Bruce Springsteen.

My uniform is Hawaiian shirts or other irregular patterns that break up the silhouette.

The classic rule of ponytails is that if it’s tied low on the head, down by the nape of the neck, it’s masculine, while if it’s tied on the top of the head it’s feminine. Don’t know why, but that makes for a fairly easy and forgiving default — anything at least shoulder length can be tied in a ponytail.

Very interesting links, thank you!

I did intramuscular cypionate at varying levels for most of my time on T, every two weeks, so not a lot of experimentation except for the dosage. Sounds like I should definitely talk to my prescribing doctor about options, whether I end up switching back from gel or not…

My therapist is actually a nonbinary trans woman, so I’m in good shape there; obviously her personal experience doesn’t include T delivery methods, but they also work with a bunch of other trans folks of all types, so there’s some tribal knowledge being filtered through there. I still learn more from the community than from medical professionals, though. Many thanks for the information and advice today!

Do you have a source on the topical/DHT connection? It kind of fits my experience, but I would love to see actual data there, as I am waffling about whether to stay on gel or go back to injections myself.

I started on injected, ramped up until it actually caused me problems (turns out my family history of epilepsy and migraines around puberty is androgen-sensitive, and I started having difficulty with light triggering awful headaches). Sustained at I think 50-60 mg after that, took about two years break and back on injections at 60 until I switched to gel about a year ago. The reason I say the DHT matches my experience is because I had a definite increase in hair growth and possibly bottom growth after switching and getting the dose right. (I had very little bottom growth before, and I still don’t really notice it.)

The whole process has been a little frustrating for me. Voice change, hair growth and muscular development were what I most wanted from T, but I turned out to be a tenor, got the genetics for just enough facial and chest hair to make it obvious how little I have, and my ability to get muscle definition is worse than the women in my family still. Like, I feel good on T, but it hasn’t been what I dreamed of as far as transforming my body.

Not yet. I’ve begun working towards it, but it’s overwhelming to research for very long, there’s not a lot of info out there, and a lot of what I can find is discouraging. According to the 2015 US Transgender Survey, only 1-2% of transmascs get bottom surgery; I’ll be interested to see next week when the 2022 numbers come out if it’s any higher, but I expect it’s still pretty low.

If I’d seen this in the original I would have been very attempted to troll them all by claiming to prove it by induction.