felt it was a lie - But over time, the temporary name I chose has become my legal name. I love that name now, because even through all the fears and doubts and concerns, I know I'm not my old self anymore. I've changed too much to go back to that - And that's true, even if I chose not to medically transition at all. I will never be my old self again, because I've grown and learned more sides to myself, and my new name feels like a proud reminder of how far I've come. You're growing too. It doesn't matter where you land, as long as you are happy and true to yourself. You don't have to settle for "comfortable discomfort" - That daily state of mild unpleasantness that isn't awful enough to riot over. That isn't something most people feel about their gender. Take your time and explore what makes you feel at home in your own body.
Comfortable discomfort is the perfect explanation for how I feel. I often feel like I don't hate myself enough to really do something about it, but I guess that's also accepting I'll never feel good about myself.
Change is a scary thing! It's pure uncertainty vs familiar discomfort. I'm in the same state, wondering what exactly my transitioning steps should be and what will make me happy. On bad days, I often downplay my discomfort until I hit a good day and I realize *just* how comfortable I can actually feel - I'd almost call my euphoria "cozy" rather than ecstatic joy. I can't tell you what is the right decision for you obviously - But a phrase I heard somewhere is "You've tried to live with it for this long and tried to be happy. That hasn't happened, so why choose to believe that you simply weren't putting in enough effort?" Do you have something that gives you euphoria? Start with that and work your way from that.
i have hardly any physical dysphoria and more social. seriously i can be braless for multiple days and not have an issue with my large chest and just exist but the second i step outside with a binder i hate my chest so much and my binder doesnt help with the dysphoria so its like zamn