Finding Womanhood

I grew up gender dysphoric. I thought I was a man, trapped in the body of a woman and I didn't learn how to heal myself until I was in my early thirties. I had no idea how much I actually hated my body and like most gender dysphoric females, began binding and dressing as I figured a man should dress. Being honest? I became a stereotype of a man, just as many disphoric males become stereotypes of women. This carried on for years, with me hating everything I considered remotely feminine about myself, until I decided to take my religion seriously and begin the long road to self actualization.

Fast forward to where I insisted that I was just a human and that sex and gender didn't matter. I was agender but presented slightly feminine, bordering on androgyny. Sexually, I identified as lesbian with ace characteristics. Fast forward again to where I accepted my sex, yet still suffered sexually. I was engaging in self intimacy every night, sometimes multiple times to the tune of copious amounts of porn, a habit I engaged in since a preteen. Fast forward until the present and here I am, a woman who quit porn, realized she is heterosexual, and is now proud to be who she is. I have to say, finding and embracing my womanhood has been one of the most difficult journeys I've ever taken, yet also the most rewarding.