[dixie]

I had kind of an odd upbringing, so in some ways I'm surprised at how I turned out and some ways not. Allow me to explain (this might be kinda long, sorry...)

I am a poster child for the effects of antibiotics while on birth control...lol My mother did not want kids, eventhough my dad did. When I was born, my mother decided that if she was stuck with a kid, she'd rather have a boy. My dad was ok with this since that meant I would be his little sidekick. So...I was pretty much raised as a boy. I wore boy clothes (even little suits and ties), had a short "boy" haircut, and was called "Jake" or "Chris". (My name is Crystal.) My dad would still buy me some Barbie dolls, but for the most part all my toys were tonka trucks, Hot Wheels and GI Joes. I begged for an Easy Bake oven but never got it because that was a "sissy" toy. I played football, wrestled, went hunting and fishing with Dad, drag raced and did all the "guy" stuff. We still went to church on occasion, so I looked really darn funny in those big poofy Easter dresses with that short hair. (I also HATED those damn dresses...lol) It wasn't until middle school that other members of the family gave my folks a hard time about it, so they started buying me a few girl clothes and makeup, and got me to grow my hair to shoulder length. By 10th grade I had embraced my "female" side (much to my mother's displeasure) and became a definite raging teen girl...lol I was still a tomboy, but I wore skintight jeans, makeup and grew my hair to my waist. As I've aged, I've noticed that (especially the last couple years) I get more and more feminine. In a way, I enjoy some aspects of it, but at the same time I hate it and feel kinda torn inside about it.

I still have some issues that stem from this. I am not really comfortable being with "the girls". I feel extremely self-conscious being around other feminine women, whether they be femmes, lesbians or hetero. I do not feel as though I belong. I do not feel as though I am one of them. I have hardly any close feminine friends because of it. I am much more comfortable hanging out with butches, transguys and cis males. I literally still feel like "one of the guys". Sometimes I do wonder how I ended up looking and IDing the way I do, instead of more butch or even trans.

Ok...how all that ties in to the subject at hand... I sometimes wonder if being raised as a boy started my fascination (love) of females, which began at a very early age. In elementary school I was always sneaking off with the cute lil girls and kissing them behind the building...lol By high school, I had "secret" girlfriends while I was still dating guys. My cousin was pretty much ran out of my town when he came out in his 30s, and after seeing how devastating that was to him I swore it wouldn't happen to me. Also, being raised in a strict religious family, I was afraid of what they would think of me, or if they would disown me. I knew that it was required of me to be a "normal" girl and date "normal" guys. So that's what I did. I even married one and had a son. Didn't take very long to figure out that I couldn't keep doing that to myself. I was miserable and hated every minute of it, eventhough it wasn't really a "real" marriage. (He knew that I was into women, and he was bi himself.) I finally came out, and was very surprised at the fact that my family was very accepting of it. Most of them said they had known all along.

From there I started trying to discover more about who I truly was, and what I was looking for. I called myself bi for a little while, because I thought that's what it meant for my situation. I had been married and had a son, but I was attracted to women. The more folks I met, books I read, forums I went to...I realized that my definition of self "evolved". (I also discovered the b/f world, trans folks and many other folks I didn't realize were out there.) I wasn't actually bi because I had zero attraction to cis males. I wasn't really a lesbian because that just didn't seem to fit, and felt kind of like a box (although sometimes I still use that term because it's easier to get the point across to those who are not familiar). I identify as a femme sometimes because it's kinda close to who I am, how I look, etc. I joke and say I'm 51% Femme/49% Butch cause it is sometimes a battle raging within me. I do not put others into a box. I do not discriminate in my dating choices (other than cis males), but I have discovered that the best partner for me is someone who is fluid (and confident) in their sexuality as well. Mainly, I'm just queer. Simple (and as complicated) as that.

Sorry. I guess I wrote all that because of the way the OP worded their first post. I tried to cover when (and how) I discovered who i am...