Do you think of yourself as Transgender?

[LilSissyStevie]

I'm just a fairy. A male but not a man.

[BeckyW]

Definitely transgender. Just cross dressing right now, but maybe fully transitioning someday.

[DonniDarkness]

Everyone wants their individuality.

Transgender is just a basic descriptive for an individual with a specific gender identity/expression.

[Sister Rachel]

I think of myself as dual-gender, rather than "trans". I fluctuate ;-)

[Asche]

In my own mind, I'm neither transgendered nor cisgendered, I'm just me. Physically, I am male, but I don't have a "male identity" -- being male is not a big part of how I see myself, any more than my eye color or my street address.

Whether I would describe myself to someone else as transgendered, gender variant, genderqueer, or whatever depends entirely upon how I think they're likely to understand it.

Here at CD.com, where gender essentialism and binary thinking reign and most people can't conceive of people in any terms other than "s/he's a man" or "s/he's a woman", I resist the term "trans" because it's understood as meaning you're a man with a female identity, and that my gender-variant behavior must be my way of telling the world that I have some inner female identity, which does not describe me at all.

However, in a context in which "trans" is understood as simply a shorthand for "does some stuff that we usually associate with the other gender," I'm willing to go along with it.

[Krystalina]

Years ago, I would have considered myself transgendered. But nowadays, I'm just me. I adore women clothing and things that are considered feminine, like shaving my body and painting my toes...yet, I'm very much glad to be a male, and now look at the world as something all messed up...a place where people are desperate to hammer down true individuality into labels.

Would we all agree that even labels like crossdressing and transgendered are pointless in the end?

[Julie Gaum]

A transgender here in that I fit under that large umbrella that includes Ryan on one edge and those still transitioning on the other.
Why do some hate using "trans" but use "cross" instead? I do hope that Ryan, the OP, realizes that during all this time that he has been away those that posted in the last few days are great examples of all the different views and lifestyles that can freely exhibit themselves to the rest and say "This is me --- like it or lump it" --- and have been doing it for years here, on this Forum. Are any of us able to say that, since we don't like a description, we'll throw it away? I think Homo Sapien is a horrible label for me so it isn't me. Really?
Julie

[Kate Simmons]

I think of myself as myself. Gender doesn't necessarily play a role in that. What I choose to look like and how I act is totally my choice when it comes right down to it. In the end, the only real person I have to please is myself.

[Carlene]

I have more questions than I do answers.........so, I don't really have words for who I am or how I feel. I suppose, I feel like me, a person who has a need to imitate certain female traits. I wish that I could better express how I feel.

[Taylor Ray]

I think a key aspect of the label/definition has to do with the word identity. There are many individuals who identify as a member of the opposite sex and experience stress because of it. There are other individuals who feel they are "expressing an inherent feminine side" of their male selves, similar to the Jungian notion of anima/animus.

Of course, the entire spectrum of unique individuals is a glorious expression of diversity. The arguments seem to arise when people don't feel comfortable in their place on the spectrum, so they are left to defend themselves (usually by attacking and judging others.)

I thoroughly enjoy my sexual male anatomy and love being a male. And I love wearing women's clothing and wigs and being with other men as a women.

Please don't judge me. If you are going to call me anything, make it a cab ride home!

[Lucy_Bella]

I do not.. I say this because I do not believe "Gender" is something you can turn on or off.. I act very masculine in drab and I do not feel I act any different while dressed as a female because I am a fetish dresser.. Gender identity seems to be a majority on this site ( or maybe some are mistaken the fetish-ness for G.I.) .. I can not say I never or even wanted to lived my life as a female to compare but I have lived with plenty.. I can see a difference between them and I..

The way you present .... Is without a doubt G.I. you ( I do not know you at all just taking a stab at it) present a good balance of a natural G.G. not only physically but mentally there is nothing masculine about you or very little.. That's not an insult BTW I am just answering to your post and a good post it is..

[Jenniferathome]

I am not transgender. I'm a guy. Sometimes, that guys wears a dress and presents as a "woman" but I am a guy at all times.

