I socially transitioned before I started hormones, and when I went out in public wearing women's clothes, people would look at me frequently, and some people would stare at me. It was obvious I didn't pass from these kinds of responses, but I also got somewhat used to that treatment.
Over time, with hormone therapy, I get fewer and fewer instances of this. I haven't been stared at in a long time, and I think people look at me less.
At one point I would describe my experience as being a "woman shaped object" - in people's peripheral vision I looked like a normal woman, but if someone interacted with me they could tell I was trans.
I went out yesterday and got my nails done, went shopping, went out for dinner, etc. and interactions with people made me think they couldn't tell I was trans, but I just don't know whether they can actually tell or not.
While waiting in line to buy some clothes, a woman wanted to chat about how long the line was taking, and she interacted with me as though I were a normal woman - there wasn't a hint of stigma, curiosity, etc.
Anyway - this just makes me wonder: what are others' experiences with passing and not-passing, what are little clues that you aren't passing or when you are?
I assume you just can't actually tell when people are being polite vs not knowing, but maybe there are little hints.
Thanks!
Whoa, a lot to unpack there.
First, it sounds like you have been transitioning for a while - do you have vocal dysphoria, and have you worked on voice training? When I socially transitioned my vocal dysphoria became rather intense, and the fear I had speaking, for example to a new colleague at my work who may not otherwise know I'm trans, became panic-inducing. I found voice training really helpful, and now my voice passes enough in public and on the phone that I never get "sir'd". If you were inclined I bet you could do the same!
Either way, I'm sorry to hear about the antagonistic situations you find yourself in. I think I would feel unsafe in a situation like that. 😞
With regards to your support circles telling you that you pass: of course they might be just polite or being nice, but there is another possibility, that they have mapped you to a woman in their minds so they interpret your voice as feminine. I found this happened for example when I watched enough Finnster (don't judge me 😝), eventually their voice sounded like a girl's voice to me even though if I heard it on the phone for the first time I'm sure it would be read as masculine.
Ultimately whether a voice sounds masc or fem has at least something to do with how we are interpreting the situation, and I have found myself and others capable of interpreting masculine voices as feminine when you get used to thinking of that person as a woman. The same thing happened for me with Bilal Baig's character in Sort Of, her voice definitely has masculine features (often too heavy and large), but instead of hearing a "gay man" voice like I would over the phone, I started to just hear it as a woman's voice and it was hard to go back and hear it as a "man's" voice.
Anyway - this might be what's happening with your friends, maybe they can't hear or see you as a man anymore, even though strangers still might. Still, sounds like you are doing a good job getting feedback from strangers online about your voice. I know the /r/transvoice discord has a place where you can upload clips of your voice to be critiqued as you are working on your voice training, and there are resources like Selene's clips and TransVoiceLessons that can be helpful even without seeing a speech language pathologist.
Thanks for sharing and being vulnerable about your experiences. 🫂