I need some help transGAF
My girlfriend of the last year is mtf and I am quite in love with her. Unfortunately for me she recently said we need to go on break because she wants to "get out there" and see other guys. This is pretty devastating to me since I was planning to marry her.
Physically she has made her transition beautifully. She is stunning. But emotionally it has not been so easy. She grew up in east-hillbilly-texas and her family did not support her in any way. her brother beat her and her father refuses to speak to her over the last 4 years. Even worse, her mother, the only person who would have supported her, died of cancer when she was 12 and she had to drop out of school to take care of her siblings. In her small town word spreads fast and she can not even return there without getting dirty looks.
She is doing better now, she is 21 and already working on her Masters in a city several hours from her home town. She has a good friend group that supports her. However there were years of terrible insecurity that have left their mark. In her past she allowed herself to be abused by men because she was desperate to be accepted, and of course there was all of the discrimination that trans people often have to face. She is very strong, but those insecurities still linger with her and she has a bad need for validation. Even when we were dating she would go out to bars to flirt with guys just to make sure they found her attractive. One of the reasons she chose to break up with me is to seek validation from other men
As for me, I am an American, cisgendered, caucasian, blue-eyed blonde boy who grew up in a nice Christian home. There are basically no problems in my life aside from the ones I brought upon myself (plus bad social anxiety but that pales in comparison). Also, my relationship with her is my first time dating.
She tells me that she resents me for my relative innocence. Not that it's my fault, but when she dumped me she said that she we can't relate to each other because of the differences in our past. I have never faced trauma. I don't have a sexual history beyond her (the point of this is not performance, she says she doesn't feel special since I haven't had to go through people and choose her).
This is only one of the reasons she wants to be on break with me. Most of the reasons are my fault, and I am doing my best to take care of those, but this is one thing I just can't see how to overcome. I have offered as much validation as I can see how - when she first told me about her intersex condition I did not hesitate at all to continue the relationship, I practically worship her body, I support her in her glbtq activities (she is an active member of support groups and clubs and so on), etc. I'm sure i have not been perfect but I have done my very best
Any ideas how I can help her feel like I can relate to her? I am determined to win her back.. some parts of the relationship I know I can fix, but this part seems nearly impossible