Wanting a masculine body but not a male one?

[*fingerguns*]

So, I am AFAB and currently identify as agender. I don't like having curves and do want a more masculine shaped body, deeper voice, ect., but I don't want a fully male body or to be a man. Could I be transmasculine? If it helps, I am only 15, so I am not sure if it is just hormones being assholes and confusing me or if I am valid...

Also, what ways can I go around getting a masculine body?

EDIT: You guys are awesome! You helped ton is explaining everything. This is the best community

[AVEN #1 fan]

More like libramasculine?

But you can identify as transmasculine or transandrogynous.

[Xenobot]

That does sound like what I've heard transmasculine people describe. I think it's always a good idea to remember that gender identity and gender expression are actually two seperate things. For most people, even most transgender people, gender identity and gender expression match up. That's not always the case though, which is why butch lesbians (as an example) prefer "masculine" gender expression, but are still definitely women and don't wish to be male.

 

Now, transmasculine might be a useful label for you, but it's optional. I think you'd be perfectly valid in adopting that label, and it frankly doesn't matter what your hormones are doing right now. Hormones don't invalidate feelings about one's gender identity or expression.

 

The best non-surgical, non-hormone therapy, ways to look more masculine is to wear men's clothing (obviously), do exercises that work on upper body strength such as weight lifting (make sure you look up videos on how to lift weights safely), buy an appropriately sized binder (do not use tape, wraps, or anything else like that. Those are unsafe. Find a binder designed for safety and comfort), and get a men's haircut (if you just ask for short hair you could end up with a very feminine looking pixie cut or whatever).

[Emery.]

1 hour ago, *fingerguns* said:

so I am not sure if it is just hormones being assholes and confusing me or if I am valid...

Both could be true at the same time. Something being because of hormones doesn't make it any less real.

 

You could be transmasculine, but it's a different story to how you want to look etc. How you identify is more like what you want to get read as. Which is sometimes tricky to identify... Also labels are descriptive, not prescriptive

 

1 hour ago, *fingerguns* said:

Also, what ways can I go around getting a masculine body?

I think Xenobot already explained it.

[Moophie]

That's all good. I've always been into the idea of beefing up... if only I wasn't so very, very lazy.

 

Weight training is definitely a good place to start. Maybe a bit of added protein in your diet. Via food, not supplements or artificial powder. Cardio is obviously a good, healthy exercise, but does nothing to build muscle mass. If you're able to build up your muscle, your chest will eventually become less curvy as well as your hips due to the build up of mass in your legs.

 

I would advise a good, all-round strength-based routine. And there are plenty of helpful sites and YouTube channels out there to help you get started.

[*fingerguns*]

30 minutes ago, Emery. said:

Both could be true at the same time. Something being because of hormones doesn't make it any less real.

 

You could be transmasculine, but it's a different story to how you want to look etc. How you identify is more like what you want to get read as. Which is sometimes tricky to identify... Also labels are descriptive, not prescriptive

 

I think Xenobot already explained it.

Awesome, thanks.

1 hour ago, Xenobot said:

That does sound like what I've heard transmasculine people describe. I think it's always a good idea to remember that gender identity and gender expression are actually two seperate things. For most people, even most transgender people, gender identity and gender expression match up. That's not always the case though, which is why butch lesbians (as an example) prefer "masculine" gender expression, but are still definitely women and don't wish to be male.

 

Now, transmasculine might be a useful label for you, but it's optional. I think you'd be perfectly valid in adopting that label, and it frankly doesn't matter what your hormones are doing right now. Hormones don't invalidate feelings about one's gender identity or expression.

 

The best non-surgical, non-hormone therapy, ways to look more masculine is to wear men's clothing (obviously), do exercises that work on upper body strength such as weight lifting (make sure you look up videos on how to lift weights safely), buy an appropriately sized binder (do not use tape, wraps, or anything else like that. Those are unsafe. Find a binder designed for safety and comfort), and get a men's haircut (if you just ask for short hair you could end up with a very feminine looking pixie cut or whatever).

I am thinking of buying a small set of weights for bicep curls and stuff, I already do other exercises for upper body strength, thanks! You are very good at explaining this

[*fingerguns*]

1 hour ago, AVEN #1 fan said:

More like libramasculine?

But you can identify as transmasculine or transandrogynous.

