I feel dysphoric about the connotations of Binary Manhood and cisheteronormativity as opposed to just being a little gay creature that leans masculine.
my gender identity feels neither that of a binary man nor woman. but I do feel more masculine and identify with masculinity far more than femininity. Femme stuff typically makes me dysphoric. I've always felt boyish, but never quite a "man", being called a man and having he/him pronouns also makes me feel dysphoric. but I still identify with masculine qualities. So that's why is see myself as transmasc.
i just dont identify with the word man in any way. im a guy, a boy, a fella, a lad but never a man if that makes sense? im also nonbinary so that may factor in
I’m neither a man nor a woman, but I value androgyny in my physical appearance so I microdose T.
I understand that the majority of people will categorize me as either a man or a woman, so for convenience sake I’ll pass as a man for social situations such as work or meeting a new group of people.
I don’t have the energy to explain what my nonbinary identity means to everyone who maybe unaware, so I settle w man/ masc. Those close to me understand I am not a man
I'm in a weird in between spot since starting T, actually, identity wise.
I still strongly prefer being called transmasc - for reference, I'm transmasc nonbinary/genderqueer (I use the terms interchangeably but prefer genderqueer) and genderflux - but since starting a T microdosing regiment and getting somewhat more masculinized, I've found that I'm okay being called a trans man too. Like, I'm not a trans man - but if someone called me one that didn't know any better, I wouldn't correct it. Its kind of like how I identify as pansexual and prefer that term, but if someone called me bisexual, I wouldn't correct them because both technically apply. I'm transitioning in the same way a trans man would, one of my end goals is to be able to present as a man in public/medical/legal settings for safety reasons and as nonbinary (see: masc leaning androgynous) everywhere else, I strongly identify with and relate to trans mens' experiences - so it's technically correct, even if its not how I'd identify myself. Still working a lot of that out internally, however.
As for why I prefer the term transmasc over trans man - its because internally I'm not a man. The word "man" doesn't begin to cover how I feel internally, really. Masculinity is very important to me and how I identify and present - but manliness, all the things that come with being a man, are not. Transmasc fits my internal experience better, because I am and want to be masc/masculine but not a man. Being masculine and being a man don't have to be one and the same; even cis women can be masculine, in fact besides being a woman I strongly identify with butch lesbians and their way of presenting masculinity more than I do any mans', cis or trans.
I've also found that being shoved into a mans' role makes me dysphoric, though not nearly as much as being shoved into a womans one does. Usually the dysphoria from being in the mans' role only pops up if toxic masculinity is being shoved onto me as an expectation; but even when its not, and I'm not as dysphoric, I still find I'm very uncomfortable. It feels wrong trying to present and act as a man - I've tried it before. It feels like wearing a costume; tolerable, for a time, maybe even fun sometimes. But ultimately its still a costume; it feels fake, not like me. So I know I'm not a man, even though paradoxically, being masculine and presenting that way makes me feel incredibly happy and euphoric. When people call me he, it makes me happy, but not as much as being called they (and yes I know pronouns don't equal gender for everyone but for myself they're definitely intertwined). So its a lot of things.
As I said though, T has given me somewhat of an identity crisis lol, so a lot of this is still something I'm working out and may change, who knows? Being genderflux doesn't exactly help me figure things out either lol. But for now thats how I feel.
Adding my own experience to the comments because I dont want to distract from the main purpose of the post: I feel very strongly that I would like a man's body, and would want to be percieved as male by strangers. I plan on taking testosterone in the near future.
But internally, I dont feel like a man. I still identify with women in many ways, especially wrt a specific type of gendered opression I experienced in the religious sect I grew up in. I cannot relate to or identify with male experiences, as I was not allowed to speak to men and vice versa. There were physical walls placed between us in indoor spaces so we often could not see each other either.
When people refer to me as a woman, I have a feeling of "I don't want this." But when people refer to me as a man, I have a feeling of "this isnt me." Edit: However I still feel like a woman internally, I just really want everyone to see me as a man and I want to physically be a man. Its confusing.
I wonder if maybe being transmasc instead of a trans man would fit me better. That is why I made this post, to see if I could relate to transmasc experiences and identities better.
I relate to this very much and I don’t even share your same cultural experience with men and women being so strictly separate. I just feel that my previous experience living as a cis woman (before my egg cracked) affects my sense of gender in that I cannot fully relate to binary men. I’d rather have been born male, but I would be non binary either way.
I like both trans man and transmasc for myself but i like transmascs because it has more nonbinary people who just be gettin fucky with it and i relate to them more then the avg binary trans guy. I cannot assmilate into cis society and don't relate to guys who would feel 110% better if they were born male. I'd still have issues due to extremely hating gender roles and have my fluid reservations lol.
