Robin Rose’s story is about learning to live authentically while refusing to let other people’s expectations define what that authenticity should look like. A young trans woman from Belgium, Robin has chronicled her transition on Instagram, turning what she calls a kind of personal memoir into a space where she shares her experiences. She began exploring makeup at thirteen, initially using it to hide the discomfort she felt with her body, but eventually discovering a relationship with it rooted in self-care and enjoyment. Fashion became part of that journey too, even as body dysphoria and perfectionism made it difficult to feel feminine enough to wear the clothes she loved. Her path has not been without pain. Gender dysphoria contributed to depressive episodes during her teenage years and affected her studies, yet she persisted and is now completing a bachelor’s degree in HR, with ambitions of pursuing business psychology. Her transition also brought a profound loss. Her relationship with her father became increasingly distant after she came out as trans, and he died in 2019. Robin carries the sadness that he never got to know the person she became. Meanwhile, her relationship with her mother grew closer after she began living authentically.
Robin is candid about the freedom and complications of being visible online. Trans and non-binary followers ask her about HRT, hair removal and life as a trans woman, while some cisgender men reduce that visibility to sexual curiosity and unsolicited attention. Yet she has also found genuine allies and hopes to use her platform to contribute to a more inclusive society, particularly in the workplace. Her understanding of transition is nuanced. After more than four years on HRT, she became much more comfortable with her appearance, but rejects the idea that femininity, surgery or the ability to "pass" should determine whether someone is authentically trans. Trans people, she believes, should not be required to conform to stereotypes, and a person’s life should never be reduced to their body or medical history. She imagines a society where people can simply exist without the weight of gender expectations. Her Instagram may document her transition, but her ambitions extend far beyond it: completing her education and perhaps creating a business focused on diversity and inclusion. For Robin, becoming herself was never the end of the story. It was the beginning of discovering how much more life can contain once the struggle simply to be oneself no longer occupies all the space.
