Men and Breasts

[Sophie]

Oh my! Please accept my best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I had a thyroidectomy over 12 years ago due to cancer. It was not long after that, I went from a 38DD US to a 38G UK which is equivalent to a 38H US sizing.

I was getting refitted every 4 months! The girls at the boutique couldn't believe my growth. The girls at work were convinced that I was transitioning and taking estrogen. My hormones were definitely off. I became even more estrogen dominant. The surgeon said that because the thyroidectomy, I may have had my parathyroid gland damaged or my body was adjusting to no longer having a thyroid gland which increased my estrogen production. He said that it should heal but my breast growth was likely going to be permanent.

❤️Sophie❤️

That makes a lot of sense! My wife also had a thyroidectomy...11 years ago! Her parathyroid wasn't spared, but regardless, she also 'grew' quite quickly after that! Actually, she was told it would be probable.

Sophie, do you have to take calcium supplements as well as thyroxine replacement medication?

And yes WPW717, good luck. You will probably be required to get a blood test done every now and then in the future to keep an eye on your levels, but it's all pretty well easily managed. You'll be right.

I do take Levothyroxin and Liothyrine daily. 

The visible changes for me were obvious and permanent. It's hard to say whether the surgery pushed me further towards my decision to ultimately transition. I can say that I have never been more at peace with myself and happy. 

❤️Sophie❤️

[Evolver]

The visible changes for me were obvious and permanent. It's hard to say whether the surgery pushed me further towards my decision to ultimately transition. I can say that I have never been more at peace with myself and happy.

❤️Sophie❤️

It's such a nice feeling isn't it, finding peace and being happy! ❤️

[Sophie]

OMG! YES!

My body matches my brain. I am able to express who I am and 99.9% of the time, I am accepted and treated as I feel as I should be treated. 

I am happy to have lost any male privilege that I may have had in exchange for my female privilege. Even if my only female privilege is my ability to live and express myself as a woman. That is EVERYTHING to me. That is my peace and my happiness that I can do that being a wife to my wife.

♥️Sophie♥️

[Justagirl💃]

The visible changes for me were obvious and permanent. It's hard to say whether the surgery pushed me further towards my decision to ultimately transition. I can say that I have never been more at peace with myself and happy.

❤️Sophie❤️

It's such a nice feeling isn't it, finding peace and being happy! ❤️

I agree with Sophie. Going out and living my life as a woman is the most rewarding experience I can imagine. 💃

I'm under quite a few restrictions at the day-centre I attend Mon-Fri, but I still leave my apartment as the woman's I am on a daily basis. Dress codes and restrictions can't take that way from me. 

Just being ME!, the person I am inside is freedom. 💞
It is where full acceptance can take you, even though acceptance is quite different for every individual, we should all look for what YOUR acceptance is. 😉

[taxmapper]

The disconnect for me continues. 
I still hold a male persona and will just let things go where they will go. 

Always had an affinity to the color purple, but I told everyone all the way back in the second grade that my "favorite color" was blue.  
(They wanted us to answer those questions that kids were given.). 

Purple was not allowed for boys per se mostly because it was considered "gay". (peer pressure). 

But my archery is showing it now. 

In the mean time, as weird as it sounds and perhaps its just the estrogen, I still want to curve out. 
I have the body structure but not the fat placement. 

[42CSurprise!]

Purple...  a color I love that is very hard to find on the men's side of the aisle.  The one purple turtleneck I bought years ago now is ragged at the sleeves.  Sadly I've not been able to replace it so I still, on occasion, wear it.  I wonder how it would look with my luscious breasts held in my favorite brassiere?  (I tried it and I really like the look... though I'd probably feel that way about any top that clung to me breasts...)

Yes, it is wonderful to live in a way that is true to who we feel ourselves to be, whatever that may be.  I'm pondering a visit to the bank today and wonder whether the brassiere I'm wearing will go with me... my breasts look so big in this brassiere that they will surely fill the front of whatever I'm wearing.  Should I remove the brassiere or should I wear the dark blue turtleneck that will hide the details of my bosom?  I may love my breasts, but I can't imagine the rest of the world would join me in my celebration... voluptuous breasts with a beard?  Hard to imagine.

So I'm bending my gender and making decisions through the day about how I will meet the world.  Yes, it would be wonderful if the world was as thrilled by my breasts as I am... but since I'm not a slender woman in my mid-twenties who is stacked... I probably should keep my voluptuous breasts to myself...

Later in the day -  I went with the dark blue turtleneck but decided the brassiere that allows my breasts a bit more freedom was too much for my banker, so I changed into one of the minimizing brassieres I love.  My breasts were still happy and no one I met at the bank, while shopping or filling my car with gas gave me the least attention.  It feels good to wear a brassiere... love the band around my chest and the soft cups holding my breasts.  This is not at all about need and everything to do with simple pleasure.  So there!

[Evolver]

Isn't it great how all of these threads always revert back to self acceptance? Seems like we take turns starting them, maybe with slight differences but along a common theme, and even though the same old stuff gets said in reply, we never tire of it. I think our little community here has reached the point where we just want to keep shouting it out! Why? Because we're proud of ourselves! As we should be!

