On being both trans and fat
I’m trans. I used to be class 2 obese (100lbs overweight) and now am just below the threshold of obese (40ish lbs overweight) so I have a range of experiences on this subject.
From what I’ve experienced and observed, the more overweight you are, the better your chances are on passing pre-hrt. Extra weight androgynizes the body. It makes afab people look less feminine and amab people look less masculine.
This is great for people who are just starting out their transition. I myself benefited this as I started my transition at 250lbs. The extra weight hid my feminine body fat distribution and drew attention away from my ass and chest/made them seem smaller. Additionally, it gave me an excuse to wear masculine clothes. It just overall made me seem far more masculine than if I were at a healthy weight.
My best friend (I know you’re reading this and if you want me to edit this out later just let me know. It’s not anything bad, promise) is an obese trans woman (290lbs give or take 10lbs, borderline morbidly obese). She knows that this is unhealthy yet she said that she chooses to be fat. I suspect, aside from a fear of failure, this is a tool that has been critical for her passing in the past (for obvious reasons) and she is not yet comfortable with herself enough to lose weight and lose that tool.
However, this is a double edged sword. Excess weight will keep you more androgynous. I passed fine before I lost weight, but I pass so much better now. My jawline is more defined. My Adam’s apple is visible. My muscles are more defined. My facial hair grows faster. (Not passing related and a bit NSFW: my T dick grew by like a centimeter. Doesn’t sound like much but that is huge for a trans guy considering that some guys out there only get like 2cm-2.5 cm dicks with the max I’ve heard being just under 2 inches without surgery)
Overall, being fat can help passing at first, but hurts long term and, at least to me, isn’t worth the negative health effects.
