I pretty much never post and only lurk... but today I'm feeling super positive about my femininity and wanted to share and also tell everyone else they are valid and this community is just awesome! I finally finished shaving everything except my arms (I'm coming for you arms....) and I got my hair to do the fwippy thing and I liked how I looked so much I actually posted a picture for the first time ever!
So I see a lot of posts asking for advice and stuff, so I figured I can tell my story a little bit on my road to embracing my feminine side...
tl;dr: was straight and repressed, played truth or dare, cross-dressed, came out gay maybe mtf in relationship with transman, changed mind, repressed for a long time, then found someone who is gender fluid and now I embrace my fluidity, I don't hide from my loving poly family and I stop trying to fit into a role.
When I was younger I always played the girl or wife when we played house, or played with dolls, or played lion king (I was always Nala). This eventually became secret cross-dressing as I went through puberty. I was also a huge nerd that wasn't popular. My mom brought me up to be strong willed though, so it didn't really get to me (sometimes you get lucky with genetics and confidence springs forth from a bottomless well until you over do it and get in trouble LOL). Eventually I had the chance to play truth or dare with someone and sort of lead the game such that I was dared to put on women's clothes... that was my first time showing that side of myself to someone and it was a mistake... that confidence can kill LOL... but luckily he didn't out me to my parents and we just never talked about it again.
Once I got into high school and early college though, I moved out and got to play with my appearance more... too bad before I moved out my mom decided she'd had enough of my feminine behaviors and cut of my shoulder length hair... that hurt and then I repressed it for awhile.
But again, I'm lucky and have a lot of confidence so once I moved out with my then partner, we came out to each other as trans (or at least we thought we were). So we both acted on it and I tried to live as a girl for a while and they as a boy. We came out together to my parents, well almost... I claimed to be gay not trans. All my mom said was "I know", but was otherwise supportive. It didn't last that long... they went on HRT but I didn't... eventually we both detransitioned, but me to a greater extent. I embraced masculinity, but more in the GQ sense and less in the macho man sense (you could have called me a metrosexual I guess lol). They remained relatively fluid.
Eventually, we became a closed poly family with a few others but I remained steadfastly masculine until one day it got to me and I bought hundreds of dollars of feminine clothing via amazon... but I tried to hide it. That's the part I want to give advice on... if you are in a loving family, don't hide stuff like that, those people love you and will accept you... and if they don't accept you, you are probably a lot better off without them. Society will be cruel, but your partner(s) shouldn't be.
Regardless, eventually everyone found out and I repressed again for awhile until I met my newest partner, who is rather more genderfluid then they let on to society. They truly appreciate my feminine side and it gave me the space to embrace it without feeling the entire family is judging me (even though they say they do not). Even though my family is supportive, I do sometimes feel that I should fit into a specific role. And sometimes I want to fit into that role, but other times I want to be cute and feminine and to just be cherished a little.
Joinin this subreddit has really helped me see that it's okay to embrace both feminine and masculine feelings, and while yes there are fetishists out there, our identity is valid and even appreciated (Femboy Hooters, for example).
So really I just want to tell all y'all cuties out there that you are valid and awesome and pretty and brave. And that it really can and does get better. I hope you all find what you are looking for!
