Is this true?

[Giselle(Oshawa)]

in many circle's now crossdresser is meant to be a straight person wearing the clothes of the opposite sex
whereas transvestite has come to mean a gay person wearing the clothes of the opposite sex
in my humble opinion crossdresser seems a nicer term and not a medical term

[Nikkilovesdresses]

"whereas transvestite has come to mean a gay person wearing the clothes of the opposite sex"

That's interesting Giselle, how do these unique meanings arise I wonder?

"crossdresser seems a nicer term and not a medical term"

I'd have to agree with that, though instead of medical I'd probably put it down to the difference between formality and informality; Latin/Greek v Norse/French words (though cross did come originally from a Latin root)

[Karen kc]

I am a crossdresser! But ya'll can call me anything you like! I will not be offended!

[Beverley Sims]

It is strange sometimes how the English language and moral standards evolve and change over time.

Look at some terms commonly used for a black man or some other race.

Some are now outlawed.

[DonnaT]

No, it's not true.

Tranny is the term to be avoided, as it is considered an insult or derogatory to non transvestites, much like the "N" word is considered an insult or derogatory.

Crossdresser became the term to be used instead of Transvestite due to Virginia Prince and the founding of Tri-ess back in the 1970's, which was restricted to heterosexual male crossdressers. The term Transvestite has not used because of the link to being gay.

[audreyinalbany]

"Anyone who finds the term transvestite offensive is being irrational. It literally is Latin for cross-dresser. "

ehhh, I don't know about this. "negro" literally means 'black," yet there are plenty of people who fine the word "negro" offensive.

[Isabella Ross]

Like Kate said, call me anything but late for dinner. I am a proud transvestite, crossdresser, t-gurl, transgendered human being. All these words are music to my ears.

[NicoleScott]

in many circles now crossdresser is meant to be a straight person wearing the clothes of the opposite sex
whereas transvestite has come to mean a gay person wearing the clothes of the opposite sex.

"In many circles" and "has come to mean" seem to be the problem. I looked up transvestite in the M-W dictionary - no mention of sexual preferences.
These disagreements about words will continue as long as people make up their own definitions.

[Allison Chaynes]

We live in a time where everyone LOOKS for some reason to be offended. If they can't find one, they invent one. This is, IMHO, an example.

[Sam-antha]

I was a TV long before I was ever a CD. You say tomato I say tomatto I guess.

Agreed. I was a TV back in the late fifties. Nowadays I think that the descriptor CD would have perhaps been more welcomeat that time

[CONSUELO]

No, it's not true.

Tranny is the term to be avoided, as it is considered an insult or derogatory to non transvestites, much like the "N" word is considered an insult or derogatory.

Crossdresser became the term to be used instead of Transvestite due to Virginia Prince and the founding of Tri-ess back in the 1070's, which was restricted to heterosexual male crossdressers. The term Transvestite has not used because of the link to being gay.

Is it because both terms were abbreviated and used in a derogatory sense. Hence transvestite became "Tranny" which began to accumulate negative connotations. It is also easy to say tranny in a nasty and insulting way whereas you cannot abbreviated cross dresser so easily. Those darned "crossies" doesn't seem very nasty whereas tranny could be said in a sneering voice.

Also it seems to be the human condition that we love to split hairs. So, we are not like drag queens or I'm just a heterosexual cross dresser and not a transexual. Categorization is always difficult if based only on external appearance and behaviour. Look at the problems with plant classification that were only resolved when scientists were able to map their deep structure, i.e. their DNA.

This is a discussion that will continue for years.

[Promethea]

"Anyone who finds the term transvestite offensive is being irrational. It literally is Latin for cross-dresser. "

ehhh, I don't know about this. "negro" literally means 'black," yet there are plenty of people who fine the word "negro" offensive.

It´s interesting how that happen to words. In my Spanish speaking country "negro" has always been the "right" word, about 20 years ago some people thought "moreno" (which actually means dark haired) should be used instead but it never took off, partly because most black people have no issue with the word "negro" and even take pride of it. Now less than ten years ago, some young black people quite influenced by american culture decided both of those were offensive and came up with "afro descendiente", meaning "descendant from Africa", which, if you know just a bit about anthropology, we all are.

Agreed. I was a TV back in the late fifties. Nowadays I think that the descriptor CD would have perhaps been more welcomeat that time

TV, CD, whatever, I´m a radio.