Holy shit thanks! I just searched up libramasculine, sounds even more like me than agender does thank you so much dude!

[AVEN #1 fan]

5 hours ago, Xenobot said:

That does sound like what I've heard transmasculine people describe. I think it's always a good idea to remember that gender identity and gender expression are actually two seperate things. For most people, even most transgender people, gender identity and gender expression match up. That's not always the case though, which is why butch lesbians (as an example) prefer "masculine" gender expression, but are still definitely women and don't wish to be male.

 

Now, transmasculine might be a useful label for you, but it's optional. I think you'd be perfectly valid in adopting that label, and it frankly doesn't matter what your hormones are doing right now. Hormones don't invalidate feelings about one's gender identity or expression.

 

The best non-surgical, non-hormone therapy, ways to look more masculine is to wear men's clothing (obviously), do exercises that work on upper body strength such as weight lifting (make sure you look up videos on how to lift weights safely), buy an appropriately sized binder (do not use tape, wraps, or anything else like that. Those are unsafe. Find a binder designed for safety and comfort), and get a men's haircut (if you just ask for short hair you could end up with a very feminine looking pixie cut or whatever).

*you can use sports tape or an sports bra or an belly sweatband to bind, but respect your body limits either way.

[AVEN #1 fan]

3 hours ago, *fingerguns* said:

Holy shit thanks! I just searched up libramasculine, sounds even more like me than agender does thank you so much dude!

Well, it's literally "masculine agender". No problem.

[Xenobot]

13 minutes ago, AVEN #1 fan said:

*you can use sports tape or an sports bra or an belly sweatband to bind, but respect your body limits either way.

No, sports tape is not a safe alternative to a binder. Sports bras are obviously okay, but they don't do much unless you're already really small-chested. Belly sweatbands, I don't know. I've never heard of that, so I'm not sure of the safety levels.

 

All bandage-style binding methods are too constricting to be safe on your chest area. Even if you're careful not to bind too tightly, they are not as flexible as an actual binder designed for that purpose. Bandages/tape can cause trouble with breathing and can cause injuries such as bruised ribs (or even cracked ribs in the most extreme cases), as well as tissue damage. In order for someone with average sized breasts to see good results (a nicely flattened chest) you're already in the danger zone. Just don't do it. Please. Many many cosplayers, crossdressers/drag kings, transmasculine people and transmen have been injured by this method of binding.

 

If you were to go the belly sweatband route, well, you might as well just buy a sports compression shirt since it's actually designed for the upper body, and the material is breathable.

[AVEN #1 fan]

Just now, Xenobot said:

No, sports tape is not a safe alternative to a binder. Sports bras are obviously okay, but they don't do much unless you're already really small-chested. Belly sweatbands, I don't know. I've never heard of that, so I'm not sure of the safety levels.

 

All bandage-style binding methods are too constricting to be safe on your chest area. Even if you're careful not to bind too tightly, they are not as flexible as an actual binder designed for that purpose. Bandages/tape can cause trouble with breathing and can cause injuries such as bruised ribs (or even cracked ribs in the most extreme cases), as well as tissue damage. In order for someone with average sized breasts to see good results (a nicely flattened chest) you're already in the danger zone. Just don't do it. Please. Many many cosplayers, crossdressers/drag kings, transmasculine people and transmen have been injured by this method of binding.

 

If you were to go the belly sweatband route, well, you might as well just buy a sports compression shirt since it's actually designed for the upper body, and the material is breathable.

I still believe sports tape is safe as long as you do it properly  , bandages and duct tape aren't safe and aren't like sports tape, they weren't made for skin contact, and either way you shouldn't wrap the tape around your chest, that will cause you lung/rib/stomach trouble.

I never heard of people complaining about sports tape, other than when it's about  skin irritations.

Binders aren't safer than sports tape, they can do away more damage over years.

[Xenobot]

23 minutes ago, AVEN #1 fan said:

I still believe sports tape is safe as long as you do it properly  , bandages and duct tape aren't safe and aren't like sports tape, they weren't made for skin contact, and either way you shouldn't wrap the tape around your chest, that will cause you lung/rib/stomach trouble.

I never heard of people complaining about sports tape, other than when it's about  skin irritations.

Binders aren't safer than sports tape, they can do away more damage over years.

