My own dad made a joke to me (I'm not out yet) about a trans woman we know being "half a woman" and then kept calling her a transvestite. I explained the difference and he just scoffed.. idk how he's gonna react to me coming out lol. But with my friend -

Really, what's happening with my friend is that she's pretty sure that her mom basically just sees my friend as "playing pretend" at being a girl. These are my friends words. Like, her mom still acts like she's the only woman in a family of men, constantly misgenders (accidentally and corrects herself), and just gives off the vibe that she just doesn't see at all.

This is definitely my biggest fear and why I generally, at this moment, stay away from cishet women. At least for me, being perceived as a man in women's clothing or some kind of imposter is really my biggest fear. Because like I don't want to be perceived as some kind of moster or predator or something. I just want to live my life and be seen as who I am.

Someone else mentioned some indigenous cultures having basically gender neutral childhoods and then coming of age "coming out" as your gender at a certain age. I dont know if that's real or anything, I've never heard of it, but it sounds so much better. So much easier. And so much more free. Hell I maybe would have realized I was trans so much longer ago if I had to really examine it and if it was actually encouraged.