For those worried about wanting to feel like a woman

So I've seen a lot of posts here related to people's sense of self in terms of femininity. There's a lot of people here who are afraid to feel feminine either because you're afraid, or because of societal pressures.

Those pressures tend to come in terms of "Women don't want to feel like women, they just do" or "Women don't have to try to be feminine", or even just attacking transition with "Women don't have to do XYZ to be a woman", and all other kinds of garbage attitudes. These pressures often feed into those fears of chasing what you want personally.

Well surprise. Believe it or not, women often don't feel like women, or don't know how to act in a "feminine" way, or feel like outsiders because they're not feminine enough. It's something I've seen in many places, and it continues to pop up in women-led communities even though TERFs wouldn't have you believe it. A couple of good examples are:

• This interview of a woman photographer (a great listen/read in and of itself)

As a woman who's worked in a very male world, and in war zones for 20 years, I do everything I can to still try and feel like a woman, whether that means sneaking eyeliner on in the middle of Helmand or lipstick or perfume.

• This thread talking about feeling like an outsider compared to other women because they don't understand feminine stuff, with plenty of women who don't understand how to be feminine but wish they could.

• Literally doing a google search for "How to feel like a woman" shows multiple results of guides/lists on how to feel more feminine and feel more like a woman:

• https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-ways-to-feel-more-like-woman

• https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10-ways-to-feel-more-like-a-woman-and-less-like-a-mom_b_6028648

• https://www.foxyoxie.com/the-art-of-being-a-lady-10-ways-to-feel-more-feminine/

• https://www.quora.com/What-is-something-that-makes-a-woman-feel-like-a-woman

• https://www.aconsciousrethink.com/13160/how-to-be-more-feminine/

And it just goes on and on and on. Then there's the TERF's. The ones who are here just to send hate, and the ones who will tell you falsities such as:

Women don't use HRT

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menopause/in-depth/hormone-therapy/art-20046372

Women don't dilate

• r/vaginismus - a subreddit for women who dilate to help cure their issues with this disease.

Women don't get XYZ feminizing surgery

• They do, and it's unsurprisingly common. Breast/butt augmentation doesn't need to be argued much, but if you see someone try to argue that cis women don't get things like facial feminization surgery:
• https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/facial-feminization-for-cisgender-women-with-masculine-looking-face

and the list goes on. Don't torture yourself over what others think, do what makes YOU happy. Do what you want to do. Don't let shitty people try to tear you down, build yourself up and let other people do so as well, you're worth it <3