Now, less trying to be funny or off topic: I don´t like the word. At least in Spanish it is considered a despective word towards TS, and being TS I don´t like it, yet sometimes I do use it myself when I need to say something crudely. I think it is offensive because it actually does refer to what we now call male self identified crossdressers. At least in Uruguay and Argentina there is no "mainstream" word for crossdressers, the country is too conservative for anybody to be out and about as a CD. Amongst the LGBTQ folks the word I´ve heard (and that brought me to this forum) was not "travesti", but "crossdresser". Yup, the English word.

[ReineD]

"The term "transvestite" is considered insulting now - don't use it. Use "cross dresser" instead."

Not to me. The term is used consistently in research and so I'm used to it. It's really only the latin form of the word crossdresser. "Trans" means "cross", and "vestite" means clothing. Also, I think the term TV is used more overseas than it is here so I don't think the people in the UK see it as derogatory?

[Judith96a]

I identify as a cross-dresser. I'm not by either "transvestite" or "tranny".
The way I see it, it's much easier to take offence than to give offence; much easier to (choose to) be offended than to be offensive.
Taking offence; whining about being offended is just another way of trying to control others! It is the antithesis of freedom of expression!

[Angie G]

all me what you want as long as it's not late for dinner. I know what I am.
Angie

[~Joanne~]

I only have two labels for all of this, CD or TG. If you dress for whatever reason and it just about the clothes in it's barest form, then your CD. If you have a "inner girl" just screaming to get out, your TG. forget the rest of them. They make my head hurt.

[devida]

As a native German speaker, I would like tone break down
"Verkleidungstrieb" , I wound translate it as urge/instinct/drive to disguise.
.

Fabulous! I do believe that much of the hostility towards cross dressing people report (I don't experience this personally) may come from a suspicion that cross dressers are trying to disguise their true identity.

[RachelPortugal]

Here we are on crossdressers.com and the spellchecker puts a squiggly red line under crossdresser, so it is not a word that vBulletin even recognises. So, in the US where the consensus of opinion favours using "crossdresser", the word does not exist in the US English dictionary used by the forum. Mods, as a user of GB English, can I change my user settings?

Generally I would agree that consulting a dictionary derivation adds little to this kind of label discussion. But in this case I think culture trumps context. People born and raised in the UK have little problem with the word "transvestite." Even Eddie Izzard publicly claims the title. We here in the US seem to have more problems with it for reasons already stated above. Me, I'll happily call myself a crossdresser (but, not a cross dresser). I'm a crossdresser who get little time to cross dress.

This just about confirms that the UK and the USA are one nation divided by a common language.

I generally dislike political correctness, as it is ever changing. What was once a good term or word later on becomes offensive, because someone decided it so. Negro was once an acceptable term for a black person, and they can still use it when they want to, among other things, but it is no longer socially acceptable. Transvestite is no longer acceptable but I do not know why, other than someone decided it wasn't. Most of us consider ourselves as transgender, or behave in ways under the transgender spectrum umbrella.

I don't really care all that much about any word TBH, because one day it will change and another word will pop up in its place. I don't use it, as some people find it offensive, so I use the current terms, which will one day become offensive and then I will use whatever isn't, as stupid as it all is.

Nowadays only a black person can call himself/herself a negro. Applying this rule of political correctness or social acceptability, it is up to individuals to decide on what label they may wish to be applied to them. Don't refer to anyone as a transvestite or a crossdresser until you have checked which term he/she is happy with.

My signature strip say crossdresser, but I would not be offended if I was called a transvestite. I don't like being called a tranny, but am happy to refer to myself as such.

Personally I would never refer to someone as being black, they are just men or women. I do not like to be referred to as white, my skin colour is far from the white of the wall of my home.

[Marcelle]

Well you all know my take on "labels" . . . they lead nowhere fast when it comes to a debate on what is right and what is wrong. I agree when a term is used in a negative hate filled way I have no time for people like that and will call them on it. But in most cases people use the term because they really don't know the difference and it is up to us to educate them in order to defuse the improper meaning of the word. In reality "words don't hurt people, people hurt people in how they use the word".

I have had friends say "So you are a transvestite like Rocky in the Rocky Horror Picture Show" After I correct them that Rocky was the monster and Dr Frankenfurter the transvestite I reply "In the sense that I like to wear women's clothes. However, I don't dress in the same way as I prefer more mainline clothing." I then go on to educate the whole spectrum of labels from Drag Queen to Transsexual. I have had other people call me a cross-dresser and again I am not hurt by the term because they are trying to make sense of it. An acquaintance once said "So you are a Tranny" to which I replied "If by Tranny you mean I like to wear women's clothing on occasion then yes. However, please don't use that term as it can be seen as offensive to some". He apologized.