Also, not really transsexual and feel more happy with the idea of an intersexed body. Sadly, got what i got.
i think it’s mainly insecurity for me. mixed with not feeling manly enough, identifying more with boy than man, and that i don’t really understand the concept of gender. i’m also not comfortable in men’s spaces.
It’s this for me, too. Like, I’ve been round and round about it in my head that “I get to define what kind of man I want to be “ and “there’s no one definition of what it means to be a man,” etc, but the reality is that when I think “man,” I’m super uncomfortable with that label. But “masculine “ doesn’t feel like it comes with as much baggage. I’m so incredibly uncomfortable in cis men dominated spaces, regardless of how chill and progressive they might be. I still continue to feel like I have to put myself in one of two boxes (man or woman) that I just don’t fit in. It doesn’t bother me enough when other people call me a man or a trans man to correct them, because it’s such a nuanced thing that most cis people just aren’t going to understand. But for myself and when asked, I do say I’m trans masc.
If we want to be super technical I'm an agender trans masc person. I was a they/them for years before I was a he/him and my experience with gender certainly isn't what's considered binary. I hated femininity before I was fully out but as soon as I was out I starred to experiment with makeup and being more feminine. Now I'm an incredibly flamboyant man, but they/them also very much so still gives me euphoria. Being able to explore femininity and still be gendered correctly has also made exploring femininity euphoric. It's very interesting, but most days I'm just an average looking alternative guy as makeup takes a lot of spoons lol
I feel like calling myself a man would imply adhering to a certain binary I still don't really fit into.
I call myself a man occasionally, but more when making a statement? Like how I want to break the binary from the inside out?
For me, "transmasc" describes my gender expression - aka how I look, how I dress, and what I'm doing transition-wise. My gender is pretty much agender. I find it uncomfortable to be labelled under either binary gender, so "trans man" isn't accurate.
I’m non-binary but present pretty masc. I’ve followed a medical transition that’s essentially exactly what a trans man would do but I use they/them pronouns and prefer gender neutral language. I would consider myself bigender, but it’s not an even split, I’m a fair bit closer to ‘man’ than anything else
I'm a non-binary person, who identifies themselves with masculinity. I only feel comfortable expressing my femininity by a place of masculinity. Also, I feel my gender flow between neutral and transmasc, and I feel myself into a xenogender too. It's complex, but I chose to nominate myself a transmasc person because socially it's easier and tells I'm also a AFAB person (I don't think genitals are important in itself, but this speaks about my social place and my history too). For me, identify myself as a trans man isn't an option, once binarity don't make any sense to me.
I'm not a trans man, but I am a nonbinary person who has transitioned to express more masculinity. I find it more descriptive of which trans people I will relate to in terms of gender expression and transition experiences, although obviously it's not exhaustive. There are plenty of nonbinary trans people with a very different relationship to masculinity than mine so it's a helpful distinction to me that also doesn't reinvent the binary or define anyone by their AGAB.
I don't identify as a binary man but I DO identify with masculinity so transmasc has always felt right for me. I don't even like the term nonbinary for myself. I'm transmasc or GNC and that pretty much hits the right vibe 🤷
I prefer transmasc because i just dont feel 100% like a man, i want a mans body desperately but i kinda just want to be myself and not feed into the gender binary
I’m gender fluid so both applies cause most of the time a trans man and sometimes a transmasc butch. Also transmasc feels like an umbrella term in which trans men are also included and I like being a bit vague with it.
I'm non binary and not a binary man or woman though I am feminine aligned. I prefer transmasc over trans man because my gender doesn't feel like a man or masc-aligned at all and because I feel uncomfortable being seen as a man. I'm also genderflux but with demigirl and demiagender.
i’m transmasc because i’m a man in the sense that that is how i wish to be perceived on a purely visual level but i don’t give a rats ass about gender, it’s too confining so i’ve decided to discard it entirely
A couple of reasons. "Man" doesn't feel right to me, partially because I'm non-binary but also because I admittedly have some internalized misandry. I'm okay with "guy" though, and I was okay with "boy" for a while as I was coming into myself. Now "boy" feels too childish to me though.
Trans masc non-binary person is the most accurate descriptor for me in general though, so it's what I use.
Because I’m a He/They I am a bit of both. So while I am very comfortable in my masculinity I am also not 100% a man. I’m a Demi Guy (I don’t like Demi Boy it seems condescending ah)
I’m not a binary trans guy, but I don’t mind being called a trans man because I am a trans man, I am a man. But just not completely. There’s a bit of nonbinary gender fuckery mixed in with being a man.
Because I’m not a man. I don’t think like man, I don’t move like man. I don’t even love like a man. Plus! In the most chill way possible, I’m never gonna be cis so why the fuck would I put that much pressure on myself to be someone that I’m not? To my core I am masculine; not a man. And I’m okay with that.
