Hobby or life style? Crossdressing is what to you?

[OrdinaryAverageGuy]

I can't really consider my CDing a hobby (although I refer to it as such from time to time) or a lifestyle (not really sure what that even means). After reading all these positions on the subject, I'm thinking it's just more my signature look. Of course there's my public signature look which involves cute socks and soft comfy t-shirts, and there's my home signature look which is more likely to include skirts and spaghetti straps.

[GretchenM]

Wow, Di. You sure hit the bullseye with that starter post. I, like you, love all the responses - absolutely fascinating. The diversity is incredible! What an amazing group of people.

Thanks, again.

[Teri Ray]

Given the binary choice of hobby or lifestyle I would choose hobby. Having said that its a hobby that I cannot deny.

[Michelle1955]

Never a hobby, not a crossdressers it a lot more than a crossdresser.
Start back when I was 4 or 5, but truthfully I really think before that.
Puberty was terrible, brain said I was in the wrong body.

I learn to manage the feelings over the years for the most part.

[CarlaWestin]

I think to me it?s more of a sport! You train and practice and perform! Needs to be both an amature and professional crossdressing league!

Oh, you just want to be in the Hall of Fame.

[Andrea_cd]

I would like it to be my normal way of life but it isnt due to factors that must be considered , when im dressed im relaxed im happy and focused , my knows but does not support at all so must be done when she isnt home , mabey one day we can come to a arrangement but till then i am a part time girl.

[Visitor]

It was spending time on this website on the Gender Non-Binary forum that allowed me to begin accepting my desire to wear a brassiere. I've intermittently worn women's undergarments, sometimes belonging to the women in my life; sometimes garments I bought that were always purged at some later time. I didn't understand my desire to crossdress until I did but even understanding how it came into being didn't extinguish the desire to do so. I think I've always been a rather feminine man who has been more comfortable with women than men. I always think of gender as a continuum and our place of the continuum is the product of heredity and related to how our endocrine system functions. As I've gotten older the balance between testosterone and estrogen has shifted and I find myself much more feminine than in the past. Now my body tells me wearing a brassiere is a reasonable thing to do. I don't have to wear one, but wearing one gives me a great deal of pleasure... not in an orgasmic sense but in sense of fulfillment. The band around my chest feels like a hug and the soft cups life a caress. I like both the look and the feel.

With a full beard that has been on my face for longer than many here have been alive, I'm never going to pretend I will pass as a woman. But I will enjoy walking through a store feeling the fullness of my breasts shaped and held by a beautiful brassiere. This is a very private pleasure for me. I'm not interested in flaunting things but I do enjoy talking about the journey with men who understand. Sharing a few photos can be fun as well, though I don't do that here. You'd be amazed how many of us there are!

Thanks for sharing everyone. I read through this thread and feel great respect for everyone's journey.

[Phoebe Reece]

For me, crossdressing is a hobby. I say that mainly because I only do it when I choose to do it. I could choose to do it a lot more often than I do now if I wanted to. I only dress femme if I am going out to meet up with friends, go to an event or meeting, or run some errand that I think will be more fun if I present as a woman. I don't dress just to sit at home. I don't desire to do it all the time. I have many times gone for as long as 4 consecutive days dressed for some trans conferences. By the end of the last day I am pretty much done with dressing for at least a few weeks.

[Cacique82]

Definitely a hobby for me. I’ll wear panties about half the week but a nightgown every night. I’ll also usually have something on when having a bedroom moment with my wife. I’ve gone out in women’s jeans before too-a great feeling. But this is it and it suits me perfectly.

[DanielleDubois]

I don't know. I view it as just a very satisfying pleasurable experience.
Maybe it is just playing dress up.

That describes me exactly so I guess for me it is a hobby. My Danielle time doesn?t overlap into my male life where I enjoyably live for 99% of the time. I think people are reluctant to call it a hobby because of how it is perceived by the public. But is it really any different from Civil War re-enactors or people who are into renaissance or medieval clubs?

