Interesting question, may I chime in? I don't know whether "euphoria" is the most accurate term to describe how I feel about my gender but I've always found great comfort in my femininity. No matter how many other issues I had with my body at any time during my life (I suffered from an eat...

That sounds good, thanks Heather. I kind of expect the answer will be something along the lines of "I don't really know myself" and / or something defeatist about how there isn't anything anyone can do right now. But then at least I've put the awkwardness out there and maybe we can both la...

Heather! Thanks for your reply! I'd actually love to address the awkwardness directly with my friend and I agree that having a direct conversation would probably be helpful. Ideally in person. I'm just unsure how to approach that without coming accross like "YOUR pain is making ME feel awkward ...

Sigh... It was really fantastic, yeah, but now I'm back in the real world and because we don't live very near each other (any more) our communication is long distance again and here I am once more, feeling confused and uncertain. The thing is, the response to my message back then was basically "...

Hello Temeletjie, is it ok if I chime in here? I've been thinking a lot about gender issues lately and I find your thoughts very interesting. Like Mo, I've never been quite able to follow the "I'm just not attracted to people with certain genitals!" argument because I don't understand how ...

Thanks Mo, it sure was! We were out in the middle of nowhere together for 3 days and I can't begin to express what a relief it can be to take a break from society like that... There was zero awkwardness, we just laughed 99% of the time even when we were having serious conversations because it was ju...

So, quick update: I recently messaged them saying pretty much what Mo and Sam suggested. The response was a very sweet thank you for caring but no, I don't want to talk about this any further atm and I don't want you to change anything for now because it is indeed very stressful. Thanks so much for ...

Thanks for your insight, Mo! Yeah, the last thing I want is to cause even more stress. I don't need to be the person shouting "you have to make changes!" from one side while the rest screams "you have to conform to our standards!" from the other. That would be incredibly hypocrit...

That does make sense, yes, thanks Sam! And yeah, I do have this "something has to happen RIGHT NOW!" feeling. Totally. :) But I tell myself that it's not a right now issue, just one that I newly learned about. It's been there all these years, I just didn't know about it before. And what ne...

Hey Mo! Thanks so much for the reply! Very much appreciated. It sounds like a good idea to explicitly refer back to the initial conversation and limit whatever I have to say to that. Just me adding something I didn't manage to say right then rather than invading their privacy. I have a million quest...

Hello lovely people here at Scarleteen, I haven't been around for a long while, and certainly haven't gotten any younger since my last post. I'm in my mid-30s now, so if that's too old to be taking up time here, please feel free to ignore or tell me to go away. Something came up in my life recently ...

Sam, I feel like you describe. Really worried and discouraged and afraid to look at the news. I live outside the US and even though I am lucky to be where I am compared to most alternatives, I am often overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness. Donating to organizations that do good work is a good stra...

I don't know any statistics but in the cases I personally know of, the unplanned pregnancy happened because someone's hormonal birth control failed (missed pills, vomiting / diarrhea etc) and they weren't using a barrier. Or the pregnancy was created at a time when they were under the influence of a...

I vividly remember the entire night my child was born and all the many different sensations and emotions, both good and bad. I heard the "oh, you forget the pain" statement a lot from other mothers, so I suppose that for some people it's true to a degree but certainly not for everyone.

P.S.: I just realized I made it sound as if I had a child with my own father - that's not the case, of course. I was talking about two different men. Duh, but just wanted to make that very clear!

Hey there, I said I wouldn't engage much around here these days because I am beyond my twenties now, but I feel like I want to say a few things in response here. Please tell me to back off if I am being inappropriate or unhelpful. Cityofthedead, you sound very unhappy and frustrated. The thoughts an...

Dear Scarleteen staff and community, this is to say a big fat THANK YOU to everybody around here who has been so helpful to me in the past with sympathy, advice and support. My life has taken a huge turn for the better over the last year and my health, emotional stability, relationship and job and l...

I can relate to that... the anxiety-related guilt you describe, I mean. Don't know if this is useful to you, but sometimes, I feel like all I can do about my own anxiety is just label it as such and wait it out. There are moments where I can't do much either, where it seems hard work to just breathe...

Thanks for posting those links! I read both "Rebel Well" and "Rebel Well wherever you are" and found both very helpful.

I have had a similar experience in several women's bathrooms at restaurants: Artistic but very sexualized photos of men hanging in the stalls. It creeps me out because I don't like people staring at me when I pee. I don't even go to the toilet in front of my partner. Have no idea why people think th...

It's actually a pretty big something, if you ask me. Still, I am so, so sorry for all that you and your friends are going through. I think I have overcome the shock phase by now. I am astonished and more than a bit alarmed by the rapidity with which many media have begun to try and normalize the sit...

Certainly not Brokeback Mountain (sniff)... But I love that movie anyway... Since we're all more or less in need of cheering up these days, though: GBF: Basically a teen / highschool comedy, but with a twist. And one of my favorite endings ever when it comes to the central relationship. Breakfast on...

Thank you for replying! It feels really good to know that I am not alone. Unfortunately, most people around me treat the election and its results as a big joke. They think it doesn't have anything to do with them because it's happening "over there". Well, I have family "over there&quo...

Hello everybody. First of all: I am so, so, so sorry for everybody affected by this election. I did expect this outcome, but that's not really helping me personally right now and I can imagine many of you may feel the same. I don't live in the USA, but I am still convinced that this will affect me a...

Hey there, I can't speak for anybody else of course, but I really don't think anybody on here hates you and I certainly don't. There's a big difference between disapproving of something a person did and disapproving of the person themselves. As for your friends saying what you did was okay and staff...