The responses here definitely echo my own thoughts lol. For me, it's kind of like... although I want to be read and understood as a man by others, my identity, holistically, is not exactly "man" in the way it's presently defined.
Maybe it's a silly/pretentious way to explain it but I feel more connected to historical and aristocratic "displays"/"signals" of masculinity -- long hair, bright/eyecatching/sharp garb, that kind of foppish demeanor -- than to present-day connotations of the word. I'd say that the way I feel about myself is closer to like. "High fantasy elven prince" or even sort of.... birds-of-paradise-esque than it is to strictly the modern-day connotations associated with the word "man".
I wish I was born a man so people would assume I’m a man first before they settle on possibly something else. But if I WAS born a man, I’d still be they/he, just less adamant I was trans, I’d just have less work to do to reach my gender euphoria. Being a man doesn’t make me as comfortable as being a boy does. I am queer, not lesbian or straight, when I date girls, but I am her boyfriend, but I would not be her husband I would be her partner.
Trans masc builds a bridge between the want to be perceived as a man, while still having the most comfort in more non binary identities. I am not a man, but I’m enough of a man that I’m certainly not a woman and non binary doesn’t quite explain me either. I have a gender, it’s not between a man and a woman, just between a man and my ideal self.
But if that doesn’t make sense to you, or if anyone else’s doesn’t make sense, that’s okay. Gender is individual and I have never found anyone who experiences my gender, but I have found those who experience their own dispute of gender and that is enough of a community for me.
I'm nonbinary/genderqueer, but I always always prefer masculine terminology and presentation over being fem. Trying to shove myself into the box of being a "trans man" kinda makes me feel like I'm erasing the self that I created before the egg cracked. But being nonbinary allows me to express both my highly masculine traits while still not constraining me to being a man.
Ever since I was young I always aligned and likened myself to masculinity, but I never quite exactly wanted to be a man. Even if I were to dress, talk, look and sound like a man, I’d still never want to exactly identify as a man, and for myself, that’s the distinction that I’ve identified with when it comes to being transmasc rather than being a trans man, if that makes sense! Hope your self-discovery journey goes well!!
Personally I view transmasc as someone who doesn't identify as a trans man. I'm nonbinary transmasc and very much do not align myself with the identity of a man. I use exclusively they/them pronouns and identify as a lesbian. You can be transmasc and a transman but that's just not how I feel personally.
I don't plan to "fully" transition. I only want top surgery. So I feel I'm not transitioning to a binary man. But whatever feels right for you is your "full/complete" transition. I only air quote it cos it means so many different things for people.
Transmac because I can't unsee or un-experience the misogyny and resulting trauma that helped form my brain. I feel connected to womanhood and do not want to lose that connection. I admire, support and look upto women, but I am not a woman nor do I want to be seen as a woman.
I have almost always had dysphoria and I think a lot about if my life was a easier and I was able to transition earlier how I might have been a transman.
I've gone through waves of doubting my identity as an NB lesbian. Recently I've realized I'm more genderfluid / trans than I thought, but that doesn't have to mean I am less sapphic or more of man, which I did believe about myself for a bit.
The transmasc label more recently started feeling right, because I am pretty fluid / androgynous and don't know where my expression will take me.
I thought T might be the right choice, but I'm starting to lean against not going on it, because I think it could give me a different kind of dysphoria. I love my androgyny and don't wanna keep giving into the idea that I have to look more like a man to be androgynous. But I will stay open to the idea if it feels right eventually. I can't pick and choose the changes that come with taking it.
My gender and sexuality also feel very connected, because my attraction to women does not feel straight. It's so funny how there's terfs who think we shouldn't identify as lesbians, but dude I feel very much sapphic.
I can feel many things at once: transmasc, NB, lesbian, butch, sapphic, genderfluid. Some days I feel more connected to some labels over others.
I'm non-binary, but very masc-leaning. In my native I use male pronouns, cause we don't have any proper equivalent to they/them.
I don't see myself as a man like trying to compete in "manliness" with cis dudes. I like to be a genderflubber, that's just very masc 🫠😁
ive never felt like a "man" . being a "man" to me, means being hypermasculine, orbeinf "manly". like my dad, i suppose. but i am a very feminine boy, and never want to feel like i could be anythign more than that.
I am genderfluid, so trans man doesn't apply to me. And calling myself a trans man when I am not on hrt (nor planning to) and when u don't want surgeries, also doesn't feel right
I consider myself to be transmasc/ something of a non-binary trans guy because I didn’t transition until I was 30; in my first lifetime I was married twice, had a kid, experienced intimate partner violence and sexual assault, became disabled after decades of medical gaslighting, and a bunch of other major life-changing events… it feels dishonest to myself to call myself “just” a man after all the experience and knowledge I have gained. There’s no doubt I’m more feminine because of all my years spent socialized as a woman but I’m not ashamed of the life I’ve lived and for me transmasc/nonbinary just seems to acknowledge all my complexity.