[xdressed]

I absolutely consider myself Transgender, as I am BiGender which as most of us know is a subset under the Transgender Umbrella. In fact I almost never use the term crossdresser in reference to myself anymore because it just doesn't seem to fit how I feel.

[Michelle51]

Yes, I consider myself transgendered since it seems more of an umbrella descriptor embracing the the genderfluid or genderqueer. My gender is fluid and queer.

[docrobbysherry]

Thanks for returning for a visit, JT. I've often wondered how you're doing.

I've always appreciated your way of dressing. Because both of us dress completely differently from most others here. And, completely different from each other!

I'm a CD. Don't feel I'm trans. Know I'm a man in a dress. But, don't wish to look like one!

[Cara Lacey]

I am a cross dresser. or a transvestite, using the old medical term, trans meaning across as inTrans World Airlines (how's that for a blast from the past) and vest meaning clothing was a term for some one who derives pleasure by wearing the clothes of the opposite sex.
That's me in a nut shell. The word transvestite has taken on other meanings, mostly from misinformation, but is basically a synonym for cross dresser which has been adopted for its less clinical sound.

Transgender, would indicate that my sexuality crosses over into the female side. That is not me.

[PretzelGirl]

I tend to go with generally accepted terminology for everyone and just not in our community. So since the alphabet soup is LGB*T* and no more letters, then I am transgender. I am big on teaching other people and the more complex you make a subject, the more people are less likely to want to try and understand. Calling myself Transgender keeps it simple.

[S. Lisa Smith]

I identify as a Transvestite. I always have. Crossdresser was only a term i picked up from Cis people. I consider myself Transgender because i am a MtF Transvestite.

I dont like the term crossdresser as much because it separates us as a group from the Trans community in one word.

-Donni-

Interesting, I never thought of it in this way. I consider myself transgendered because I love dressing and appearing as a woman (just not all the time because I also love being a man.). I call myself a cross- dresser never thinking about the "separation" that the term crossdresser might cause. I guess I use it to describe myself because that is term cis gendered people understand.

[Candice Mae]

Well I'm barely a man, but not a woman either. Some where in between so transgendered works for me.

[JenniferYager]

Definitely not, crossdresser is a fine label for me. I don't want to be a woman full time, and I'm happy with my sex as a man, but like to occasionally cross that boundary to present as a female. I don't see anything negative about the word.

[Rogina B]

I am not transgender. I'm a guy. Sometimes, that guys wears a dress and presents as a "woman" but I am a guy at all times.

It is ok! When you are ready,there is space for you and Linda Allen under the "Trans" umbrella!!! When you are ready...So,why do you need a female name to do as you do?? Just wondering..

[Genny B]

Ouch! Rogina made me think! And here I didnt care what you called me, I just knew I was happier when wearing a dress...
Genny B

It is ok! When you are ready,there is space for you and Linda Allen under the "Trans" umbrella!!! When you are ready...So,why do you need a female name to do as you do?? Just wondering..

[LelaK]

My body is my vehicle in life. It's male, but I'm not. I'm not a female body either, but I identify much more with female beauty etc than with male anything. If it were easy to trade in my male vehicle for a female one, I would do that gladly, but the female body still wouldn't be me either. But it would represent me (and my good taste) better than does my male body.

I wouldn't say I'm "transgendered", because "gender" these days refers to the sex of each person's body, which I don't identify with. My body belongs to me. I don't belong to my body.

[Candice Mae]

Transgender, would indicate that my sexuality crosses over into the female side. That is not me.

Being transgendered has nothing to do with your sexuality.

[Jilmac]

I think gender ID has just as much to do with being a crossdresser as it does to being transgender. In and of itself, the term "transgender" could be an umbrella term for all those who are in transition, dress and present as female, occasionally wear women's clothes, or just wear select feminine items, I prefer using transgender when describing myself as a crossdresser. For as long as I remember it has been a gender issue more so than a sexual one. If you were to break the word down, "trans" could mean a journey but it could also mean a crossing, so for me the journey to the crossing of my gender ID helps me to reach my feminine side. The ultimate result is that I am transgender.