[LGBT] [TRANS] [NON-BINARY]

In case you aren't familiar with these terms, I'll do my best to explain them at the end of this article.

Anyway, I started binding a few weeks ago and as much as I love the huge hit of gender euphoria I get as soon as I put a binder on, it is becoming harder for me to bear looking at my chest once the binder comes off.

Before I started binding, the dysphoria I felt was manageable (at least on most days). I didn't completely hate seeing my chest - although I can't quite suppress the cringe most of the time. But now that I've experienced the relative flatness and the euphoria that comes with binding, the dysphoria hits double as soon as the binder comes off.

But you can't bind for more than 8 hours a day if you want to keep your chest and ribs intact.

I've also noticed that before I started binding, I was only aware of the chest dysphoria which increases multiple folds when my period arrives. But on most days, I can simply ignore it because I knew there wasn't much I could do to change anything.

But as soon as I started binding and my subconscious realized that we could alleviate some of the discomfort that comes with being perceived as the wrong gender, I started getting dysphoric about all the "little" stuff I thought I could ignore.

Now I can't stand my voice because it's a little on the high-pitched end, I can't stand the traditionally feminine name, I absolutely hate that some people got to see me without a chest binder on, being perceived as the wrong gender went from being very irritating to feeling like a physical discomfort.

I don't have any queer friends to talk to about this, but I would really like to know if any AFAB gender non-conforming person has ever dealt with this.

PS- I don't hate binding, I'm not complaining that binding my chest has made my life worse. It's just bringing to light the not-so-little issues I used to be able to ignore and I kinda want to vent about it.

Terms explanation.

• Trans (transgender) means a gender identity that differs from the gender that one is assigned at birth.

• Non-binary refers to gender identities that are not solely male or female.

• Gender non-conforming is pretty self explanatory.

• AFAB means assigned female at birth.

• Gender Dysphoria a sense of unease that people experience due to the disconnect between their actual gender identity and the gender labels they are assigned at birth and expected to conform to.

Lmk in the comments if I missed anything 😁.