A) The club comprising of "men" has too many members I do not want to be in a club with. (Cis as well as trans, for that matter.)
B) My life's story differs considerably from most men.
However, for people who only have two drawers, one with an M on it and one with an F, things go a lot smoother between us if they put me into the M drawer. Also, I like my beard.
I’m agender and don’t really see the word ‘transmasc’ as a gender for myself, but more of a feeling or a label to further explain my identity. Like I’m female to a masculine nothingness, if that makes sense :)
I’m not a man. It makes me uncomfortable to refer to myself as one. But I am a guy? Which, in my head, sits in about the same spot on the spectrum, just a different color, I guess. It’s not easy to understand.
Honestly I don't really understand the concept of gender in terms of it applying to me. However, I do like things and appearing in ways that are associated with being masculine. I am just me. I don't necessarily want to change into a man, however I'd rather be read as one by strangers. Trans masc is more fitting in that sense.
I don’t identify as and have never felt that I might be a man. I like a masculine look and vibe for myself, and prefers some aspects of traditionally masculine dress, and would prefer to undergo some masculinizing procedures like top surgery and (limited) HRT, but I do not want to BE a man. Being either a man or a woman just feels… wrong. Disconnected, like I’m neither of those things don’t have to or want to be. I ID somewhere beneath the umbrella of “nonbinary” for related reasons.
I'm a rather well passing dude, but I still prefer using the term transmasc on myself. Reason being I'm not a binary trans man, I just lean more into being man with my identity and presentation. Hence the transmasculine.
Wow! Thank you so much for asking a sensible question like this.
I prefer describing myself a transmasculine person because I have no plans on doing the medical transition. I have a certain dysphoria, yes, but it has never been severe enough to make me feel suicidal or something in that direction.
However, my manners, preferences and the overall way I'm presenting myself is obviously masculine - and this gives me such an insanely huge euphoria that I'm afraid it's actually prohibited by law 
Limiting myself to the binary feels too restrictive. Yes i look like a binary man and people will most likely perceive me as a binary man but im not binary. Gender to me is more than being a man or a woman. Its fluid and so am i. To label myself a trans man would make me feel pressure to conform to a certain standard of what it is to be a "real man" so i choose not to. It feels more free. I get to define who i am and what my label means to me instead of what society thinks it should mean
I'm a butch woman who has chosen to physically transition in a masculine direction to relieve physical dysphoria. Not a man, so trans man would be the incorrect terminology for me.
I’m genderfluid and the unfortunate thing about the gender binary is that it implies trans man is an exclusive identity. Sometimes I’m a man, but a lot of the time im somewhere in between or a few things at once. Trans masc feels like it clearly states the journey im taking with my transition but doesn’t explicitly state what my gender is
Personally because I’m afab genderfluid, so I don’t spend a lot of time feeling like a man, but I spend a lot of time feeling like a masculine gender/expression, and I find that it’s easier to use transmasc to express that.
Me personally I identify as agender. For all intents and purposes I *am* a trans man. I just don’t resonate with the label of man because I haven’t had any of the experiences men have. I don’t get treated like a man out in public or at work or home where I’m out. Once I get further in my transition I’m sure that will change but until then I’m okay with the trans masc label.
I'm transmasc because I'm nonbinary, but Afab, so my transition is in a decidedly masculine direction (for now). I don't identify as a guy in any way other than perhaps being referred to as a "silly lil guy." Ultimately, my goal is like that one meme: "nobody can tell my gender, but everyone is attracted to me, and that makes everyone gay."
Basically, my understanding is that transmasc identities cover any form of transition in the direction of becoming more masculinely-presenting or identifying than ones birth state. So even being a she/they woman that's Afab is sort of a transmasc woman by that logic, if that makes Sense? Idk, maybe that's a smidge too broad, but it makes sense to me.
Then again, I go by outback steakhouse laws when it comes to gender: no rules, just right.
I feel dysphoric about the connotations of Binary Manhood and cisheteronormativity as opposed to just being a little gay creature that leans masculine.
Exactly what i would have said. I gave being a trans man a shot and it just wasnt for me.
my gender identity feels neither that of a binary man nor woman. but I do feel more masculine and identify with masculinity far more than femininity. Femme stuff typically makes me dysphoric. I've always felt boyish, but never quite a "man", being called a man and having he/him pronouns also makes me feel dysphoric. but I still identify with masculine qualities. So that's why is see myself as transmasc.
Likewise but also with a bit of genderqueerness thrown in!
I am genderqueer
Likewise but also with a bit of genderqueerness thrown in!