[42CSurprise!]

Isn't it great how all of these threads always revert back to self acceptance? Seems like we take turns starting them, maybe with slight differences but along a common theme, and even though the same old stuff gets said in reply, we never tire of it. I think our little community here has reached the point where we just want to keep shouting it out! Why? Because we're proud of ourselves! As we should be!

Given the fact that many of us have marinated in shame over the condition of our bodies, perhaps since we were adolescents, it shouldn't come as a surprise that we would need to find ongoing support when we finally begin to accept the reality of our bodies.  Boys/men are not supposed to have soft chests... but we do and shame is natural.  For some time this side of the website lived with the mantra "we have breasts like women so we need brassieres like women."  That was a fine beginning but it didn't go far enough since estrogen does more than give us breasts.  It affects the rest of our bodies and our minds.  Our breasts typically don't look like the breasts we've appreciated on women we find attractive and not every brassiere that works for women will work on a man's body.  I need a brassiere whose underwire frame is wide enough to accommodate my breasts that sit wide on my chest.  We now talk about the gender continuum and the fact we've been moving toward the more feminine end of that continuum.  How we express ourselves will vary depending on our unique hormonal stew and the circumstances of our lives.  Support for following where estrogen leads us is a healthy thing, even if the rest of the world simply shakes its head.  I'm delighted we have these conversations and keep our focus on acceptance for where we are and for how we express ourselves.  I expect to wear my favorite brassiere this afternoon when I go to my local library.  I know that my breasts will be delicious.

[Johndoe1]

And part of that acceptance is the verbiage used. If our verbiage sounds "feminine" to male ears, that's a societal thing. The "language" of breasts has been around for centuries. When we maturely discuss breasts, the verbiage has to be with words that are familiar. And those words have been "classified" feminine.

Part of acceptance is accepting and usage of those words. Words like bras, straps, underwires, cups, long line, lace, sports bra, nipples, camisoles, mammograms, etc. For us to understand our situations and our options, we need to talk and use words in a manner that may not sound, very masculine, but is very relevant when discussing our breasts. We have been told boobs are a woman's problem. Truth is it's our problem too.

[JoniDee]

And part of that acceptance is the verbiage used. If our verbiage sounds "feminine" to male ears, that's a societal thing. The "language" of breasts has been around for centuries. When we maturely discuss breasts, the verbiage has to be with words that are familiar. And those words have been "classified" feminine.

Part of acceptance is accepting and usage of those words. Words like bras, straps, underwires, cups, long line, lace, sports bra, nipples, camisoles, mammograms, etc. For us to understand our situations and our options, we need to talk and use words in a manner that may not sound, very masculine, but is very relevant when discussing our breasts. We have been told boobs are a woman's problem. Truth is it's our problem too.

I've been told by women that my conversational tone and way of verbally expressing myself sound/read totally feminine. So, my brain naturally thinks in a feminine manner.

Joni

[42CSurprise!]

I'd also observe that men here don't seem to be spending a great deal of time with men pursuing masculine activities, which is also telling.  Yes, I've installed a new engine in a car and installed a new clutch.  I've also plumbed and wired an addition to my home... but I am much more comfortable spending time with women.  I'm convinced a hormonal stew that has elevated estrogen will take men in that direction.  Yes, it will affect our bodies... that is why we're here talking about our breasts.  But it also affects how we see the world and relate to others.

[taxmapper]

That's how it has been for my entire life. 

Big time archer, 2A guy, photography and auto mechanics. 
But being around the A-males is not my thing. 
I don't "feel" brotherhood. 

[Justagirl💃]

Hmm, let's see... 

Sewing, making wedding dresses and cakes, knitting, cooking, etc...

Nope, not even close to Alpha male. 🤔

[gotgyne]

I have some female traits. For example I don't like sports, mathematics, motor race and killing animals (euphemistically called hunting). I like literature, calligraphy, history, psychology and of course cooking. I don't think that it is the result of the "hormonal stew" as I had this from childhood. Nevertheless I'm no "normal" male, if there is one.
John

[42CSurprise!]

Don't forget that we've never existed in a binary world... we've always expressed the complexity of our unique hormonal mix.  We may move farther toward the feminine side of the gender continuum as our bodies change with aging, but we may very well have begun on the more feminine side.  Some among us developed breasts in adolescence.  I've never had a hard body and even though my breasts were not well defined when I was an adolescent I always had a soft chest.  Breasts developed later but I had a feminine body early.  Our relationship to the reality of our bodies was complicated by how our families and the world reacted to both who we were and how we expressed ourselves.  It isn't easy to be different.  That is one of the reasons this place is so valuable... because here we are encouraged to accept ourselves exactly as we are.  There is no demand here that we conform to a gender stereotype.  Amazing!  I can have breasts... wear a brassiere and feel good about myself along the way... I can even celebrate how I look and how I feel.  And I get to do this in exactly the way i wish to do it.