And just when does a hobby become a lifestyle? My son-in - law is an avid surfer which most people would consider as a hobby but he plans his life, work, and holidays around surfing so I don?t think you can reasonably just call it a hobby.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Di , For me it's a Hobby where I get to have the Best of both Worlds, >Orchid**OO**

[LydiaL]

For me hobby does not seem strong enough. I will call it my passion.

[Angela Marie]

For many years I would say I considered it a hobby. But over the past several years I realized that I was not being honest with myself and I accepted the fact that I am transgender. Family, age, and societal issues make transition highly unlikely. So I guess in my case the closest I would come to these definitions would be lifestyle.

[Richelle423]

For me it?s a lifestyle. I have a male body while my whole life I?ve felt I should have been born with a female body. Wearing women?s clothes make me feel who I really am and who I feel inside.

[Jessica G.]

For me this is by no means a hobby. Working on my cars, collecting militaria, playing the bass and drums would be my hobbies.
I don't think about those 24/7.
Jessica is my identity, someone that I enjoy presenting as. There is a part of me inside that wishes I could have been born a woman, and even though I am not, this is the best way I can express who I wish I was. I am not saying I hate my current life and who I am by any means.
In the beginning it felt like there was an arousal to dressing. This stopped after a few months and then it finally set in like it was just normal. I get to dress whenever I get the time 7 days a week. Its just clockwork routine and I love it.
My mom will call it a hobby and I usually let her know I don't consider it that and that for me it is a lifestyle/Identity. But then again, it's not like I am going to tell my mom I wish I was born a woman.

[Princess Chantal]

I may socialize and walk amongst the lifestylers, however crossdressing is an activity that I do and not who I am.

[jacques]

hello Di,
I have come to think of my dressing as a hobby. It is not something that is essential like being a parent or working or a living. It is probably an obsessive hobby but I am definitely an amateur!
luv J

[Stacy Darling]

**** ME ! this aint a game 'were qQQQQ

[Krea]

Non-binary is just how i identify. So i guess you could call it my lifestyle.
Not female, but not typically male either. Just a person.

[Lacey New]

That?s a difficult question to answer. In many ways, my crossdressing has been an addiction. I feel a need and a desire to get dressed up from time to time. But I have also managed to control it and despit a desire to crossdress, I could wait until the time was right. Sometimes, the intervslr between dressing were quite long. So, perhaps, it became relegated to the status of being a hobby? I don?t really know.

[Jane G]

It's just part of life. Not a lifestyle though. I dress most days to some extent. but my lifestyle is that of a retired person, who loves his partner and the mountains. Dressing is just a part of the bigger picture. Does that make it a hobby. No, you can give up hobbies. Dressing as a girl is just part of who I am.

[Sherry Ann Evans]

Neither. I don't feel that hobby or lifestyle accurately describes crossdressing for me.

But if I had to pick, it would be lifestyle. I only dress fully once every month or two, because of that pesky real world, but I wear panties daily. I haven't worn men's undies in almost two years. As much as I enjoy dressing and going out, I wouldn't do it just as a "hobby" -- that would imply it's something I choose do, simply for fun. It is fun but that's because I make the best of it, as it's something I feel that I * need * to do.

[Diane P]

Easiest question in the world for me to answer: Lifestyle. I've only been dressing for the last 18 months but wish I had started years ago. It just feels so right, normal and natural to me to be dressing as a woman. I'm underdressed in panties all the time. Sleep at night in panties and nightgown, sometimes add a bra. Love it and as I said earlier, wish I had started years ago, like 40 or 45 at least.

[JoyceAnn]

It's a hobby for me right now, because of my situation. I think I would crossdress more often if I were free to do so, but not full-time.

[AngelaGA]

It is a hobby for me. When I dress up, i dress up all the way..makeup and all. I dress up about once a month, not by choice but because i work so much. However there are times i wish i could dress up at work. But one can dream.