Female to Male Transsexuals: Giving Voice to Their Experience

Abstract

The authors examined the experiences of 11 female-to-male transsexuals. Participants described discomfort interacting with and having little to no shared experiences with cisgender men, which they attributed to prior socialization as women. Participants credited their posttransition life satisfaction to their positive self-identity. Pretransition, participants identified as lesbian, were active in the lesbian, gay, bisexual community, but currently lacked support from the community they had once belonged. As men, they expressed concerns about their unearned privileges and affirmed their attraction to women. Implications for counseling are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• female-to-male
• gender role socialization
• male privilege
• transgender
• transition
• transsexual