Any kind of binding method can cause damage, true, which is why it's generally important to use products designed for that part of the body, to make sure the fit is correct, and to limit how much you wear it so that the risk is minimized as much as possible. I agree with you about not wrapping the sports tape around your chest, but that only leaves the open-chest binding method which tends only to work well on small chested people. Which, yeah, should be quite safe if you don't mind potentially getting boob blisters from the adhesive. 

[AVEN #1 fan]

6 minutes ago, Xenobot said:

Any kind of binding method can cause damage, true, which is why it's generally important to use products designed for that part of the body, to make sure the fit is correct, and to limit how much you wear it so that the risk is minimized as much as possible. I agree with you about not wrapping the sports tape around your chest, but that only leaves the open-chest binding method which tends only to work well on small chested people. Which, yeah, should be quite safe if you don't mind potentially getting boob blisters from the adhesive. 

Yeah,  you are correct in there, binding with a binder will 100% make breasts sagg as time pass by too, and make surgery hard.

Well, sports tape works only for people with cups smallers than a DD, I already saw an overweight person doing so, you just need a lot of sports tape and patience.

Not even bras are 100% safe if you think about it.

[Xenobot]

2 minutes ago, AVEN #1 fan said:

Yeah,  you are correct in there, binding with a binder will 100% make breasts sagg as time pass by too, and make surgery hard.

Well, it works only for people with cups smallers than a DD, I already saw an overweight person doing so, you just need a lot of sports tape and patience.

Not even bras are 100% safe if you think about it.

Fair enough. I've heard it does not work well on larger breasts but I guess if you've got a lot of sports tape and you're super determined you can make it work. You'd still likely be dealing with breast tissue damage over time because anything that squeezes or pulls at that tissue for hours at a time is going to do that. You're probably right about bras. I'm sure I've heard as much before but I don't remember the details on why. They certainly do cause a lot of people a lot of discomfort.

[AVEN #1 fan]

Just now, Xenobot said:

Fair enough. I've heard it does not work well on larger breasts but I guess if you've got a lot of sports tape and you're super determined you can make it work. You'd still likely be dealing with breast tissue damage over time because anything that squeezes or pulls at that tissue for hours at a time is going to do that. You're probably right about bras. I'm sure I've heard as much before but I don't remember the details on why. They certainly do cause a lot of people a lot of discomfort.

My mom prefers to stay braless rather than wearing a bra.

 

Guys chests are not 100% flat,  many have moobs, and others have pecs.

If you're fat, go for moobs.

[Ettina]

On 2/16/2017 at 9:05 PM, Xenobot said:

Which, yeah, should be quite safe if you don't mind potentially getting boob blisters from the adhesive. 

Boob blisters? Those sound horrible!

[AVEN #1 fan]

13 hours ago, Ettina said:

Boob blisters? Those sound horrible!

Even bras cause painful skin irritation, specially if they're too thight. No surprise here.

[nerdperson777]

Don't know what else to add.  Exercises that emphasize upper body and shoulders should help.  I'm a martial artist so I have huge thighs.  My arms are really slim but I have wide shoulders from many years of heavy backpacks widening me out.  My desired body isn't exactly male, just strong and some noticeable muscle.  I can be perceived as male, but things like dicks don't mean anything to me.  I just want to be fit and have some strength and power.

[AVEN #1 fan]

9 hours ago, nerdperson777 said:

Don't know what else to add.  Exercises that emphasize upper body and shoulders should help.  I'm a martial artist so I have huge thighs.  My arms are really slim but I have wide shoulders from many years of heavy backpacks widening me out.  My desired body isn't exactly male, just strong and some noticeable muscle.  I can be perceived as male, but things like dicks don't mean anything to me.  I just want to be fit and have some strength and power.

That sounds... hot. Lol

[nerdperson777]

8 hours ago, AVEN #1 fan said:

That sounds... hot. Lol

Hot in an ace way?  That's called asexy, right?

[AVEN #1 fan]

2 hours ago, nerdperson777 said:

Hot in an ace way?  That's called asexy, right?

I guess that can be taken either way.

[nerdperson777]

10 minutes ago, AVEN #1 fan said:

I guess that can be taken either way.

Don't know if it's just me, but I never saw the appeal of sexy so don't know how to apply that to being asexy.  I just saw it as a good ace equivalent.  It probably doesn't help because I don't have aesthetic attraction.