What causes the urge to crossdress?

[LaraPeterson]

I can, therefore I do.

[Annette Anderson]

IMHO The subconscious mind is always working and fully aware.The rational mind more or less is an interface between us and are environment.We might not even be aware of the real "triggers".

[DeeArel]

I have analized myself extensively on this subject and am finally at peace with myself. For a short and sweet answer, it feels good physically and makes me feel wonderfull mentally and emotionally.

If you want the how and why all this became to be, I will respond to a PM request.

[Wildaboutheels]

Only ONE thing is a given for CDers. Every single one is unique.

And certainly some, are simply born in the wrong body.

Others might have been raised with a bunch of sisters who got all or most of mom or dad's attention. Or raised solely by their moms with never a male or father figure around. And undoubtedly, FEMALES of any age do get more attention and are far more likely to receive compliments than are Males.

Also I don't think any SANE person could fail to recognise that females in general and "attractive" females in particular have a certain POWER over most men, simply because of a man's prime directive. And even "average" looking women can be sharp enough to choose the "RIGHT" clothes, and choose a good hairstyle and color for her face, become skillful enough with makeup etc. to transform themselves into "attractive". Women don't spend all this time and effort because they enjoy it. They do it because they have to. Certainly there are men that are envious of this "power" that women have and would like to have it themselves???

Way too many other [possibly] contributing factors to type out.

"...still I wonder if there is not some common element...."?

I think if you simply read the answers to the most popular threads, that come up over and over and pay attention to the photo gallery, there is no mystery to it at all, and the common element is undeniable.

The glue that binds most all CDers [MtF] is our vision and HOW the male brain operates because of his vision. Evolution has done a great job as usual. Our vision is what enables us men to fulfill our "prime directive" at a moment's notice.

Just ask yourself one Q. How do you stop [most] male CDers? Take away his camera or his mirrors. The big O is all powerful and what keeps the Human race going. It does not matter HOW one gets to the promised land so I find it sad that so many at this Forum feel such shame and guilt about it for so many years.

[GroovyChristy]

As some of you have suggested, I imagine it is a fetish for many of us. Some men may not currently be able to find a woman to be with, so they do the next best thing and create that woman for themselves, or they may enjoy it for other sexual reasons.

But I can only really speak for my own experience. While I do get some arousal out of wearing women's clothing, I also get great peace and comfort that I am unable to find elsewhere. I believe this is because women's clothing expresses who I am better than men's clothing. When I put my panties, leggings, etc. on, it feels like coming home. I think there are aspects of femininity and masculinity in the spirit of each person, but one usually is more prominent and for me that is the feminine. When I put on female clothing, it can be a spiritual experience which is as powerful and affirming as many church events I've been to. I feel right with myself and with the higher power that I believe in.

There are probably many more reasons that people do this, and I don't necessarily think that any is more valid than another. We are all brave for exploring the sides of ourselves which are not widely accepted by society.

[cassexy]

well for me, i love to be a female first, next i find female clothes are more softish, colourful, appealing and i love being in them. i love the different ways of dressing and love being in the softness, different varities,different types of dresses, lingerie, make up, wigs etc. i simply love to be in them. maybe my fetish of not being a female is some what mitigated by this

[adrienner99]

Wildaboutheels--If you do not feel some shame and guilt, I wonder why we cannot see your lovely face in your avatar?

[Lvjim]

I am feminine and the most comfortable
in skirts and panties
I dress in mens clothes for work etc
For me nothing really triggers my dressing
I go for as feminine as i can get away with
in the situation i am in

[Sarah L]

Crossdressing is only "odd" or whatever because of society's idea of what is and isn't appropriate for people to wear. Nothing in nature says that skirts are for women and pants are for men. I believe that most crossdressers like to wear a dress (or any other article of women's clothing) for the same reason a woman would like to.
It appeals to one's tastes. That's all it is.

Our excitement probably comes from the fact that most of us had few opportunities to dress when we were growing up. Let's say two people live across from each other. Tomorrow, they both walk out their door wearing a dress. One is a female who works in an office. The other is a crossdresser going out the door for the first time. It only makes sense that the crossdresser would be excited (and nervous) while the female might not give it much thought.

I am generalizing, but I think there is alot of truth in this.

[NicoleScott]

We are all recycled star dust.