My point is that we get wrapped up in derogatory remarks (and is some cases rightly so) but those who use them in a hate filled way are ignorant DBags who have the intellectual capacity of a petrified raisin and will most likely never change their point of view. However, most who use the term truly don't know the difference and a quick explanation will normally change their perspective. Any word we come up with to describe ourselves will get hi-jacked by the haters and used in a derogatory sense. That is why when people ask me how I describe myself, I like to use the term "person" . . . just saying.

Hugs

Isha

[sometimes_miss]

Back in the 90's there was at some point, a reference to the splitting of the two terms to help 'outsiders' understand that there was a difference, that not every one of us was using the clothes for a kinky purpose; so transvestite was reserved for those who derived sexual feelings from dressing up, and crossdresser was used for those of us who did not. Whether it was just on the usenet or more widely used, I don't know. But that's where I remember the difference showing up. Until then, both terms just meant the same thing. As we still do not have any other words which explain which behavior is which, rather than confuse the world, it's simply easier to continue using the terms as they have now come to be used. Unless someone has a better idea, of course.

[Katie Russell]

I've always thought the the term transvestite was little clinical whereas crossdresser is a softer and an easier to understand way of describing what we do. Unfortunately, the slang version of transvestite - tranny - is used by many as a derogatory term which is why it is probably not liked anymore. Using the term within the community is OK in the same way as other communities use words that are not acceptable to be used by people outside of the community.

Katie

[RachelPortugal]

Back in the 90's there was at some point, a reference to the splitting of the two terms to help 'outsiders' understand that there was a difference, that not every one of us was using the clothes for a kinky purpose; so transvestite was reserved for those who derived sexual feelings from dressing up, and crossdresser was used for those of us who did not. Whether it was just on the usenet or more widely used, I don't know. But that's where I remember the difference showing up. Until then, both terms just meant the same thing. As we still do not have any other words which explain which behavior is which, rather than confuse the world, it's simply easier to continue using the terms as they have now come to be used. Unless someone has a better idea, of course.

As wikipedia would say, "Additional citations needed for verification"!

I still understand crossdresser and transvestite as being the same thing, some of us just prefer one label to the other. Adjectives can be used to further define the extent of a CD/TV. A CD can be described as fetishist, kinky or cissy, just as much as a TV.

[Teresa]

Nikki,
Lorileah has put the labels right, the words are interchangeable ! The Latin translated makes no mention of sexual content !
Labels will always upset some people as far as I'm concerned I will be called something slightly insulting at some point I'll have to live with it, but I do have a tongue in my head so can give as good as I get if the need arises !

[kimgirl]

From my perspective, I prefer to be described as a crossdresser.

The English language is a living language and so evolves continuously. In contrast, Latin is a dead language. Also printed dictionaries are a backward form of describing words. They show our language up to the point of publishing. The gay community have used the word "gay" for some time now, and has a modern take on the original meaning. My 84 year old mother still uses the word gay to mean happy - fun - bright, and the new meaning for gay takes that and applies it to homosexuals. The words used in the past of queer - homo - etc all had bad connotations of fetish sex attached to them in the wider community. So gay is a more acceptable word today. I am sure that that evolution of the word that describes a percentage of humans has helped with their wider acceptance.

I think I can safely say that many of us would welcome a broader acceptance of our crossdressing in the wider community. The words transvestite or tranny hold meaning in the wider community to not just mean crossdressing, but also attaches itself with fetishes, sex, and homosexuality. Now, it may be the case that some could be crossdressers and enjoy these other aspects, but I guess there are many who don't. So I think the word transvestite is a label understood by those uneducated masses that had too many aspects to it that I don't subscribe to do. So that T word does not describe what I am. I am simply a man who enjoys many aspects of being a woman, but also enjoy being a man.

In the name of gaining a wider acceptance and understanding of the world at large, I would prefer to use the word "crossdresser".

[RachelPortugal]

.......

The English language is a living language and so evolves continuously. In contrast, Latin is a dead language. Also printed dictionaries are a backward form of describing words.

Yet, with the electronic dictionary that supports this forum, "transvestite" is not marked as incorrect spelling whereas "crossdresser" is! ??