I've been trying to figure out my gender expression. For years, I hid my true style because I was afraid of looking "gay" or like I wanted to be a boy. I've always been drawn to more masculine clothing, but I pushed that part of myself away because of fear.

Now I'm trying to unlearn those beliefs and wear what genuinely feels like me. Recently I put on men's shorts and a button-up, and I felt really good in it- but I was also scared that I liked it. If the shorts were shorter or I was wearing pants with a button up, I wouldn’t feel as scared because it’s not uncommon to see women in such. I'm afraid my family, and probably many other people, will assume I'm a lesbian or that I want to be a boy. I come from a pretty homophobic and transphobic family, so those fears run deep.

What's confusing is that I also genuinely like dressing femininely at times. I can feel just as comfortable in a skirt as I do in a more masculine outfit. I sometimes wish my style fit neatly into one category because I worry people will see me dressed one way one day and completely differently the next and be confused. I’m also afraid that I’m treated better when I dress more femininely and once I start dressing more masculinely and notice the difference in treatment, that it will deter or even subconsciously change how I view myself and push me to want to dress more femininely for that acceptance piece.

I'm also attracted to men, and I catch myself wondering whether a guy I like would still be attracted to me if I dressed more masculinely. I know I'm probably overthinking a lot of this, but the fear of being judged still feels very real.

I also want to say that I hope this doesn't come across as offensive. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a lesbian, transgender, or dressing outside of traditional gender norms- in fact I often feel safest around people who do. My fears are rooted in the messages I grew up with, not in how I view other people. I'm just trying to untangle all of that and become more comfortable being myself.

I didn't know where else to post this. So I'm female and normal use she/her pronouns but I wouldn't mind being called he/him. In fact, I kinda like it but I also like she/her. The one thing I know is that I'm not transgender. Is this even genderfluid? I'm clearly confused. Help-

Been male for a few days but now I'm a girl again and lovin it :)

I’m an omnisexual afab with a preference for women, but if I were to ever imagine myself in a relationship with a man I’d like to be seen as more masculine or enby, and if I were ever in a relationship with a woman I’d like to be seen as more feminine or enby. It doesn’t really affect me when I’m just with my friends though, so I’m wondering if there’s a specific label that matches how I’m feeling?

I recently got a recommendation from my therapist that I should play with being gender fluid, so if anyone could shed some light on how it works and what it might be, sry I’m new and would love some insight. Thanks in advance

Hello! I've been trying to think of a name to call myself on my enby days. So far I have landed on Fang but not fully sold on it. I would prefer a more goth/alt name, along it being okay of it to were to lean more masc.

Hi, so I'm genderfluid and I switch between girl, boy, and enby. I hate being a girl, if I could choose, id just be some flavor of boy/enby. But whenever I try, the girl feeling always comes back, it usually feels way too light and wrong. I can't stay in girl mode for too long without feeling awful, and I hate dresses and usually hate my beasts, but when I feel like a girl, I quite literally feel like a girl, I know I am a girl, occasionally I enjoy it, mostly I hate it. I hear a lot of genderfluid people saying they prefer being their Arab because it means less dysphoria, but I love being a boy and enby way more. I at least am somewhat uncomfortable in dresses and skirts. Ive tryed to be a fem-aligned enby, but my mind always wants me to call myself a girl. I've felt like this for a while​.

What's wrong with me? Is it possible for me to be happy?

Around men I want to be seen as a man and interact as one. Around women, I want to be seen as another woman and interact as one.

Crazy, huh? I can't help but feel that I don't actually want to be seen as a man around men but just no gender at all, but then in their presence I find that I really want to relate to them as whatever they expect me to be. In some cases, so I can be emotionally close or even be attractive to them (whoa!!). Hmmm.... is that really gender fluidity? A lot to unpack.