If that's true, I should have a heavenly body. Maybe I didn't get enough star dust.

[AltairaMorbius]

It has always been there. I believe my earliest expression of it came when I was around 6 and told my mother I’d rather be a girl. Biologically my Mother had severe food poisoning in the last trimester of her pregnancy with me. I have read studies of mothers who were under stress during pregnancy that have lead to higher rates of gay male children, i tculd extend this to crossdressing.

Cheers,
Amy

[Naomi Newman]

To me crossdressing is normal, its the outside that reject it, which is odd, because 2000 years ago we were all wearing nothing, its just excuse the phrase "mans ideal" behaviour thats things are like they are, which is all down to education and social backgrounds

[Karen Corona]

I just like being pretty and I'm still capable of doing it.

[Meg East]

I might be in the minority here, but I why does it really matter? How many wonder why they like the arts or sports?
I enjoy it and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Where did I leave my glass of wine?

I agree. Why waste time finding the why. Every "professional" or "expert" has his or her training based bias which shows up in their opinions.

Both my crossdressing and my wine make me happy.

[Ambrosia]

My urge is to feel feminine wit h a great make up session, my favorite wig and a great dress.

[sometimes_miss]

<snip>Is it possible that 1 in 5 boys who started out as sissies, and 1 in 10 who survived to become adults - are still transsexual?
Could it be that claiming to be cross-dressers is our way of accepting an otherwise unacceptable situation?

Sure it could, if that's really what they were in the first place. I'm sure that there are also lots of homosexual men who have buried their desires so far due to societal disapproval that they need to identify as 'just crossdressers' as well.
Just from reading the forums here, I can tell that there are lots of us who still aren't sure of who or what we are, because there's often more going on than just wearing the clothes.

The gender test question; since it's a magic wand, I'm surprised that we only have three options, since none of those three fit what I need; if the wand is going to turn me into an old lady, no thanks, that's no better than being a crossdressing old man.

[CassandraSmith]

To me crossdressing is normal, its the outside that reject it, which is odd, because 2000 years ago we were all wearing nothing, its just excuse the phrase "mans ideal" behavior that's things are like they are, which is all down to education and social backgrounds

Speak for yourself Kimosabe ;-)

Actually, 2000 years ago, people were just as concerned about what they were wearing as now; however, you probably would have been burned at the stake for wearing a T-Shirt because only something with a demon (the demon of Spandex) could be stretched over your head and then fit tightly on the body! I shudder to think of the social upheaval a pair of Nike's might make then too.

[meri]

(This is written from a male perspective for M->F CD's)

I have also wondered why are we attracted to women at all? Why do so many of us want to make love to them? I believe it's all connected...

I think it all boils down to we are "half, not whole". We crave physical contact and love making with women because deep down inside, we are incomplete. We have our "masculinity" in abundance, but have suppressed anything feminine in our selves. This is due to hormones and culture. Hence, we are attracted, pulled, we "yearn" for the feminine.

There are several ways to satisfy that yearning. Making love with a woman certainly goes a long way, but it doesn't last very long. Dressing brings the experience even closer, more personal and stimulates us to more directly experience the feminine in our lives. Or perhaps, release the suppressed and hidden feminine that is already within. It is a less "intensive" experience, but it is longer lasting. It lasts as long as you are dressed.

Many of us identify as transgender, sort of a "mixture" of both genders biased in one direction or the other, but definitely somewhere near the middle. I for one, consider this to be the perfect, balanced human being. From a human race "survival" standpoint, it's probably a good thing that there aren't too many of these "perfectly balanced" human beings around, it might have an impact on world population. We could potentially put ourselves out of business. Of course, we don't have to worry about any such outcome for a long, long, long time.

[ClosetED]

Each has a theory, but there are no known answers. It may be different for everyone or a few common themes. But to lighten things up, I was discussing with therapist why I do it, and it may have to do with being under so much desire to excel and being so capable, that I feel like Superman who can't ask for help and my wife equates me with Jesus, the only man who was perfect. But Superman wears tights and Jesus wears flowing gowns, so that must be it!

[CynthiaD]

... no one would choose to be a cross dresser.

Why not? I love being a Crossdresser! Why would I choose to be anything else?

