It would very hard to get an accurate percent of how many of us do CD because most of us do hide ( most are very good at doing that ).. If I was to guess ( adding in the other spectrums within the Transgender scale) I think that 15 percent is a very close number..
I see it often in the area I live in , I am also surprised with the amount of nite clubs and diners that cater to us.. I am sure that most everyone has either dated ,met or was related to a cder from many stories I have over heard ..
I do not!! Claim to be an expert on any topic, when I post a new thread or reply on any thread my imput is strickly that of a crossdresser. Not to offend Gay people , Transexuals or any other life style, I am only commenting on one of my own.
Like others have said...this explains "why we feel good" when dressed but it does not explin "why we dress"...
I believe people are afraid of change and dont know how to react when they see a crossdresser
The 15% sounds about right, but placing the reason solely on serotonin seems to be only one part of the story, and is completely ignoring the gender identity part of it. If it was just serotonin alone, then a crossdresser could be given a SSRI and be done with it. Now honestly, how many people would feel happy and complete if they just popped some Prozac and never dressed again?
The serotonin does explain why many people report dressing makes them feel better, and can pull them out of a depressive state, and it should even have the potential to make dressing addictive to some. But one study has also found that teens get a shot of serotonin when they make a social connection on sites like Facebook. There are also a number of other things that cause us to produce serotonin, but the serotonin is not the why. Having an orgasm releases serotonin, but we don't have sex or masturbate for that shot of happy juices, we do it because we are internally wired to seek out a sexual release and gratification.
Last edited by Schatten Lupus; 08-19-2011 at 01:49 PM.
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
I don't think this is the silver bullet. I was clinically depressed for a couple years and took anti-depressants. The desire to CD was not any different before, durring or after treatment. The only change was my attitude about how I felt about CDing. I learned to not let many things including CDing not make me feel bad, I eliminated most of the stresses in my life and I am now a much happier person. I suspect there may be a chemical involved, but not the specific one mentioned. There is one thing I also abserved, I stopped consuming any alcohol since being treated and a couple years after stopping medication I continued not to drink. I found it took about 2 years to not desire a beer sometimes. Now, if I drink, there is no 'buzz' associated with it and I only seem to get dehydrated. I do feel slight drunkedness, but no high from it. Basically, I have no desire to drink alcohol, I can take it or leave it. The same is actually true for my CDing. I have no compulsion to do it and although I am fascinated by it and enjoy it, there is no huge relief from doing it now. It may be that my brain has learned to fend off addictions...I don't drink coffee or anything. It could all be related somehow, but I have no idea how, I know that I am also somewhat more outgoing than I used to be also...
Chickie
I wonder if the thrill of it is that we are not being allowed to do? the line between male and female in society is necessary? necessary to create attraction..? maybe we would not be so thrilled without the danger.. without the anarchy involved? . if there was no distinction... its a catch 22
For some probably, and most likely I would guess those who haven't been dressing for that long.I wonder if the thrill of it is that we are not being allowed to do? the line between male and female in society is necessary? necessary to create attraction..? maybe we would not be so thrilled without the danger.. without the anarchy involved? . if there was no distinction... its a catch 22
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
I LOVE IT>> and thats it.. KAREN IS RIGHT!
If we are 15%, then there are one and a half CDs in my company! I am one, who is the half?
Honest, it was Karren that lured me to this life of fun clothes and makeup! No seriously, I hate feeling pretty and having neat and interesting friends! I hate being on this forum! Seriously, she revealed her true self (Originally Posted by Karren Hutton
Why even try to make up reason we crossdress? Even if your reason was valid.... Would it change anything going forward? I think not... Unless you have some deep seeded need to know... Its a waste of my time trying to find out!! Imho.... Ohh and I'm still working on my Alien abduction theory.... Haven't figured out who got abducted yet but I have these urges to wear pink sombreros and eat pico de gallo!!) in an avatar awhile back. . .I seen it!
On a serious note, I agree completely. There is also strong evidence that some prenatal medications, DES to be specific, could interfere with the hormones and receptors in the womb leading to transgenderism.
As Karren said, the "why" doesn't really matter other than as a curiosity. Here we are - let's make the most of it. This life is very short. . .
Debby
Nice work Alexia & I almost totally agree with you.
The misalignment actually takes place about half-way through pregnancy & our development
because our bodies are developed mostly during the first 6-12 weeks of pregnancy. However
our brains start to develop and things like our gender identity & our sexual orientations are then
hard-coded into our brains after that period. But like you pointed out, it is caused by fluctuations
in the sex hormones being passed to us through the placenta by our mothers that is the sole cause
of gender identity & sexual orientation issues.
See: http://www.shb-info.org/sexbrain.html
There is no doubt that anything people do for stimulation will cause the reaction the OP has
described, but it is not the reason why people cross-dress in the first place. Especially in those
of us who intersex or transsexual who start dressing at a young age when there is no stimuli
at all through any sort of an interest in sex. So that blows that theory clean out of the water
There has been for me, anyway!
