I have wanted to write about this topic for quite some time but I wanted to wait until I was further along on HRT to get a better perspective on feeling like a woman (now 14+ months in which is a revision to one of my earlier stories where I mentioned I was 14.5 months in on HRT which was a typo). I am by no means saying you need to be on HRT to be a woman as being transgender is something you just are intrinsically. But being on HRT definitely brings out the woman in you not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well.
However even before all the HRT and realizing I was transgender, I felt like I always had women’s intuition. Most people refer to men’s intuition as a “gut feeling”. Like I have a gut feeling that my team is going to score on this play. I have a gut feeling that I will find a parking space on the next road up.
So whenever I would say something like “I have a feeling so and so is going to happen…” my guy friends would all go “so you have a gut feeling then?” I would always yeah of course…can’t ruin that male stereotype of men bonding over a moment, right? I never liked referring to it as a gut feeling, it just never felt quite right.
But whenever I was in the presence of a woman, I would say “I have a feeling so and so is going to happen…” and then I would always add “call it women’s intuition!” with a wink to the woman. I wasn’t trying to joke around that women’s intuition isn’t real or is a joke, far from it. But more like I was trying to be on their level in a way trying to fit in more with women before I even knew I was a woman.
It’s kind of ironic now isn’t it? Now I sit here 14 + months in on HRT to be the woman I always should have been, having socially transitioned as well and I have to say, I feel like I get women’s intuition a lot more. Maybe it’s being more in tune with my body, maybe it’s the hormones. But that intuition happens all the time now out of the blue. It happens at work, it happens when I am at the supermarket or in my car…hell it definitely happens on my walks with my dog.
But why do women get intuition? Well a quick Google search will tell you the following:
“Science suggests women’s intuition is a product of evolution. Females with a strong ability to understand and predict the needs of their offspring and mates thrive over females with inferior senses.
Previous generations were often expected to be seen but not heard. Because of this, they developed a deep sense of observation by becoming hyper-sensitive to the feelings and nonverbal cues of others.
Women may exhibit more intuition, empathy, collaboration, self-control, and appropriate concern because of increased blood flow in the brain. Or as Dr. Daniel Amen, Founder of the Amen Clinics, put it:
‘The female brain is wired for leadership.’” — Credit https://www.executivematchmakers.com/the-science-behind-womens-intuition/#:~:text=Science%20suggests%20women's%20intuition%20is,be%20seen%20but%20not%20heard.
So if it’s a product of evolution, by that definition I was always a woman right? All my life I have always exhibited empathy for others, collaboration (hello group projects throughout school), self-control (not always easy for guys to do given the testosterone raging in their systems) and definitely concern for others…oh and of course intuition. But more on that leadership part. I always tend to take the lead in things. Albeit from the group projects in school to planning events to running a tailgate. I was always wired that way, but now it makes more sense that I was just in the wrong body all my life.
I almost threw this in my article of “Signs in my life that I was always Transgender” but this deserved an entire article dedicated to this because I really think women’s intuition is that important. While I am certainly not the first Medium writer to touch on the subject, I did not see a lot of transwomen touching on the subject except by way of a possible comment on an article (fun fact: if you search on Medium for the term “women’s intuition, comments are included as well as articles). Also as I mentioned earlier, you do not need to be on HRT as I am living proof that I always had women’s intuition and now this further reinforces I should have been a woman all along.
I will leave you with this. When I mentioned to a coworker in an e-mail recently that it was my “women’s intuition” that led me to a certain conclusion she said “YES, always listen to it!” Girl I’ve been listening to it all my life!
