and to the tgirls who aren’t sure why the dresses and the makeup and the jewelry aren’t working for them: there can be more to “transfemininity” than the feminine timelines you see passed around like prayer beads. your “after” can be something else if you want it to be.
ALT
this is rly important to me. it may be difficult to believe depending on what circles you travel in but the first masculine trans woman I ever knowingly saw… was myself, in the mirror, long into my transition and only after years of trying to force a femininity that refused to fit. when you do not have examples to show you what is possible, and especially when the norms that predominate suppress those possibilities in the public imaginary (as they do for tma people, who are only legible when feminine), it can be so much harder to find that path for yourself.
ALT