I gave up dating, sex, and was NOT enjoying myself! And, THAT was when I was 50, 15 years ago!
Since I began dressing, I've reversed every one of those! AND!
My chronic back pain has improved, my hair has grown back, and I've lost 20+ pounds!
Gosh! Maybe that's why I can't quit??
U can't keep doing the same things over and over and expect to enjoy life to the max. When u try new things, even if they r out of your comfort zone, u may experience new excitement and growth that u never expected.
Challenge yourself and pursue your passions! When your life clock runs out, you'll have few or NO REGRETS!
Thinking sexual gratification covers most all of it.
So this also applies to us who also started 'cross-dressing' at the
age of 5 or 6 & before we even knew what sex was about right?
I really don't think you can generalise like this Kate
I'm changing my screen name to Sara Tonin. I just don't think Do Pa Mine sounds good.
I've waited so long for this time. Makeup is so frustrating. Shaking hands and I look so old. This was a mistake.
My new maid's outfit is cute. Sure fits tight.
And then I step into the bedroom and in the mirror, I see a beautiful woman looking back at me.
Smile, Honey! You look fabulous!
Gee, if I can get my seratonin from wearing dresses that means I can give up the heroin.
There is certainly a lot of interest in manual stimulation of the genitals at the age of five or six, if my boss who is the mother of a five-year-old and my friend who works in early childhood education are to be believed! Just because cultural constructions of sex haven't been brainwashed onto a five or six year old, and that they're not going to be having any sexual partners for another seven to ten years (at least) does not mean that they're in a sexless/genderless vacuum.
The sexual hormones of a pregnant mother being the sole cause of transsexualism (that article which a PP linked to doesn't mention cross dressing just transsexuality) is an interesting theory, but it's basically unprovable, don't you think? Has anyone done a long-term study of pregnant mothers minutely observing their hormone levels then checking back in 30 years to see if there is a correlation with transsexualism? I don't think that's the case, and it would be incredibly costly to undertake particularly because the percentage of the population which is intersexed, TS or in any way biologically sexually variant (xxy, etc) is less than 2% of the population. It's very easy to say, 'oh yeah, of COURSE Mrs. X had increased testosterone when pregnant, she was so aggressive all the time!' but that is very different than actually testing the hormone levels of an individual.
Honestly, if it makes you happy to rationalize that you're getting a dose of seratonin and you accept yourself more because of it - that's fantastic. There's lots of other ways to get seratonin boosted without drugs too, though - like jogging, playing frisbee with friends, and laughing lots.
Kids start touching themselves and exploring others even before that. But at such a young age, it's not really a sexual thing, but just a feel good touch. As for exploring others, or playing doctor, that is just a part of a child's curiosity. It isn't until puberty that the brain and body become sexually aware and develop sexual urges. And a casual observation of nature reveals sex is a natural instinct. It doesn't have to be taught, it just kicks in on it's own.There is certainly a lot of interest in manual stimulation of the genitals at the age of five or six, if my boss who is the mother of a five-year-old and my friend who works in early childhood education are to be believed! Just because cultural constructions of sex haven't been brainwashed onto a five or six year old, and that they're not going to be having any sexual partners for another seven to ten years (at least) does not mean that they're in a sexless/genderless vacuum.
And from what we know about fetal development, it's a pretty solid bet that hormones do play a role. We all basically start out as female, and the presence of testosterone triggers the genetic code in a way that causes the organs to develop into testicles and a penis. The brain is also hardwired for gender identity. It's likely that an excess of estrogen near the brain causes the gender identity to remain in the natural female state is how the theory goes. However, a child does not develop a strong since of gender identity until on average the age of 2 or 3. And there has been much research that strongly suggest there is an element of the nurture part of the debate that helps form gender identity. Maybe not a strong degree, and certainly not enough to over-ride biology, but there are hardly any personality traits that are purely biologically inclined or products of the environment. It's my belief it also strongly plays on the fact that no one is 100% masculine or feminine, and everyone exhibits traits of both genders.
But in all reality, it's such a complexed discussion, you'll fill the max page limit for a community college paper without trying, and can easily write a dissertation on the subject on all the research and information available on the subject.
Last edited by Schatten Lupus; 08-19-2011 at 11:03 PM.
Gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein
I dress for medicinal purposes only. I have to raise my sugar level!!!!!!! LOL!!!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Click here to experience the Ionis Supernova!
“Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world.”
- Nikola Tesla
Dr Dick F. Swaab the writer of that article I linked to my earlier post has been researching this subject
for well over 20 years if you do a little bit more research about him. His theories have also been peer
reviewed as well by a whole heap of experts. There are more studies going on that have also revealed
a lot more about this subject, but I just don't have the time right now to post more information on this.
This is also why the policy has been changed in the Australian Defence Force to now allow transgender
people to serve. I believe the UK has changed it's policy & the USA is now looking into changing theirs.
