I'll put here screenshots and quotes and such that I relate to in regards to gender, just a big gender vision board. I'm not sure what the ettiquette is for quoting internet posts in a website is (if anyone has any insight that's appreciated, I have my sources ready to correct anything if needed)
'i’m a trans guy, ofc i make jokes about dick & balls like i have them' - reddit (I always make these jokes lol and always have, thought I was just immature lol)
'I’m a trans guy, of course my customer service voice is an octave higher than my speaking voice (and I don’t know how to do customer service at a lower pitch)' - reddit (I hate how my social voice is so much higher than I want and even my regular voice)
'I'm a trans guy of course i violently volunteered to carry as many chairs as i possibly could whenever a teacher said they needed "a strong boy to help them out with these chairs" - reddit and 'Of course I'm picking up as many chairs as I can carry when it's time to put away chairs' - reddit (I used to get so upset when they wouldn't pick me because they needed a "man", I thought then I was just proving that I could also do it and I was strong. I also hated when my classmates would take something I was carrying because I looked like a woman to try to help, I was perfectly capable thanks.)
'body hair, before i started t i had super hairy arms and legs and even before i realised i was trans masc it brought so much euphoria. like i love my legs and hate covering them with pants cause im so happy to have it and i get comments on my arm and leg hair like idk its silly but its so affirming' - reddit (THIS THIS THIS 10000000000%)
'I have always wanted muscles, and i used to get gender envy even as a kid watching men on the TV with muscles, and now im starting to build them up, it makes me happy and i like to show off a bit. Deep voice as well. I also always make sure im respectful to everyone, bcuz ik stereotypes of men being asses to women so i try to let women know im not an ass. Like trying to be the bigger man. Kinda ranted on there lmao' - reddit (I love deep voice, muscles, it's complicated)
'Pronouns bring me great joy. Just hearing people refer to me as a man and treat me as one is enough' - reddit
'i love when trans women are curious about our experiences because i feel the same way towards you! anyway, something i really love about being a man is being able to love men and women the way a man does, if that makes sense. as a bisexual trans man, i experienced loving men and women in a female way pre-transition, which is also lovely, but loving men and women in a man way feels so… beautiful. loving men in a mlm way, all the history and pride that comes with being a mlm, loving feeling like a man with another man… and genuinely loving and cherishing women in a man way, genuinely adoring and admiring them and wanting to make them feel loved and beautiful and respected as women. i love loving and protecting people as a man.' - reddit
'People just let you be a goofball, which is so nice, because I AM a goofball. I think also to an extent there are other parts of misogyny I just kind of don't experience anymore, at least when stealth (I tend towards partial and lazy stealth, I come out easily to queer and trans people and just let cishet people make their own assumptions. Cishet people with a lot of proximity to LGBT people tend to find out and I don't mind. Obviously sometimes I get outed and it sucks but that's life.) Always a plus. Aside from that: my shoulders got wider and I grew an inch. I have good posture and when I walk around if just makes me feel good. I walk around and people go, 'now that's a man.' I love walking around and catching people checking me out but as a man and not a woman, and it is different in a way that's hard to describe. I love being strong and constantly being helpful in a masculine way. Yesterday I carried a smaller guy on my shoulders so we could pin something up. People ask me to open stuff for them. Random women on multiple occasions have asked me to jump their car just assuming (correctly) that I'm nice and have cables. Any time someone needs help moving or lifting anything heavy, I am a first ask and I love it. It's the adult version of wanting to carry all the chairs for teacher. I love my changes from T. I love my voice, my face, my body, I love my bottom growth. I love having sex as a man with both men and women. With my dysphoria lessened it is better sex for me, but also, going further than taking a masculine role with femme lesbians and actually just being considered as a man is different and lovely. I also love hooking up with other men and the energy being like, "haha we're stoopid." I love it when my female friends tease me for being "a stinky boy". I love my other transmasc friends and we behave like a bunch of frat boys and it's so nice. Yesterday this girl was into me but she was too young for me, and I saw her like talking about it with my buddy. It was a queer space and she kept asking if I was dating anyone and if I was gay and pitching my buddy on dating me once he was like "idk, you're 19" and it was so funny to me, so I went up to him and went, "hey, I'm gonna pick you up," and since I pick him up all the time he just let me without thinking it was weird, and then she was all bug eyed and he's active insisting we're just friends while I hold him, and then I'm like, "no, dude, do a little jazz hand with me-- yeah!" And then he realized I was doing a goof and I knew what was going on and we had a good laugh. Can you image? Two guys going "No, we're just best bros :)" complete with a bridal carry and jazz hands. Oh, and dancing! I love dancing as a man. I love being at a gay bar and lipsynching and everyone sees me as a little gay boy feeling his oats. I love dancing with a woman and making her feel pretty and giving her the attention, and using my skills while dancing to show her a good time, especially while leading. I love being feminine as a man, just temporarily and as a costume, and being able to melt back into my male identity a second later. I love being masculine as a man, but in a way that sort of reclaims that masculinity into something that exists to be fun and helpful, free, strong, and joyous. Robes, too, I love wearing robes as a man in a way I didn't even anticipate. There's so much more but I'm so sorry I have to go to work' - reddit
'I love the fact that there's so much more to it than the alpha male stereotype. There's a discourse that's been looping around for ages about how 'the left doesn't have any idea of what men should be' and 'there are no positive male role models' but I feel like trans guys have the ability to sniff out decent male role models like scent hounds lol. When you're raised to see men as this scary other (à la 'men are from mars', etc.), I think you sometimes actually need to do a lot of work to cross the boundary of that binary and realize that men aren't a monolith, and you can also be a man without fitting into stereotypes. And I think my journey towards becoming the kind of man I want to be gives me a stronger connection to guys I admire or relate to. That's just how it looks from where I'm standing though (as a pretty feminine guy), other people might feel differently.' - reddit
'I lived with that background noise gnawing away at my mind for decades, telling myself it was "just" anxiety until one day at 33 years old, I had the realization that it was dysphoria, it had always been dysphoria, that I knew what I needed to do and it ultimately didn't matter what anyone else thought about it. Find a different medical provider, this one doesn't know what they're talking about and isn't going to help you.' - reddit
'I believe that recently there has been some discourse about how gender dysphoria is felt differently by everyone but that it can be broadly generalized to two groups. Group A is the more typical presentation - it is overt, externalized, and observable. This is analogous to hyperactive movements and distractions in ADHD. Group B is less well known, and often overlooked or disregarded - it presents as an internalized issue, discomfort you can push through or down (until you can't anymore), a longing but not immediate recognition. Something you have pushed away from consciousness and avoided externalizing. This would be analogous to "inattentive" ADHD, which is usually internalized hyperactivity such as hyperactive thoughts. This may help you accept that longing, hidden selves, and an internalized sense of discomfort or dysphoria isn't "lesser" or invalid - your mind just works more closely to group B, and that makes it easier for others to introduce doubt. They're just pulling the curtain over the window again, the sun still exists.' - reddit