This Thursday I will have a class with the author of “The Testosterone Files” (read a review here). I’m trying to think of how I can frame a question about the attitudes stereotypically associated with masculinity/femininity and heterosexual relationships and how transitioning (particularly with the assistance of hormone therapy) can be managed emotionally and socially.
That was a really long sentence but the gist is — does transitioning one’s body from “male” to “female” with hormones influence the way one interprets and understands one’s own masculinity and/or femininity? I’m less interested in the changes in desire or the sexual relationships one might have and more in the internal identity management side. How does one manage the external manifestations of sex, the internal feelings of desire, the internal shifts in attraction and understandings of the self as one intentionally alters hormone balances?
I read a little about this in a blog but I’m not sure that writing even exists that lets trans folk share their own experiences of this…If you know of some, let me know?

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July 8, 2009 at 1:05 am
Sarah
I’m a little confused… My understanding was that someone would transition because they had a different understanding of their own gender than their sex would indicate. Is your question whether the associated hormones required to transition heighten the person’s gender awareness? Hope that helps you to clarify your question towards or away from what I’ve said.
S
July 11, 2009 at 11:52 pm
amandarin
Gosh. I’m not sure I even thought it through that clearly. I was just thinking about Max’s quote about how suddenly he was reacting differently to women. From that jumping off point I was wondering about how one managed that difference from an identity standpoint — like if one day you just liked broccoli and then the next you wanted to take off your clothes and bathe in broccoli forever. Managing the behavioral/perceptual changes that you get from taking hormones? Does that make more sense?
[The whole transitioning / how far to go / how it works thing brings up a lot of questions for me -- I've been asking and learning a lot! We will talk more about this!]