How important is passable/female identity?

[smolderingtemptress]

I'm at a point now where I'm possibly considering facial feminization surgery. I'm pretty passable as it is, but I realize there are some masculine features on my face, though even genetic women have a few. I think what helps me pass the most is my voice, which I've been training since puberty attempted to change but I won the fight, and that I've socialized as a girl. All too often I see transgirls trying to overcompensate their masculinity with obnoxious femininity, and that just isn't how it is with most genetic females.

Passing is definitely important, but when you start to dwell on it 24/7 and it starts to affect your life, it's time to reprioritize. When I look in the mirror I'm realistic about what I see, and of course I'd want to polish off a few features, namely my jaw and my forehead, but right now it just isn't as important to me as other things. I still get hit on and told I'm cute, from guys who don't even know about me... that's enough for me.

Oh, and a small rant: The goal of passing is not a beauty contest. Too many TS get plastic surgery in the name of "FFS" when really, after constant procedures, they start to cross from "feminization" to "cosmetic". Everyone has something they don't like, but it doesn't always have a distinctive gender marker, either.