once i accepted that i was a trans man and not a "biological man trapped in a woman's body" i got so much happier and more confident i can't even put it into words

i realised that disregarding my body and lying to myself about my body was not a good coping mechanism for my dysphoria, it made me more miserable. instead i decided to accept that as a trans man i still have/had experiences of biological females

does it make me dysphoric to admit this? absolutely. however my sense of self has improved so much. i don't feel like i'm "trapped" anymore and i don't feel like a fraud, i can talk about my female experiences without feeling like i'm intruding on the conversation

it really feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. i think within communities of trans men it's frowned upon to speak about your female experiences because a lot of them (like myself) feel the need to act like we don't know what it's like to be female at all

i know so many trans men who pretend to know nothing about female anatomy, periods, bras etc because they're so dysphoric and embarrassed to say they've had an experience with them, myself included up until recently. i'm very happy i no longer have that mindset