Are there really so many more MTF than FTM?

Whenever transexual people are mentioned on TV, magazines, movies, whatever, it's always a MTF person. You never hear anything about FTM. Is there really that much of a difference in the numbers?

 

I believe so. It's pretty difficult to find FTM information in general. But I also recall reading that MTF is much more common.

 

Most sources say that the numbers are about even. It's tough to tell though- FTMs often are more passable than MTFs, which means that there are probably a lot more going under the radar.

 

also if a person isn't as passable they may feel like they have nothing to loose by being a bit more public, i.e going on TV.
where as passable transexuals, i would expect are more likely to lead a life where they can get on with it with no hassle, I am making generalisations here, but perhaps you see what I mean
S

 

Exactly. MTF transsexuals are more fetishized in general. Whether it's the general public finding them 'funny', people having sexual fixations with them ["tranny chasers"], the pseudo-media airtime that they tend to get on tv [Jerry Springer, etc.], or the predominance of MTF sex workers [when the financial burdens of life, hormones, surgery, social marginalization, etc meet the sexual fetishization that much of society has for them, it's a simple jump to make], MTF transpeople are just more visible to society. Mix that with how much more challenging it often is for MTFs to pass, and it's no wonder that many people don't even know that FTM transfolks *exist* but know all about MTFs.

 

It's a little more complicated for FtMs to go through bottom surgery. Also, as far as top surgery goes, taking testosterone makes the breasts shrink a little, but most FtMs need top surgery as well as bottom surgery to make a full transition into a physical male. On the other hand, MtFs grow breasts after taking estrogen for an extended period of time, and bottom surgery, while still a complicated process, is a little easier because they're just inverting what they already have. It's easier to invert than to attach, if you catch my drift.

 

OMGLOLURATRANNY?

 

I need women hormone

 

Actually there was a brief period where people were actually trying to make the case that there were more FtMs than MtFs... the fact of the matter is, the numbers are incredibly fucked up and there are a variety of reasons for it. First of all, after transition FtMs tend to pass very well and wind up "invisible" so to speak. Both pre- and post-transition MtFs and FtMs tend to go different places... you certainly run into the obstacle where there are FtMs who wouldn't go to certain transgender events because they're expecting a bunch of stuff about makeup and dresses. You also can't use sex reassignment surgery as a marker of how many on each side there are, because most FtMs do not get bottom surgery (actually a lot of people are still clinging on really low numbers of how many people actually get SRS because they think it's so incredibly rare... silly people). Furthermore, I have a feeling in many cases people are lumping a lot more categories of people into the MtF category than the FtM. Are we lumping fetishistic crossdressers and drag performers into this? Or any man who wears a dress sometimes, regardless of identification? These things screw up the numbers.

In reality, though, the number of FtM and MtF is fairly similar. I know personally I've met more FtM than MtF, probably because I myself am FtM, but so many of these people were met in completely non-transgender contexts that it can't just be that I "attract" them or something weird like that.