This was originally written in response to a question and someone requested it be rebloggable:

As far as hormones, only you can really know what you want or need. That said, here are some things i wish someone had told me:





Your gender is valid, regardless of what anyone thinks or says, even if that means other trans* people thinking that you should hold yourself to a transnormative standard.

It’s ok to have internalized social body standards. This includes standards from either side of culture’s fucked-up spectrum.

Wanting your body to appear to be “traditionally feminine/masculine” does not make you any less queer.

Wanting to alter your body to be comfortable in your own skin does not mean you’ve conformed or assimilated, it simply means that you’ve done what you needed to do.

Bodies are fun!

Changing your body can change your perspective. The way way you interact with the world may be affected by how people perceive your body. This may change the way you see yourself (it did for me… check out my post about inscribing contradiction).

Be open to the fact that you may end up wanting something with your body that you didn’t want at the outset. For me, i wanted to “feminize my body in every way” (a phrase i can no longer even comprehend), and now want to have a visibly queer, andro, femme, faggot, trans* body.

Your body is perfect, both now and later. Just because it’s perfect doesn’t mean you shouldn’t change it, it will be perfect then too.

Trans* bodies are amazing. We’re sexy and different. i learn so much from my body… In many ways, it taught me to love.

You define your body, whether you alter it or not. Regardless of what the medical industrial complex says about your body, it’s yours. For example, i don’t have a “male body” i have a trans* body.

If you get hormones, you don’t have to take them right away. They can sit on your shelf as long as you like.

People may not understand what you want or why you want it. That’s ok, they don’t need to.

Be firm with your provider (if you have one). Your desires are far more important than the medical industrial complex’s ideas of what your body should be.

If you’re on the trans* feminine spectrum, consider getting a binder… i’ve found it can be fun to hide my new tits sometimes.

Recognize that there aren’t good templates for hormone paths, this is even more true for non-normative paths. i’m fortunate to have a genderqueer service provider that celebrates my wants and needs with my body, and even we struggled coming up with the right path for me.

As scary as this all may seem, it’s an adventure. Be open to that.

Life is for living, learning, and loving. Don’t hold yourself back from what you want or need.

You’re beautiful and i love you.

Hopefully this is what you wanted or needed. i’m incredibly open to receiving more questions or thoughts. Obviously this list isn’t comprehensive, and i’m inspired to write a more in depth post on it… hopefully soon. These are just some things i feel are important. Be well darling, and may your life bring you all that you desire.