So, how would you explain what it is like to be a biological female?

[TopBitchoftheWitches]

Just that really....

It’s mostly about how others have treated me than how I’ve felt inside, because I’ve always just felt like me.

Girlhood felt confusing and frustrating; not being allowed the same toys or to do the same things as my older brother; he seemed to get all the cool stuff like a Grifter bike and an Evil Knevil, while I got a pretty pink shopper bike and dolls I wasn’t interested in. I first fancied other girls but knew I wasn’t supposed to. I sobbed when I got my first period because it made me feel sick, hurt, was messy and I suspected might stop me riding horses.

Early womanhood felt dangerous; navigating what to wear and how to act so as not to get harassed, raped or whatever. Being talked down to at work. Having to take two days off work a month because of terrible period pains. Seeing the glass ceiling quite visibly.

Motherhood felt overwhelming; overtaken by my own biology, postnatal pain, breastfeeding angst, career frustration, awe at my own body and what it could do.

Womanhood now feels like I’m everything to everybody; a carer, a problem solver and provider; invisible, economically unviable, perimenopausal and worried about bone fragility and whether I really ought to get on that horse or go on that skiing trip, because if fall off and my pelvis crumbles, who is going to drive the kids to school?

Biology is powerful stuff that has shaped every life stage and many experiences. Other than that I just have personality, which is why I liked Evil Knevil, coveted a Grifter, fancied girls and hated periods, shaved my head and wanted to be like the boys I fancied, definitely wanted to be seen and respected as male. So a definite clash, but with biology there at every turn shaping how people treated me, it was pretty clear what I was. That’s how womanhood felt.

upstart well I wouldn't. I would become a famous celeb who had actually managed to change sex. Okay a minor celeb, but would be on This Morning and such like. Better than real work.

Mind you, DP would be a bit perturbed!!

@DixieFlatline

That’s not what I feel and nor is it what I’m getting from most posts on this thread. I knew I was female because I was told that’s what my body parts made me. That is all. I experienced a great disconnect with the concept of ‘femaleness’ that society tried to impose upon me, which made me, like many, question whether I really ‘fit’ femaleness.

I do remember there being a contradiction. My parents never really pushed me specifically towards 'girls' things - my DF is into steam trains so we'd go to see trains and I loved it, they bought me He-Man toys, were fine with me climbing walls, trees etc.

But in nursery the different play areas had signs up saying how many children could play there, and whether it was boys, girls or both. So wet sand was boys only, dry sand was girls only (I got told off for playing in the wet sand). The 'library' (more jigsaws than books) was for both, but more girls were allowed in than boys.

By junior school peer pressure started to kick in, and it was made clear to me that girls didn't play with He-Man - not that I gave a toss, just stopped talking about it in school.

To me it is constantly feeling all the emotions at once whilst always wanting to eat chocolate and worrying about absolutely everything.

What makes me female is having been treated as a female by others from the day I was born. My biology hasn't always worked (I was told she could have children at age 16 and had very irregular/non existent periods for the majority of my life due to hormonal condition which has also caused excess body/facial hair) . All my life I've also been significantly overweight, meaning i'd had far less of the sexist stuff as I'm not deemed "hot". But I've still felt female the whole time. Because I am, even though I don't always conform to biological norms or societal stereotypes, I am still a woman. I guess I'm lucky.

I feel fat. I feel frumpy. I feel guilty for having children and returning to work. I feel guilty for having children and not returning to work. I feel that my kind nature is mistaken for being boring/fake, I feel that to Get On with other women you have to enjoy bitching and gossiping. I feel judged. I have a naturally grumpy face (resting bitch face OBV) and get told I'm stuck up or a snob or look scary.
I do competitive sport where I want to succeed but am worried that if I get too good the other women will dislike me for taking their place on the top team.
I'm a mother a wife a daughter a sister an auntie a godmother, I cook I clean I make stupid small talk which I hate. I haven't found a career and don't think I will because there's not a lot I can do part time around school hours and be paid enough.
I find my mother friends dull because all they talk about are their children. I adore my husband because he is funny and kind and encourages me and gets me.
I hate shopping. I hate confrontation. I hate competitive parents. I hate diets. I love wine. I love fun. Actually what I would say at this point in my life there is not enough fun because everyone else is so tired from juggling children, work, house moves, general life in your 30's.

I'd like to have more fun. And less play dates.

This is why being female has nowt to do with feeling like a woman:

If I wake up in the morning and don't feel like putting up with sh it associated with being born a biological female, I still have to deal with it

Whether I feel like it or not it doesn't change the body or environments I have to negotiate

Having had gynecological issues since puberty, being female is summed up for me by periods, menstrual cramps, speculums, abortion, pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth

Basically everything about being female is due to my reproductive system and it's function and/or dysfunction.

My love of martial arts, motorbikes and science is simply due to being human.

Being shorter than designers apparently expect, so cupboards are too high, car seats are too low etc. (There are also short men, but statistically most fully grown adults who are 5 foot 3 have two X chromosomes). Relatedly, I can't lift and carry such heavy weights as most adult men, even when I exercise and they don't.

Wrong thread! I’m sorry.

Being a woman feels how purple smells.

I can't tell you how it feels to be what I am, because I've got no experience of being anything else....

It's normal. It's just fucking normal. It's not a performance or an experience.

I had a bit of gender confusion as a child/tween but that was because I wanted to do the stuff my brother could do but I wasn't allowed because I was female.
The having a curfew hours earlier than my brother did when he was my age.
I use to tell my dad I wish I was a boy he would say don't be silly . I'm glad the transgender pushing isn't here today because I'm happy being female I was more upset with the gender inequality growing up.