Exactly.
It's like percentages of teenagers who smoke or drink or have sex (without getting pregnant). Most of these type of "surveys" are given very unscientifically and usually with a very questionable degree of anonymity. It's like a teenager being given a survey by the school and the principal saying the results are anonymous but the chances that a friend or teacher seeing the surveys and knowing how a particular person writes their "a" or "y" realizing who the "chain smoking" teen is.
I am a guy who, if you take the strictest definition of "crossdressing" as wearing anything related to typically female clothing, including underwear, crossdresses everyday. If you take the most basic definition of the word (as in, a guy wearing typically feminine attire and presenting as a female) then I rarely do it.
I'd say that probably closer to 30% of the men and 65% of the women in the developed nations of the world have crossdressed (using a very liberal, yet strict definition of "if you are wearing your boyfriends Led Zeppelin t-shirt and a pair of his shorts because you crashed at his place, you are crossdressing" and "if your girlfriend convinced you to either dress up for Halloween as a girl or put on her panties because she gets hot with you wearing them, then you have crossdressed") at least once...with the numbers being closer to 20% for men and 45% for women who do it regularly.
Remember, women sometimes do stuff that can be considered "crossdressing" even though it really isn't. Wearing skinny jeans, not crossdressing. Wearing your boyfriend's football jersey, gray area. Wearing an obviously male pair of pants...crossdressing.
These numbers, roughly speaking, equate to half the developed world's population having crossdressed at least once and close to one-third the population doing it regularly (reason varying).
As for the medical report itself...things like this can't truly explain "WHY" since the answer is as diverse as the community is.
I'm a guy who likes girls, I just like a little more about them than the average guy.
Actually there have been many studies done on adopted children comparing their personality traits to those of their adopted parents. They find strong evidence to suggest that a lot of your personality is very genetic based.
These survey's are fairly reliable. I've took one before and it was very anonymous. That being said, just like any survey, statistically there will be outliers. These are often thrown out, and often the studies note that their could be a certain percentage of deviation. (+/- 5% for example).
I know of a study that was done in Holland (I believe it was there, don't quote me, but should be easy to google and find out) that compared certain hormone levels of transexuals, both male to female and female to male, and found that this certain chemical in the male to female was at the same levels as natal women. Conversely, they found that female to male transexuals shared the same levels as natal men. This is a part of the brain that they have researched that is developed in the womb.
I'm not sure if I buy the 15% of the male population are crossdressers. I think that is fairly high myself, and I too would be curious to read the article.
I'm really not too surprised though about how crossdressing releases serotonin into the brain. It seems like a pretty logical reaction and understanding of why we feel dressing is a high and calms us.
Numbers and percentages! I don't know if there will ever be an accurate "count" of men who "enjoy" the clothing associated as belonging to women.
Everything has levels or layers. Many dress and go about day to day activities -out and about- and nobody knows they crossdress. Some go out and get "clocked" the minute they step out the door. Still others, (like me) hide inside and don't want to even risk being seen as a crossdresser. There are those who even hide their crossdressing from their significant other.
Yet, nobody has considered those males who purchase fine underware, silky nightgowns, sexy clothing for their sigificant other and live out their deepest and darkest desires through her. These men get their satisfaction not by wearing the clothes directly, but being with the one who is - and hold them, cuddling, etc. This is yet a different layer of crossdressing - "I'm not wearing the nightgown, she has her leg draped over me."
So the number purposed of 10-15% could be high - it could be very low if everything was looked at carefully, and people were totally honest.
As for the serotonin levels, I know that I am much more relaxed and peaceful when dressed. There may be something that is spot on - at least in my case.
Oh wow, what a super article! My serotonin's working overtime right now!
Wow, some of you people take this way too serious.
Crossdressing should be fun, and relaxing. Something we enjoy, that make us feel good.
I think by reading the responses on a technical level, we can start to see the difference between the CD & TG tendancys.
I fall into the CD category. A guy in a dress. I have fun & dress every night to relax, am fully excepted by my wife and child.
During the day. I am the testosterone reeking male. Managing people and assets on the job, & dealing with our customers.
On my own time I'm wielding a chainsaw, cutting and splitting trees, making firewood.
I can make all the comments I want about crossdressing, panties, bras, heels, skirts, panty hose, and nobody take me seriously.
There is no tension here about crossdressing. Must be Serotonin overload.
My question is, If you take crossdressing in a very serious nature, is it harder to be excepted by others?
The article was the first listing in a search on Yahoo for "Why do men crossdress?". If it was truly medically researched & proven fact I would stated so.
I did not say Seratonin makes you crossdress. It is a result of crossdressing. This we all seem to agree on. The 15% seems to be very debatable.
Sounds like a good enough excuse to crossdress to me. As stated in the opening line, "We are all Serotonin junkies".
Here is the link the excerpt came from.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...2204145AAGHifY
Happy Crossdressing,
Maxi
Posting Permissions