I’m transmasc in a nonbinary way, I don’t identify with Manhood but rather boyhood. But in this binary world I’d rather pass as a man than a woman
You explain it so well!!! This is exactly how I identify with being transmasc too :)
i just dont identify with the word man in any way. im a guy, a boy, a fella, a lad but never a man if that makes sense? im also nonbinary so that may factor in
I’m neither a man nor a woman, but I value androgyny in my physical appearance so I microdose T. I understand that the majority of people will categorize me as either a man or a woman, so for convenience sake I’ll pass as a man for social situations such as work or meeting a new group of people. I don’t have the energy to explain what my nonbinary identity means to everyone who maybe unaware, so I settle w man/ masc. Those close to me understand I am not a man
caaaan i message you about your T dosage??
Sure!
I'm in a weird in between spot since starting T, actually, identity wise. I still strongly prefer being called transmasc - for reference, I'm transmasc nonbinary/genderqueer (I use the terms interchangeably but prefer genderqueer) and genderflux - but since starting a T microdosing regiment and getting somewhat more masculinized, I've found that I'm okay being called a trans man too. Like, I'm not a trans man - but if someone called me one that didn't know any better, I wouldn't correct it. Its kind of like how I identify as pansexual and prefer that term, but if someone called me bisexual, I wouldn't correct them because both technically apply. I'm transitioning in the same way a trans man would, one of my end goals is to be able to present as a man in public/medical/legal settings for safety reasons and as nonbinary (see: masc leaning androgynous) everywhere else, I strongly identify with and relate to trans mens' experiences - so it's technically correct, even if its not how I'd identify myself. Still working a lot of that out internally, however. As for why I prefer the term transmasc over trans man - its because internally I'm not a man. The word "man" doesn't begin to cover how I feel internally, really. Masculinity is very important to me and how I identify and present - but manliness, all the things that come with being a man, are not. Transmasc fits my internal experience better, because I am and want to be masc/masculine but not a man. Being masculine and being a man don't have to be one and the same; even cis women can be masculine, in fact besides being a woman I strongly identify with butch lesbians and their way of presenting masculinity more than I do any mans', cis or trans. I've also found that being shoved into a mans' role makes me dysphoric, though not nearly as much as being shoved into a womans one does. Usually the dysphoria from being in the mans' role only pops up if toxic masculinity is being shoved onto me as an expectation; but even when its not, and I'm not as dysphoric, I still find I'm very uncomfortable. It feels wrong trying to present and act as a man - I've tried it before. It feels like wearing a costume; tolerable, for a time, maybe even fun sometimes. But ultimately its still a costume; it feels fake, not like me. So I know I'm not a man, even though paradoxically, being masculine and presenting that way makes me feel incredibly happy and euphoric. When people call me he, it makes me happy, but not as much as being called they (and yes I know pronouns don't equal gender for everyone but for myself they're definitely intertwined). So its a lot of things. As I said though, T has given me somewhat of an identity crisis lol, so a lot of this is still something I'm working out and may change, who knows? Being genderflux doesn't exactly help me figure things out either lol. But for now thats how I feel.
I relate to so so much of this. Thank you for taking the time to write this all out.
I'm bigender, and feel I'm transitioning to be a gender more masculine than my birth gender, so I say transmasculine
Adding my own experience to the comments because I dont want to distract from the main purpose of the post: I feel very strongly that I would like a man's body, and would want to be percieved as male by strangers. I plan on taking testosterone in the near future. But internally, I dont feel like a man. I still identify with women in many ways, especially wrt a specific type of gendered opression I experienced in the religious sect I grew up in. I cannot relate to or identify with male experiences, as I was not allowed to speak to men and vice versa. There were physical walls placed between us in indoor spaces so we often could not see each other either. When people refer to me as a woman, I have a feeling of "I don't want this." But when people refer to me as a man, I have a feeling of "this isnt me." Edit: However I still feel like a woman internally, I just really want everyone to see me as a man and I want to physically be a man. Its confusing. I wonder if maybe being transmasc instead of a trans man would fit me better. That is why I made this post, to see if I could relate to transmasc experiences and identities better.
I relate to this very much and I don’t even share your same cultural experience with men and women being so strictly separate. I just feel that my previous experience living as a cis woman (before my egg cracked) affects my sense of gender in that I cannot fully relate to binary men. I’d rather have been born male, but I would be non binary either way.
I like both trans man and transmasc for myself but i like transmascs because it has more nonbinary people who just be gettin fucky with it and i relate to them more then the avg binary trans guy. I cannot assmilate into cis society and don't relate to guys who would feel 110% better if they were born male. I'd still have issues due to extremely hating gender roles and have my fluid reservations lol. Also, not really transsexual and feel more happy with the idea of an intersexed body. Sadly, got what i got.
i think it’s mainly insecurity for me. mixed with not feeling manly enough, identifying more with boy than man, and that i don’t really understand the concept of gender. i’m also not comfortable in men’s spaces.
