Do you want to be totally open?

[Cheryl T]

There is no thrill in ducking those that might recognize me in public.
I would much prefer to be totally out, but in deference to my wife's feelings about family and close friends I am not.

[PamTG]

For me I am not even at the point of even thinking about dressing in public but the thought of dressing in public and out about really makes me envious of the future and what it has in hold for when it comes to dressing up and so forth. I guess once I do start to dress up and go out in public it would be nice to get a group of friends that are just like me so I would have something to fall back on if I did talk to friends and family if they did not support me. I would rather just be open and honest about it to every single person so I didn't have to hide the real me and if I did see someone out and about it wouldn't be strange. Of course words are louder than actions but that is why I am here so I am comfortable around people that do all the things that I can only dream about doing and gradually building up my confidence in doing that.

[Krisi]

Many of us cannot be "totally open" because of our careers or the wishes of our wives. Others may not care for one reason or another.

My thought is that once I am away from home and my neighborhood, I might be pegged as a crossdresser but my "disguise" is good enough that they wouldn't recognize me as Homer. They might if my wife was by my side though. And I would likely be recognized if I walked out the door of my house and drove away in my car.

I get no thrill with the thought of being caught, that's not why I do this.

[jenniferinsf]

i am with kandia and sandrb.
i was dressing and going out a lot, really without thing about the consequences of my marital relationship. what can i say is, that although coming out to my wife and grown children and a few clothes friends, i have realized that i have too much to lose by being 24/7. in order to keep our 40 year marriage going and the privileged way we live we established some rules so that jennifer do not cause discomfort or embarrassment to others...no public displays of jennifer in our condo building, our immediate neighbor hood, most social situations and at work. by my reckoning that still means i can dress 70% of the time.
while i would like to just be able to go out and my a quart of milk at the local whole foods, that is unlikely to happen. however, if i were dressed and out and about and ran into someone i knew, i would not hide. i am who i am and proud of it. for me there is no excitement to being seen or being found out, there is just being a woman

[Rachel PT]

No, and I don't want to be. Those that do, though, I wish the best.

[Robin414]

I often fall back on the ol' "life's too short" thing and "why is this such a big deal"

@ Jeanette...I so have to visit the Netherlands, I could totally be your 'wing chick' sis!

[MichelleDevon]

Would I want to be totally open? Yes, I would. I would not wish to be Michelle all the time but I would like the freedom to be Michelle when I want to be and Stephen the rest of the time.

I love my Michelle time and I am comfortable to be out and about and, thus far, I don't think anyone who knows Stephen has recognised Michelle as being the same person when meeting me randomly. Whenever I am out as Michelle I have been treated courteously even though I am generally identified as a crossdresser. I don't deliberately try to avoid people I know - the majority would, I feel sure, not recognise me.

There is always an element of thrill being out as Michelle and I think that would remain even if I was totally free to be Michelle whenever I wanted to be. There will always be times and places where, for good reasons, I might choose not to present as Michelle.

So for me I don't think there is a decision to be made - I am happy being Michelle as often as I can; up to a point, the more the better.

[transfeminate]

I would love the freedom to choose but would never dream of risking embarrassing my so understanding wife.
Charlene

[Alice_2014_B]

Its more of the thrill for me.

[Raychel]

As much as I would love to be totally open to the world. At this point I have to much to lose. I know allot of people in this area. And allot of them will not accept me at all. This I know for sure. Conversations have proved that. So until I am ready to retire, I will take what I can get in private

[JeanetteX]

I often fall back on the ol' "life's too short" thing and "why is this such a big deal"

@ Jeanette...I so have to visit the Netherlands, I could totally be your 'wing chick' sis!

You're more than welcome Robin....think you could cause some havoc over here lol

[Claire Cook]

I guess i am pretty much where Ceera is. I'm pretty open and lots of folks know about me, but I've kept it from family and don't dress at work. I'm semi-retired and my family is pretty spread out geographically, so that really not much of an issue. More and more I am me. Being relatively open has relieved a lot of my anxiety, and I never cease to wonder at how accepting -- at least tolerant -- most people have been.