what were you like pre-transition?

first if all, I *know* that actually you were always a woman, so need to pick other and leave a comment saying that. this poll is more about how you presented yourself/were perceived by others

second of all, i also know that people don't just fit neatly into categories, so *please* don't take this too seriously and don't be angry with me for wanting to make a fun little poll. just answer based on what you think fits best, or, if you think nothing is even remotely close, just put "other" and leave a comment talking about your experiences

now, a little bit about the categories:

"hyperfeminine gay man" is what i think the main stereotype about straight trans women is like. girls who were like this were probably gender non-conforming from a very young age, always had female friends, everyone knew they were "going to be gay" and it's likely that by the time they transitioned they had even experimented with femininty as a man in very visible ways (things like wearing makeup or doing their nails while still mostly male presenting)

"kinda f*ggy but nothing too out there" is the more moderate version of that. if this is you, you probably never went as far as wearing makeup or nothing any other thing that would be super gender non-conforming, but there was something about your way of talking and acting that made people go "yeah... he's probably gay", even if they're not too sure. growing up, you probably fit in with girls better, and had more female friends, but you were kinda subdued in your way of filling the role of "the gay best friend" and avoided very overt displays of femininity

"nerdy autistic type of guy" is a archetype that i think many trans women tend to fall into because: (1) they are actually nerdy and/or autistic, and (2) ot consists of a series of interests and behaviours that are male-coded in our present society, but not really masculine in any conventional way. being academically-inclined and interested in computers, sff novels, etc. are all things that are accepted and even encouraged in boys, even though they don't really align with traditional "strong man" masculinity. i feel like for many of us that is a welcome escape. if you were in this group, people probably thought of you as "sensitive", and you may have overheard someone once or twice wondering if you were gay, but you're were mostly stereotyped as "the nerd" rather than "the f*ggot" even if you had a handful of f*ggy behaviours

"normie masculine man" would essentially be a regular guy. you had at least some conventionally masculine interests and hobbies (were into sports, cars, weapons, etc.) and had generally no problems maintaining male friend groups and being "one of the boys". if this is you, people were probably very surprised to find out if you were trans. in fact, it's likely you were surprised yourself. but here you are! i guess the best explanation is that you just let society mold you until you were able to figure out what you actually wanted, or maybe you're just a tomboy like many cis women are

"hypermasculine man" means that you took a step further, probably as a means of repression, and tried to be more masculine than most men are. you may have joined the military, taken up body-building, or participated in combat sports. if you're older, maybe you got married to a woman and had like 5 kids

if you were multiple of these at different times of yourself, i guess you should probably pick what most people remember you as, or maybe what you were like immediately before transitioning

anyway, ofc feel free to share details in comments! 😊

oh, and be nice to people! that's a rule of the sub

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