Asking for a friend (yes I mean this literally, I’m AMAB). I’m open to answers from AFAB people as well as links to first hand accounts.

  • PapaEmeritusIII [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Like the other poster said, it’s a tricky question to answer. But I can share some of my personal experience with dysphoria as an AFAB person.

    For me, there is kind of a distinction between disliking part of my body and feeling dysphoric about part of my body, though it’s not always obvious what I’m feeling in the moment. If I just dislike something, it’s like “ah, this part of me is annoying and has these frustrating drawbacks that I have to deal with,” whereas dysphoria is more like “this is wrong and should not be a part of me.”

    For example, I’m not a fan of periods and I’d prefer not to have one, but my periods don’t make me dysphoric. They’re annoying and serve me no purpose, since I’m never getting pregnant, but they don’t feel wrong. They’re just an annoying thing that I put up with. At least they’re a nice reminder that I’m not pregnant.

    The thought of getting pregnant, on the other hand, gives me dysphoria. Which is why I got sterilized as soon as I could. The fact that I was capable of getting pregnant felt like my body was betraying me, and getting my fallopian tubes removed felt like fixing an error. Fertility felt wrong.

    There are a couple other parts of my body that I have sort of on-and-off dysphoria about. Like boobs, for instance. Sometimes I see them in the mirror and am like what the fuck are those doing there (dysphoria). Sometimes I enjoy them, and I wear things that accentuate them, even if I’m not going anywhere. Sometimes they’re a nuisance (it’s uncomfortable to run without a bra), but they still feel like a part of me.