Male ID butch vs. FTM??

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Liam

A male identified butch presents themselves as male. An FTM is male.

I disagree. I identify as a male id'd stone butch and as far as I am concerned I am male. Since I was a small child I couldn't think of myself as anything but. I am not just masculine, not just male presenting, but male. Part of the reason I identify as a male id'd stone instead of FtM is that FtM or trans anything has always, to me, implied going from female to male. Some have expressed that male id'd butches just don't want to get top surgery, go on T etc., but I don't think that's what defines a male id'd butch. For me when I do get top surgery, f.ex., I don't feel that I'll be taking a greater step toward transitioning to male because I already perceive myself as male. I've always been there mentally (not saying transguys haven't either, just trying to explain how my own mind processes my own characteristics), and I've spent the better part of my life sculpting my body physically to try to match where I am mentally as best I can.

So then why do I still insist on the stone butch part? Honestly, it's what I've comfortably grown into, was an important part of how I began to better understand myself and I don't see it as detracting from my "maleness" (or whatever you want to call it) in the least. It's perhaps more a descriptor of my own boundaries, and yet those boundaries, for lack of a better word, exist for me because I am male; yet a male who's physical body does not entirely match his mind.

Considering the differences of opinion here, I think what defines a male id'd butch varies from individual to individual. For me it's no different than simply being male.