Hello, so I would appreciate some guidance in figuring this whole gender crisis out. Sorry in advance for the long post.
For context: I am an AMAB individual who has always identified as a gay, cis-gender male and used he/they pronouns...until college
So when I went to college I started dressing in more traditionally feminine clothing (mainly skirts) because I love them. I love the way they feel on my skin and how fun it is to twirl around in them. I have always been a more feminine individual. I have always found it easier to be friends with girls growing up, I have what's known as "gay voice", I was involved with choir and theatre in middle and high school, and from a very early age found boys to be...well dumb(unfortunately I also find myself to be attracted to them). I fit into almost every gay stereotype growing up to the point where some classmates as early as 4th grade would ask me if I was when I didn't even know what that word meant at the time.
So suffice to say no one was surprised when I came out in middle school(though I had pretty much known since 5th grade). I remember when I first thought of the possibility of me being gay and something in my brain went *click* and I knew I was right.
So back to why I wrote this post, In my first year of college I lived in a building with many other queer people, many of whom were gender non-conforming. Not that I had any sort of problem with it as I had met individuals like that before. But I had never met so many at once. I was exposed to this whole new side of queerness that I had never really had a chance to explore. I had only owned one skirt up until that point and didn't really wear it back in my hometown very often for several reasons such as not knowing how to style it properly(which I am still working on so any tips would be appreciated), the attitudes of my peers, the comments from my Mom and Sister, and my general lack of self-confidence in High School.
Seeing how unashamed the people in my building were about expressing who they were even though we were all attending a small private college in the south, inspired me to want to do the same. So I started to wear my skirt more often and talk to more people in my building. And the more I did that the way I started to view myself changed.
Growing up, I had never really had a problem with being called a boy/guy(or a girl as some people would often mistake me for one) but the word "Man" had never felt right to me. I always figured I would grow into it but at this point, I was a legal adult and people were starting to use that word to describe me. It made me feel(for lack of a better term) icky. Like I felt physically repulsed by the word. So I started to think more about my gender identity. I settled on the label Demiboy, which encouraged my friends to start using they/them pronouns for me more often. And whenever they did it felt so affirming. I also started to buy more skirts and wear them out around campus(when I could handle the stares and whispers from my straight peers that is).
So over this past summer, I have come to realize that I don't care how people perceive me gender-wise. Being so naturally feminine all my life I learned it was kind of pointless(for me at least) to change my behavior just so people could perceive me as more masculine or feminine. I have long held the belief that those terms(masculine and feminine) along with gender as a whole are just social constructs meant to put people in boxes and subjugate those who are perceived as "less than". And I have no interest in associating myself with any of that. In my mind, we are all just people. And when I look in the mirror I don't see a "guy" or "girl" I just see me. And I feel most like myself when I wear my skirts. Gender is just a concept that I feel as though I have no relationship with. So I concluded this summer that I am non-binary and I changed my pronouns to they/he(with a preference for they, only because I am male presenting and people will usually assume that I am cis since that's just the culture of my school).
I guess I just wanted to make this post to see if my feelings are...valid. I have not gone back to school yet and have not really had a chance to be in an environment where my identity will be affirmed by those around me. I mean, to be honest, I feel a bit more confident after writing it all down but I could still use some outside perspectives just to help me process everything.
Thanks for reading and again sorry for the super long post. Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks y'all