Amanda’s Writing
A guide to my best and most popular articles
I have a pretty extensive collection of essays and stories, some of which are better than others. The list below is for new people who find my work, and to keep the good stuff from getting lost to history. Enjoy!
My Favorites
Most of the articles I write are essays, but my personal favorites use a more creative style. These stories don’t get much attention, but they’re the most high-quality, and they have a lot of personal meaning for me.
The Way Things Were — Probably the best story I’ve written, wherein I travel back in time to meet my teenage self. Reading it has made a few people cry.
Coming Out in Pieces — A collection of fragments from my coming out experiences. It ended up being very poignant.
Last Night in Vegas — I tried to capture the feeling of depression and isolation in the months before deciding I needed therapy. It’s a reminder of where I came from and why I started this journey.
The Identity Asymptote — This one still hits home pretty hard. It’s difficult for me to believe I’m a woman, even while living as one.
Most Popular
These are the articles that get the most views and reads. Several of them have made it onto Google search results and/or been chosen as Editor’s Picks by the Medium staff. If you’re looking for a good starting point, try these.
It’s Just a Fetish, Right? — So many trans women cope with their feelings by treating them as a fetish, but so few are willing to talk about it.
Gender Desire vs. Gender Identity — I’ve always struggled with the concept of identity, gender or otherwise, and this was an attempt to parse that out.
Trans-Doubt — Fun fact: if you google “transgender doubt”, my name is the first result. By the laws of the Internet, I believe that makes me the world’s foremost expert.
The Many Paths of Gender Dysphoria — It’s not my best work, but this one gets more hits than any other article, and I’m not sure why. I suspect people are searching for “gender dysphoria wpath” but forget the W.
Transitioning to Straight — In retrospect, maybe I should have said Transitioning to Bisexual. I don’t know. The jury’s still out.
I Was a Teenage Autogynephile — An autobiography of my teenage years.
The Early Days
I started writing as a form of therapy, and my early articles are a useful artifact to see my frame of mind before accepting that I was transgender. There was a lot of conflict and denial. I like to look back once in a while and remind myself how far I’ve come.
On Gender Dissonance — My very first article. I was looking for an explanation of how I felt that didn’t involve admitting I was transgender.
The Estrogen Experiment — I went on hormone therapy with the hope that I could use estrogen as an anti-depressant without actually coming out or doing a social transition.
Transition or Die — This was a pivot point, and also my first article that got significant attention. The day after writing it, I admitted to myself I was trans.
Pride, with Prejudice — Finally venturing out into the real world, seeing the trans community for the first time at a Pride festival.
Playing a Role — It’s not obvious from reading, but this was a coming out of sorts. It was the first article I published under my female name and profile picture.
