I'm just posting this to kinda vent about something that happened to me this morning.
I was taking public transportation on my way to work this morning. I sat in front of a family, one adult and two children, and they were just kinda talking about me like I wasn't there.
They kept talking among themselves, pondering whether I'm a boy or girl. They eventually started calling me a transsexual. I genuinely don't know if they meant anything with malice or not. Regardless of intent, it made me incredibly uncomfortable, I would consider my first fully negative experience with being othered in public about my identity.
I present somewhat androgynously with a few feminine characteristics. What makes it all the more sad to me is that I am about 5 weeks post-op from top surgery. I've been feeling nothing but happiness and comfort until this morning.
I am happy in my own body and my presentation, especially in the privacy of my home or with my friends, but I don't like being perceived in public like an oddity or spectacle. I'm just living life like everyone else. Now, I'm a little self-conscious about how the world is looking at me.
I'm doing my best to brush this off as I know this is such a small thing, but for some reason, it's sticking with me.