I did a double take today

[Chickhe]

I was driving home from the hardware store minding my own business enjoying the nice weather today. Then I saw a pregnant woman walking on the side walk, only thing, she looked too round and her head was male... I was shocked...not in a negative way, I just had to look twice because of the disconnect and sure enough it looked like there was a man wearing a pregnant woman suit with a dress. This was pretty close to the local college so I am wondering if it was part of some sensitivity training...

So would you call that crossdressing? I was thinking they should offer up a course to the general public to try on transgender for a week or two!...

[Launa]

I would call that an overweight, out of shape crossdresser wearing a maternity dress.

If there's ever a course on teaching people how to crossdress and transgender issues then I hope they have professionals coaching everyone to not make the males look so hideous!

[kimdl93]

I guess we'll never know. It probably would not have been appropriate to stop and ask, "Are you a pregnant woman, an overweight man in women's clothes, or participating some sort in sensitivity exercise?"

come to think of it, I hope no one stops me on the street and asks if I lost a bet.

[MsRenee]

Lol. you never know. it maybe hes pledging a fraternity and may be part of it.
Renee

[NicoleScott]

So would you call that crossdressing?

To be nit-picky about it, yes, if one wears clothing usually worn by the other sex, it is CDing. But most definitions add a motive like "for sexual or emotional reasons".
That implies some sort of internal drive, and excludes costume, entertainment, disguise, or other external forces. I don't consider Tootsie or Mrs. Doubtfire crossdressers because they were in disguise rather driven by an internal compulsion to dress.
As CDers, we tend to complicate this at times, like upcoming Halloween. As CDers, if we dress en femme for a Halloween event, we're probably crossdressing, using Halloween as just an excuse to get pretty. But if a non-CDer wears a feminine costume for Halloween, I wouldn't call it crossdressing. Unless, of course, we just don't know he's a non-CDer who is deep in the closet. Then others don't think he is a CDer but he knows the truth. Gee, this sounds familiar. haha

[Kate Simmons]

Crossdressing and expressing our feelings may indeed include wearing a "pregnancy suit". I know because I've done this in the past. In that case, yes indeedy, a fantasy was involved. Made me feel better at the time though. I guess that is what counts.

[Jaylyn]

They actually have a pregnancy form made out of a rubbery substance that some classes use in teaching marriage classes for the guys to put on and wear to show them how the women feels when is pregnant. They had one at the high school where I taught and the guys would wear it to several classes this really made them complain how their backs were tired or they don't see how gals carry a baby for nine months. I don't know if the Home Making teacher was trying to teach abstinence or show the guys what the opposite sex would feel like if they got them pregnant. They also after that had to carry and take care of mechanical dolls that would cry and really wet a diaper every few hours. The recorder would record how well the guys and gals took care of the doll. The one that surprised me was the dolls would cry in the night off and on and the student had to pat them on the back to get them to stop. Real life training.....

[Marleena]

It does sound like a school study project (or punishment) for the guys.lol.

[Karren H]

Maybe he lost a bet? Lol... Our kids had to wear empathy bellys in High School as part of Home Econ..... child care...... but the boys didn't have to dress enfemme.....

[Beverley Sims]

Some do conduct classes in "motherhood" using these suits.
This is so men can experience what the female has to go through.

[NicoleScott]

Men should turn the tables for the "know what it's like to be pregnant" game. Like requiring women to wear nothing but men's clothes for 9 months, and see how they like it. haha

[aly01]

I think that is good for guys to know, so they have sympahty for their wives or girlfriends.

[ReineD]

There was a local frat initiation a few weeks ago and all the pledges had to run around town crossdressed. There were about 15-20 young guys wearing very unconvincing outfits and garish makeup. They weren't even trying to pass and a good time was had by all, both the participants and the onlookers.

The point is, they were all in a group which is the nature of such things. Not one person was doing this alone and everyone understood what it was all about.

There are online stores that sell protheses that will simulate all kinds of female biological functions. Use your imagination. I think we can tell the difference between a person who is overweight, and a person who is trying for a certain look or sensation. If this person is a crossdresser, I think he was giving in to his jollies.

I suppose a more charitable explanation is that he lost a bet (unlikely), or that it was a dad who is simulating his wife's condition in order to gain understanding and empathy for her. But this is also unlikely, since I should think that most people would do this at home and not out in public where it would raise eyebrows. The point in such an exercise would be to empathize with the wife and not go out there and be an obvious laughing stock, since women who are in that condition don't experience ridicule when they are out and about.

[CynthiaD]

I was going by the local college one day and I saw this guy wearing two sweatshirts. One he had on the regular way and the other he had pulled up on his legs like a pair of pants. Is that considered crossdressing?

[tiffanyjo89]

I think that a guy wearing a dress or other women's clothing is, by definition, crossdressing.
I think the same about a girl wearing guy's boxers or [obviously male intended] t-shirts, crossdressing.
They are not "crossdressers" though.

There's a difference between playing football or base/softball with your friends one day out of a month to just unwind vs being an athlete and spending all your time focusing on that sport.

[julia marie]

"So would you call that crossdressing? I was thinking they should offer up a course to the general public to try on transgender for a week or two!... "

I love this idea. I'll do my two weeks, and then volunteer to take the place of any guy who doesn't want to do en femme for their two weeks. I could be their "designated dresser".