[Emma Th3saurus]

For me it was when I realized that if I was going to accept others identities as valid, I had better also accept myself.

Nobody expects a cis girl to instantly understand her feminity and respect herself. Finding strength and confidence in your identity takes time, especially when there's external pressure to drop it and conform to labels placed on you by others.

I chose to think about myself this way because it seemed like the right thing to do. Because I realized that the physical and even mental changes were just icing on the cake of my identity. I am the same person, in the same body, with the same memories, the same likes and dislikes, etc.

I still feel conflict sometimes between my identity and appearance, and it still can be hard for me to feel like I fit in with cis women, but things are generally better