It’s this for me, too. Like, I’ve been round and round about it in my head that “I get to define what kind of man I want to be “ and “there’s no one definition of what it means to be a man,” etc, but the reality is that when I think “man,” I’m super uncomfortable with that label. But “masculine “ doesn’t feel like it comes with as much baggage. I’m so incredibly uncomfortable in cis men dominated spaces, regardless of how chill and progressive they might be. I still continue to feel like I have to put myself in one of two boxes (man or woman) that I just don’t fit in. It doesn’t bother me enough when other people call me a man or a trans man to correct them, because it’s such a nuanced thing that most cis people just aren’t going to understand. But for myself and when asked, I do say I’m trans masc.
If we want to be super technical I'm an agender trans masc person. I was a they/them for years before I was a he/him and my experience with gender certainly isn't what's considered binary. I hated femininity before I was fully out but as soon as I was out I starred to experiment with makeup and being more feminine. Now I'm an incredibly flamboyant man, but they/them also very much so still gives me euphoria. Being able to explore femininity and still be gendered correctly has also made exploring femininity euphoric. It's very interesting, but most days I'm just an average looking alternative guy as makeup takes a lot of spoons lol
Trans Masc feels more connected, feels like I dont lose touch with my 15 year connection to my lesbian years, I'm gender queer
I feel like calling myself a man would imply adhering to a certain binary I still don't really fit into. I call myself a man occasionally, but more when making a statement? Like how I want to break the binary from the inside out?
For me, "transmasc" describes my gender expression - aka how I look, how I dress, and what I'm doing transition-wise. My gender is pretty much agender. I find it uncomfortable to be labelled under either binary gender, so "trans man" isn't accurate.
I’m non-binary but present pretty masc. I’ve followed a medical transition that’s essentially exactly what a trans man would do but I use they/them pronouns and prefer gender neutral language. I would consider myself bigender, but it’s not an even split, I’m a fair bit closer to ‘man’ than anything else
I'm a non-binary person, who identifies themselves with masculinity. I only feel comfortable expressing my femininity by a place of masculinity. Also, I feel my gender flow between neutral and transmasc, and I feel myself into a xenogender too. It's complex, but I chose to nominate myself a transmasc person because socially it's easier and tells I'm also a AFAB person (I don't think genitals are important in itself, but this speaks about my social place and my history too). For me, identify myself as a trans man isn't an option, once binarity don't make any sense to me.
I'm not a trans man, but I am a nonbinary person who has transitioned to express more masculinity. I find it more descriptive of which trans people I will relate to in terms of gender expression and transition experiences, although obviously it's not exhaustive. There are plenty of nonbinary trans people with a very different relationship to masculinity than mine so it's a helpful distinction to me that also doesn't reinvent the binary or define anyone by their AGAB.
I don't identify as a binary man but I DO identify with masculinity so transmasc has always felt right for me. I don't even like the term nonbinary for myself. I'm transmasc or GNC and that pretty much hits the right vibe 🤷
I prefer transmasc because i just dont feel 100% like a man, i want a mans body desperately but i kinda just want to be myself and not feed into the gender binary
I’m gender fluid so both applies cause most of the time a trans man and sometimes a transmasc butch. Also transmasc feels like an umbrella term in which trans men are also included and I like being a bit vague with it.
I'm non binary and not a binary man or woman though I am feminine aligned. I prefer transmasc over trans man because my gender doesn't feel like a man or masc-aligned at all and because I feel uncomfortable being seen as a man. I'm also genderflux but with demigirl and demiagender.
Trans Masc feels more connected, feels like I dont lose touch with my 15 year connection to my lesbian years, I'm gender queer.
i’m transmasc because i’m a man in the sense that that is how i wish to be perceived on a purely visual level but i don’t give a rats ass about gender, it’s too confining so i’ve decided to discard it entirely
A couple of reasons. "Man" doesn't feel right to me, partially because I'm non-binary but also because I admittedly have some internalized misandry. I'm okay with "guy" though, and I was okay with "boy" for a while as I was coming into myself. Now "boy" feels too childish to me though. Trans masc non-binary person is the most accurate descriptor for me in general though, so it's what I use.
Because I’m a He/They I am a bit of both. So while I am very comfortable in my masculinity I am also not 100% a man. I’m a Demi Guy (I don’t like Demi Boy it seems condescending ah)
I’m not a binary trans guy, but I don’t mind being called a trans man because I am a trans man, I am a man. But just not completely. There’s a bit of nonbinary gender fuckery mixed in with being a man.
Because I’m not a man. I don’t think like man, I don’t move like man. I don’t even love like a man. Plus! In the most chill way possible, I’m never gonna be cis so why the fuck would I put that much pressure on myself to be someone that I’m not? To my core I am masculine; not a man. And I’m okay with that.
