Living as a Man vs Living as a Woman - The Differences

Trans Youtuber, Mathilda Hogberg shares her personal experiences transitioning from male to female and highlights some of the key differences she noticed between living as a man versus as a woman. She talks about social expectations, emotional expression, relationships, and safety while living as a man vs living as a woman.

 

Emotional Expression

After her transition, Mathilda noticed a much broader emotional range and ability to express emotion more freely as a woman. She says that when living as a man, she had trouble crying and felt ashamed of showing emotions like crying.

She believes social norms make it more acceptable for women to openly express emotions like crying.

Unfortunately, statistics show higher rates of suicide among men, which may be linked to men feeling ashamed or discouraged from opening up about their feelings. After transitioning, Mathilda felt more comfortable expressing her emotions openly and found it easier to cry.

 

Relationships

Mathilda also noticed a difference in her relationships after transitioning to female. She says that women tend to have more close-knit friendships where they openly discuss feelings and support each other emotionally.

In her experience, men's friendships tend to be less emotionally intimate and supportive. She feels more able to confide in and find support from her female friends.

Research does suggest women's friendships often involve more emotional intimacy than men's friendships on average.

 

Social Treatment

Additionally, Mathilda realized the strong focus on women's looks and "objectification" of women's bodies in media and society after living as a female herself.

She was surprised by the time and effort expected of women related to beauty standards, like make-up, hair removal, nails, etc.

Mathilda also found people more willing to help her - like getting things from tall shelves - when presenting as a woman than they were when she presented as a male. Some research suggests people may offer more assistance to women, especially conventionally attractive women, due to gender stereotypes.

 

Safety

Unfortunately, Mathilda says she feels less safe now as a woman, especially going out alone at night. She points out worrying statistics about violence against women, often at the hands of men.

Like many women, Mathilda feels the need to be vigilant about her safety now in ways she didn't have to worry about as much before her transition.

 

Conclusion

In summary, Mathilda highlights some key differences she noticed after living as both a man and a woman. This includes greater emotional expression, closer female friendships, beauty standards imposed on women, and more social assistance offered to women, but also feeling less safe as a woman. Her experiences provide insight into gender differences and expectations in society.