did anyone else as a kid feel like they were the wrong gender?
did anyone else as a kid feel like they were the wrong gender?
when i was around 7 or 8, i was convinced i was actually born a boy and my family was lying to me. i wanted short hair too. i didn’t like to wear dresses or stereotypically girly stuff and i wanted to wear men’s clothes. i wanted to hang out with the other boys and it always seemed like the “boy world” was more my thing at that age than the girl world i was expected to enter.
A girl I know always wanted to be a boy when she was a child. She even explicitly asked to have her gender changed through surgery in elementary school.
Nowadays she says, that her main reasons were that she preferred to do 'boys stuff' like soccer with boys rather than playing with dolls etc. with other girls. Plus she was really scared of the pain of giving birth as a women and thought she'd have to go through that when growing up. Up to this day, she still likes 'boys stuff', doesn't use make up, rarely wears dresses/skirts, didn't give birth.
So in her case specifically, it seems like it was 'just' the stupid female stereotype that she didn't want to live up to. She doesn't feel that gender disphoria anymore.
I guess independent of the gender we associate with, we as society should really object all these stupid stereotypes. Do what you like, dress as you like and be who you like, no matter the genitals you were born with. And let children know that they are free to choose their own path.
Absolutely. As a toddler I became adamant that I was previously a boy named something similar to John and lived in the Middle East. I described my life and death in detail. I still remember snippets clearly. I'm not a particularly spiritual person, but have always wondered if it was echos of a past life.
I leaned into this so hard that I refused to wear girl's clothing, and wanted nothing to do with girly things. I think my parents must have figured I'd grow out of it, but the masculine streak stuck with me.
it definitely could have been a past life. by the way, what's your gender/pronouns now? i'm transmasc, he/they.
Ahh, I think i'm experiencing something of past life glimpses myself, i believe of a young man who killed himself in the early 2000s. do you ever get really tired and see these "flashes" or get like deja vu that you said something and you feel like your past life had said it?
Not exactly, but often times I feel very guided in my actions, and things always seem to work out when I lean into it, and conversely go bad when I stray from it. Whether that's wisdom from past lives, genetic coding, ancestors looking down on me, angels, God, aliens, or just powers of subconscious observation - I couldn't even begin to guess.
For example, I always drive the same route home from work, but once felt an overwhelming desire to take a different way. I found out later that there was an accident on my usual route. Coincidences like that seem to happen a lot.
I know that's only loosely tied to what you were getting at but thought it was interesting enough to share.
I'm cis man, so no. That being said, I feel bad you had to deal with the pressure of being expected to dress as a girl/woman. I can only fathom what it would be like, but imagining being expected to play with girls instead of boys growing up, in my situation, would be very annoying. Would you feel bored being with other girls? Did you end up having more fun hanging out with boys?
i've grown out of the phase, but i thought all girls cared about was makeup and hated sports and videogames. plus, girls also tended to bully me more for being autistic whereas boys didn't judge me as much so long as i could play catch with a football.
Sorry to hear about the bad experiences, glad you have been able to take some steps to improve your life, I hope you can continue going in that direction.