[Acastina]

I also think there is some psychological stimulus as well and that probably varies with the individual. Hormones would certainly explain the "older beginning CD" . There is likely some hormonal causes when the fetal brain gets masculinized as it may NOT get enough testosterone and retain some characteristics of the female brain. Female fetuses need no hormonal changes to become female. It doesn't have to be genetic necessarily. There are lots of switches that turn on and off the genes and they can get fouled up--blue eyes is a good example.

Sometimes Miss, above, describes a good example of a psychological stimulus, in the form of childhood trauma, but such stories are the exception to what is otherwise quite mysterious. The rest of this paragraph hits closer to the mark.

A lot of people don't understand that all fertilized eggs are female by default, other than the presence of XX or XY chromosome configurations (or rare variants), and that XY males have to undergo a complex process of differentiation during gestation. Given the complexity of the human organism, obviously a lot can go slightly or greatly amiss in the process. The best theorizing I've seen (best because it answers the most questions without inherent contradictions) is that what we call sexual orientation and gender identity are formed at distinct, relatively early phases of development and rely on precisely timed and dosed infusions of hormones from the mother to program the developing brain. Get the timing or dosage off a bit, and the brain gets "miswired" in some way or another. The abundance of possible combinations of such mistakes would explain the wide variety of gender-variant behaviors we know, from hyper-masculine gay men to lipstick lesbians to straight crossdressers to full-blown TS surgical candidates.

Of course, empirical proof is elusive, because it would require experimenting with fetal development and seeing if the results supported the theories case by case, and the "brain sex" argument was and is controversial. But if one is looking for a tight theory that answers the basic questions well, this is it.

I read a recent paper that suggests being gay IS NOT genetic as it would eventually die out since there would be no reproduction among gays but history does show us that some gays to marry, have families and thus may pass along some predisposition. Another study with quite a bit of proof shows that women who bear a lot of children a more likely than not to produce gay sons in that or other generations , so great great grandma who had 10 kids is likely to have produced some gay children. So, we could also be within that spectrum--not necessarily gay but feminine in some part of out psyche. Gay may represent the ultimate feminization of the male fetal brain, and lesbian may represent the ultimate masculinization of the female fetal brain..

It's not so much a question of being "genetic", as the fetal-development theory outlined above could include such non-genetic factors as an expectant mother's illness, injury, medications, nutrition, and other things that could cause endrocrinological abnormalities during pregnancy. The theory that gays would die off over time is really pretty simple-minded, since, as you point out, plenty of children have been fathered by gay men living in denial.

The second-and-later-sons study is intriguing, and it tends to support the fetal-hormone theory, since the strain of multiple pregnancies could easily affect the endocrine systems of some mothers and cause those timing/dosage issues in subsequent pregnancies.

[Joanne.England]

Maybe, just maybe - it is caused by society itself. clothing is not natually specific to a sex. Wearing a short skirt in summer is a good way to help to keep cool. wearing tights under other clothes is a good way to keep warm. Wearing a bra with padding / forms is a way of being able to look similar to those we want to be with (fitting in) or desire. I've just undone my bra. What a relief!!!.

[MissTee]

I have to admit I don't ponder it much. I just enjoying doing it. My wife, though, has a theory. She says because I'm a "creative" (artist, writer, et al) and have an appreciate for color and beauty -- yet I make my living as an engineer -- dressing, then, gives me the creative outlet the inner me desperately craves. She says it's like when you've gone without water for a long time, and you don't drink any, then the craving get stronger until you give in.

"Hmmm. Yeah, that's it," I say.

[JenniferR771]

I agree with Busker, mostly. Crossdressing is not genetic as it would run in families and be double present in twins. Perhaps epigenetics could explain crossdressing.

I feel that crossdressing begins before birth and perhaps is a result of incomplete masculinization of the early fetus' brain (hypothalamus). Perhaps it is a mild form of transexualism. If crossdressers are different from transexuals...then there should be examples of transexuals who are crossdressers...and examples of transexuals who are not crossdressers. CD, TS, both or neither.

[phelicia]

Now I CD because it makes me feel good. I like to feel pretty and feel like a woman, not that I really know what a GG feels but I like to imagine it. It took me years to figure out why I started to CD in the first place, for me it was rejection from girls, after being rejected from girls over and over I started wearing my mothers clothes, I wanted a gf so I created one, I was the girl.