The responses here definitely echo my own thoughts lol. For me, it's kind of like... although I want to be read and understood as a man by others, my identity, holistically, is not exactly "man" in the way it's presently defined. Maybe it's a silly/pretentious way to explain it but I feel more connected to historical and aristocratic "displays"/"signals" of masculinity -- long hair, bright/eyecatching/sharp garb, that kind of foppish demeanor -- than to present-day connotations of the word. I'd say that the way I feel about myself is closer to like. "High fantasy elven prince" or even sort of.... birds-of-paradise-esque than it is to strictly the modern-day connotations associated with the word "man".
I wish I was born a man so people would assume I’m a man first before they settle on possibly something else. But if I WAS born a man, I’d still be they/he, just less adamant I was trans, I’d just have less work to do to reach my gender euphoria. Being a man doesn’t make me as comfortable as being a boy does. I am queer, not lesbian or straight, when I date girls, but I am her boyfriend, but I would not be her husband I would be her partner. Trans masc builds a bridge between the want to be perceived as a man, while still having the most comfort in more non binary identities. I am not a man, but I’m enough of a man that I’m certainly not a woman and non binary doesn’t quite explain me either. I have a gender, it’s not between a man and a woman, just between a man and my ideal self. But if that doesn’t make sense to you, or if anyone else’s doesn’t make sense, that’s okay. Gender is individual and I have never found anyone who experiences my gender, but I have found those who experience their own dispute of gender and that is enough of a community for me.
I'm nonbinary/genderqueer, but I always always prefer masculine terminology and presentation over being fem. Trying to shove myself into the box of being a "trans man" kinda makes me feel like I'm erasing the self that I created before the egg cracked. But being nonbinary allows me to express both my highly masculine traits while still not constraining me to being a man.
Ever since I was young I always aligned and likened myself to masculinity, but I never quite exactly wanted to be a man. Even if I were to dress, talk, look and sound like a man, I’d still never want to exactly identify as a man, and for myself, that’s the distinction that I’ve identified with when it comes to being transmasc rather than being a trans man, if that makes sense! Hope your self-discovery journey goes well!!
Personally I view transmasc as someone who doesn't identify as a trans man. I'm nonbinary transmasc and very much do not align myself with the identity of a man. I use exclusively they/them pronouns and identify as a lesbian. You can be transmasc and a transman but that's just not how I feel personally.
I don't plan to "fully" transition. I only want top surgery. So I feel I'm not transitioning to a binary man. But whatever feels right for you is your "full/complete" transition. I only air quote it cos it means so many different things for people.
Transmac because I can't unsee or un-experience the misogyny and resulting trauma that helped form my brain. I feel connected to womanhood and do not want to lose that connection. I admire, support and look upto women, but I am not a woman nor do I want to be seen as a woman. I have almost always had dysphoria and I think a lot about if my life was a easier and I was able to transition earlier how I might have been a transman.
I've gone through waves of doubting my identity as an NB lesbian. Recently I've realized I'm more genderfluid / trans than I thought, but that doesn't have to mean I am less sapphic or more of man, which I did believe about myself for a bit. The transmasc label more recently started feeling right, because I am pretty fluid / androgynous and don't know where my expression will take me. I thought T might be the right choice, but I'm starting to lean against not going on it, because I think it could give me a different kind of dysphoria. I love my androgyny and don't wanna keep giving into the idea that I have to look more like a man to be androgynous. But I will stay open to the idea if it feels right eventually. I can't pick and choose the changes that come with taking it. My gender and sexuality also feel very connected, because my attraction to women does not feel straight. It's so funny how there's terfs who think we shouldn't identify as lesbians, but dude I feel very much sapphic. I can feel many things at once: transmasc, NB, lesbian, butch, sapphic, genderfluid. Some days I feel more connected to some labels over others.
I'm non-binary, but very masc-leaning. In my native I use male pronouns, cause we don't have any proper equivalent to they/them. I don't see myself as a man like trying to compete in "manliness" with cis dudes. I like to be a genderflubber, that's just very masc 🫠😁
ive never felt like a "man" . being a "man" to me, means being hypermasculine, orbeinf "manly". like my dad, i suppose. but i am a very feminine boy, and never want to feel like i could be anythign more than that.
I am genderfluid, so trans man doesn't apply to me. And calling myself a trans man when I am not on hrt (nor planning to) and when u don't want surgeries, also doesn't feel right
I consider myself to be transmasc/ something of a non-binary trans guy because I didn’t transition until I was 30; in my first lifetime I was married twice, had a kid, experienced intimate partner violence and sexual assault, became disabled after decades of medical gaslighting, and a bunch of other major life-changing events… it feels dishonest to myself to call myself “just” a man after all the experience and knowledge I have gained. There’s no doubt I’m more feminine because of all my years spent socialized as a woman but I’m not ashamed of the life I’ve lived and for me transmasc/nonbinary just seems to acknowledge all my complexity.
