I'm 38 AMAB and I've basically been putting off transitioning for ~18 years, (first realized I was probably trans around 20).
One of the reasons is the fear of how difficult it all seems, another is fear I'd regret it, and another is that in the last 3 years or so I just haven't felt much motivation to do anything (struggling with depression).
But I feel like one of the biggest reasons is that I'm really fixated on the idea of being a young and beautiful woman, and I know there's no way to attain that (not least because of my age). So it just kind of kills any hope I have for transitioning.
I know that this isn't a problem exclusive to trans folk: only a very small percentage of women have the genetic luck to be supermodels, of course; and everyone eventually has to learn to cope with the effects of age, no matter how attractive one might have been in one's youth.
But it's like I'm really stuck on feeling this strong craving to be pretty and sexy, to the point where transitioning would only feel worth it if I could become gorgeous.
And sometimes I think, even if I had transitioned while I was younger, and even if I had been born with perfectly feminine features, I might still be reluctant because I hate the idea of eventually becoming an old woman. I also hate the idea of being an old man (I'm constantly paranoid that my hairline it receding, although for the most part it hasn't), but in some ways it almost feels worse to me to imagine being an old woman. It's awful to say, but I just hate how old women look, and I hate the idea of having saggy breasts.
My feelings seem like they're probably linked to or built upon the patriarchal idea that women are only valuable if they're attractive--and the patriarchal ideal that says that only women aged 18-30sish are genuinely attractive. I don't believe this is true conceptually, but apparently I've internalized it emotionally and in terms of values and preferences.
So, any advice?