What does acceptance means to you?

[Justagirl💃]

What does your level of acceptance "presently" mean to you?

Concealment, doesn't bother you, rather enjoy them, proud of them, flaunt them, or embracing your feminine side?

We all have, and will have varying levels of acceptance. What is yours?

[taxmapper]

Let it go where it will. 

Done trying to play the template. 

[HeldUp]

Acceptance was the day when I looked down and said "I'm not going to try to do anything to get rid of these". I'd tried the exercise and muscle route, really didn't do anything but push the flesh somewhere else. Who else has done the towel trick, covering their breast tissue, and looking in the mirror at your defined shoulders and upper pecs and thought "if only"? That was a long time ago. Then I looked at my life with a wife and kids and decided my youthful vanity--and the outlook of a younger me to "get surgery as soon as I could afford it--ceased to be in the fore. That acceptance, that I didn't need to alter myself, has been the wide, wavy, guidelines I've lived in for years. Only in the past year has my head has been more affected by whatever has long-since caused me to have a "non-standard" masculine build. That mental shift has seen me transgress "gender norms", wear an undergarment that--somehow--helps with gender normative desires, keeping the chest in check. Bras keep things from jiggling, swaying, and pointing; keeping things "tight" in the breast department. I have come to think wearing a bra comes from a bit of a masculine desire to not feel like I have boobs than the feminine desire to accentuate. But at the same point, I am open to feminine styles where some would stick to purely functional ones. So, who the heck knows!

[Justagirl💃]

Well, acceptance for me had been a long time coming.

My body has been inclined to go it's own way since puberty, and even testosterone treatments in my youth could not slow it down for long.

Older age brought hormone changes that just amplified the changes already in place.

I finally decided I was done hiding, and I'll just let my body lead the way. I'll just follow along for the ride.

Further testing (ultrasound) confirmed that the extent of intersex was much more than what was visible from the exterior, and much of my questions were finally answered. Too bad it took until I'm almost 60 to get here.

So acceptance for me is finally accepting the many changes, embracing what I am inside, and letting my body lead me into new territory (across the aisle).

[gotgyne]

To me acceptance means that I wear a tight fitting t-shirt and don't mind if someone notices my bra straps, the hooks and eyes in the back or my well rounded breasts perfectly supported by the bra. But I'm still self-conscious, thus I hide my bras or even abstain from wearing. No acceptance yet.
John

[usetobeed]

Everybody has their own opinion, but for me personally, acceptance is being happy to have boobs.  

Although I accept my gyno, I do not want to be a woman. To me, acceptance of being trans is a different issue that is much deeper than just having gynecomastia.

I do often wear a bra in public, and I hide it the best I can.

[blad]

Maybe the ultimate acceptance is; if you had the option of effortlessly making your boobs disappear, say a harmless inexpensive drug therapy that became available, but decide to keep them.

I have had my boobs since I was a teenager, and they have definitely become part of me. I am quite comfortable with them when I wear my bras daily, but would be physically annoying without a bra. So wearing a bra is definitely part of the level of acceptance I have reached.

I think I would miss looking down at my cleavage and occasionally feeling how my boobs are supported in the bra cups.

[Johndoe1]

Acceptance to me is I can go through my day and not actively think about my chest. That includes whether or not my bust is apparent or not. Do I worry about people looking at my bust? No more than women worry. And they do worry. They are constantly under the watchful eyes of men who lear at their chests. And they know it. Every single woman knows, even if they don't show it. Even women are constantly aware of their chest's appearance due to prying eyes. And they are 100% accepting of their busts. I have had the good fortune to have a couple of close women friends who have confided in me that they are fully aware that their bosoms are being studied and analyzed by men and other women. All have told me they don't understand how I deal with the pressure of being a man with noticeable female breasts based on what they deal with. Breasts are expected of them but not for me.

So, even for women whose breasts are totally accepted by society, their worries are basically no different than mine. I do take solace in that and it makes life easier since my fears are basically no different from theirs. They fear harassment, sexual assault, unauthorized touching, body shaming and wardrobe malfunctions due to their breasts. And that's why I think the women who confide in me know we are more alike than different and they take solace in that fact as well. We deal with the same issues. We deal with the same fears.

[HeldUp]

Maybe the ultimate acceptance is; if you had the option of effortlessly making your boobs disappear, say a harmless inexpensive drug therapy that became available, but decide to keep them.

I have had my boobs since I was a teenager, and they have definitely become part of me. I am quite comfortable with them when I wear my bras daily, but would be physically annoying without a bra. So wearing a bra is definitely part of the level of acceptance I have reached.

I think I would miss looking down at my cleavage and occasionally feeling how my boobs are supported in the bra cups.

A harmless, inexpensive, drug would probably invalidate the need for acceptance at that point. You're not accepting, you actively choosing to keep your chest, if you don't take that wonder pill. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I think that's not a fair example for most. With the absence of such a panacea, we are left to deal with expensive/invasive surgery with the possibility of regrowth and faced with said choice we find acceptance because it's not an "easy out". I'm sure many would take the pill if it were such a consequence-less choice, life would be easier without being male with boobs, but that pill doesn't exist.

[Justagirl💃]

2500 years ago an authoritative Jewish book was compiled by various Rabbis. It is within Judaism one of the most authoritative books in existence. 
 
This book, the Talmud, identifies a total of six genders. All of these genders are a result of natural occurring manifestations. 
 
Saris, is one of the six. That is a person AMAB that later developed female characteristics (gynecomastia).  
 
The Reform movement within Judaism has added two more classifications as a result of "gender dysphoria" being a common medical diagnose as well as HRT being the correct treatment option for it. 
There are three major sects within Judaism, and only 2 of the 3 accept the additional two genders.

For us to all just feel "comfortable in our own skin", there is definitely religious texts to support it. 😉

[tryingtoaccept]

Birdie, your post was a very interesting read.  I did not know that was in the Talmud.  I am now very interested to go read it and see what all it says.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Stay safe and happy my friend.

[Justagirl💃]

Birdie, your post was a very interesting read.  I did not know that was in the Talmud.  I am now very interested to go read it and see what all it says.  Thanks for pointing that out.  Stay safe and happy my friend.

The term "androgynous" appears no less than 32 times in the Mishnah and 283 times in the Talmud. Most of these citations are not variations on myth, but rather discussions that consider how Jewish law applies to one who has both male and female sexual characteristics.

[Gino]

What does your level of acceptance "presently" mean to you?

Concealment, doesn't bother you, rather enjoy them, proud of them, flaunt them, or embracing your feminine side?

We all have, and will have varying levels of acceptance. What is yours?

Kinda sorta all or at least most of the above. To a degree I'm still inhibited and I don't think I'll ever wear a skimpy tee shirt that easily exposes a lacy Victoria's secret bra, or go topless to the beach (I HATE the sun anyway) but I have left much of the angst behind about them being obvious enough to be seen in public.

Now around friends, relatives and associates it's different, and that's more a societal problem that is the cause for my need to be less conspicuous. 

[benusa]

For me, acceptance is opting not to have surgery again and not spending every waking moment worrying and trying to hide them. My body seems determined to grow boobs. I guess I’m ok with them but still nervous about wearing bra in public.

[Johndoe1]

Now around friends, relatives and associates it's different, and that's more a societal problem that is the cause for my need to be less conspicuous.

I too am more guarded around friends and family than in public, but even that has subsided quite a bit and I am not as guarded as I used to be. I don't flaunt them but they are more noticeable than before. I don't try and hide them either but let things be natural. And that seems to be working.