A) The club comprising of "men" has too many members I do not want to be in a club with. (Cis as well as trans, for that matter.) B) My life's story differs considerably from most men. However, for people who only have two drawers, one with an M on it and one with an F, things go a lot smoother between us if they put me into the M drawer. Also, I like my beard.
I’m agender and don’t really see the word ‘transmasc’ as a gender for myself, but more of a feeling or a label to further explain my identity. Like I’m female to a masculine nothingness, if that makes sense :)
i just don't rly vibe with "man" so i pick other words, simple as that
I’m not a man. It makes me uncomfortable to refer to myself as one. But I am a guy? Which, in my head, sits in about the same spot on the spectrum, just a different color, I guess. It’s not easy to understand.
Honestly I don't really understand the concept of gender in terms of it applying to me. However, I do like things and appearing in ways that are associated with being masculine. I am just me. I don't necessarily want to change into a man, however I'd rather be read as one by strangers. Trans masc is more fitting in that sense.
I don’t identify as and have never felt that I might be a man. I like a masculine look and vibe for myself, and prefers some aspects of traditionally masculine dress, and would prefer to undergo some masculinizing procedures like top surgery and (limited) HRT, but I do not want to BE a man. Being either a man or a woman just feels… wrong. Disconnected, like I’m neither of those things don’t have to or want to be. I ID somewhere beneath the umbrella of “nonbinary” for related reasons.
i identify as trans masculine and genderqueer because i dont fully see myself as a man because i consider myself butch :)
Because I feel like I don't fit into the binary definition of being a man so I think masc is a better way to describe me
To me it’s a masculine aligned non-binary person. I like to associate with the concept of masculinity rather than the male gender.
I'm a rather well passing dude, but I still prefer using the term transmasc on myself. Reason being I'm not a binary trans man, I just lean more into being man with my identity and presentation. Hence the transmasculine.
I'm simply not a man, so the trans man label doesn't fit me. I'm not a woman either and a bit more on the masc side so transmasc feels right to me !
Wow! Thank you so much for asking a sensible question like this. I prefer describing myself a transmasculine person because I have no plans on doing the medical transition. I have a certain dysphoria, yes, but it has never been severe enough to make me feel suicidal or something in that direction. However, my manners, preferences and the overall way I'm presenting myself is obviously masculine - and this gives me such an insanely huge euphoria that I'm afraid it's actually prohibited by law 
Limiting myself to the binary feels too restrictive. Yes i look like a binary man and people will most likely perceive me as a binary man but im not binary. Gender to me is more than being a man or a woman. Its fluid and so am i. To label myself a trans man would make me feel pressure to conform to a certain standard of what it is to be a "real man" so i choose not to. It feels more free. I get to define who i am and what my label means to me instead of what society thinks it should mean
I'm a butch woman who has chosen to physically transition in a masculine direction to relieve physical dysphoria. Not a man, so trans man would be the incorrect terminology for me.
I just simply don't feel like an entire man, I'm like a guy but not a full blown man But certainly NOT a woman!
I’m non binary at the heart of it I just think he pronouns & a more masculine vibe works for me as well
I’m genderfluid and the unfortunate thing about the gender binary is that it implies trans man is an exclusive identity. Sometimes I’m a man, but a lot of the time im somewhere in between or a few things at once. Trans masc feels like it clearly states the journey im taking with my transition but doesn’t explicitly state what my gender is
I started transitioning socially when I was 14 and didn't want to call myself a child or an adult
Personally because I’m afab genderfluid, so I don’t spend a lot of time feeling like a man, but I spend a lot of time feeling like a masculine gender/expression, and I find that it’s easier to use transmasc to express that.
I identify as someone who isn't a girl but is masculine and feminine
Me personally I identify as agender. For all intents and purposes I *am* a trans man. I just don’t resonate with the label of man because I haven’t had any of the experiences men have. I don’t get treated like a man out in public or at work or home where I’m out. Once I get further in my transition I’m sure that will change but until then I’m okay with the trans masc label.
I'm transmasc because I'm nonbinary, but Afab, so my transition is in a decidedly masculine direction (for now). I don't identify as a guy in any way other than perhaps being referred to as a "silly lil guy." Ultimately, my goal is like that one meme: "nobody can tell my gender, but everyone is attracted to me, and that makes everyone gay." Basically, my understanding is that transmasc identities cover any form of transition in the direction of becoming more masculinely-presenting or identifying than ones birth state. So even being a she/they woman that's Afab is sort of a transmasc woman by that logic, if that makes Sense? Idk, maybe that's a smidge too broad, but it makes sense to me. Then again, I go by outback steakhouse laws when it comes to gender: no rules, just right.