Trans people & crossdressers ? the same thing

[MJ]

hi y'all
i would like your input here, as well all have different views ..
do you think that cross dressers and transgendered are the same thing in a way ?
why i ask is we all love to dress :-
a. some can get away with pantyhose and heels " lucky them "
b. some of us dress all the way head to toe and makeup

the big difference being as cross dressers love woman for the most part and would not want hrt or surgery
and transgendered people want the hormones and surgery and live full time , so do you consider your selfs to be a trans person ?
this is open to everyone
thank you for your input and please no flaming
hugs Marissa

[Kieron Andrew]

Yes i do think crossdressers and Trans people is the same thing.......crossdressing is crossing the gender barrier of two identities......transpeople is that of two genders either merging or crossing over....same thing in my mind

whether someone decides to take it one step further with surgery and pills is a different matter entirely

[Vicky_Scot]

As far as I was aware the description Transgender was an umberella that encompassed CD,TV,TS etc.

Transgendered: involving a partial or full reversal of gender.

[Michelle 51]

I think there is a small difference in that a lot of crossdresser's are happy to be male and don't want to change while trangender's feel that they are female in a man's body and would like to live as a female.Now keep in mind that a crossdresser is anyone who wear's the clothing of the opposite sex for whatever reason so i guess we are all crossdresser's but why we dress is where there is a difference.I think????? Justabit

[marie354]

I'm a crossdresser. It means that as a male, I like to wear women's clothes because I like the way I look in them. Some women dress in mens clothes for the same reasons. I think that it's all OK for us to do that and still have a hetrosexual outlook.

Transgender, to means more towards transitioning toward the opposite gender and dressing full time. It seems to me that it's the one step beyond crossdressing.

One more step and it's transsexual with all the above involved as well as serious thoughts of HRT and maybe SRS.

I don't mean that some of the more fortunate or unfortunate of the MTF's that have breasts for one reason or another naturally with out HRT are necessarily transsexual even though some may very well be.

We all have choices to make in this wonderful thing we call life, and some will choose to go a little farther than others. It's an individual thing and something only you can decide for your self.

This is just the way I see it and others may have different views that I do, so I don't believe that are any set rules yet, but guidelines... Maybe.

[Robin Leigh]

I use the term TG as an umbrella term, but sometimes I use it to refer to people who specifically identify as a mixture of genders, and don't want to be just one or the other. Like myself.

I believe that all TG people (using TG in the umbrella mode) are born with some TG propensities, due to a variety of factors. Because of this multiplicity of factors, there's not a single TG spectrum, but several overlapping & interacting spectra, depending on the strength of each of these factors, and also influenced by the environment the person grows up in.

So, because of this variety of factors, even though the basic causes are the same, one TG person may have a burning need to CD but have little desire to identify as the opposite sex, and certainly no thoughts of transition. And another TG person has virtually no interest in CDing, except they do have a strong desire to transition. This is hard to explain with a "single TG spectrum" theory.

Robin

[Casey Morgan]

Um. I don't think I can answer this without getting off topic, so:

1) Yes, in a way crossdressers and trans people are the same.
2) By those definitions I'm neither a crossdresser nor a trans person.

[Marla S]

Basically I am with Robin here.

Besides various "degrees" of feminity, I think it depends a lot on how you deal with the need to express your feminity and your ability to do so.
Not to forget the various ways to deal with it. Those are not only determined by your need to express feminity (probably for the same degree not to express masculinity), but by your citrcumstances of live, way of thinking, maybe education etc, etc.

Hence it doesn't make much sense to create or separate categories. The only one that is really "measurable" are TS folks. There is a different quality involved.

[gennee]

[SIZE="3"]I am a crossdresser and transgender. Though I have no intention of getting SRS, I am a mixture of a number of expressions. When my gender is fluid, I lean toward genderqueer. I also have androgyne tendencies.

Gennee[/SIZE]

[Tree GG]

In my wife of a CD journeys to date, we have met only two dressed MTF CD's and two FTM. My husband identifies as a crossdresser who is not interested in hormones or permanent feminine body changes. He calls himself "gender gifted" (He's read too many CD books lately)

Anyway, I personally would not consider a person who wants to transition (either MTF or FTM) a CD. I consider that more transexual - and both are under the transgender umbrella. Just my own interpretations to keep it clear in my mind - not necessarily technically accurate.

But there are definite differences. TS individuals have a broader, more urgent scope of issues to deal with (identification, employment, medical, etc.) CDing almost looks like "just for fun" in comparison. I'm not trying to trivialize the CDer's needs, just in the few CD's that we have met face-to-face that are wanting to either live full time in non-birth gender or transition, "just" CDing doesn't seem carry the same seriousness.

Course I love to tell the husband, "Everyone who wants to transition started out CDing, but not all CD's transition".

[celeste26]

Usually words mean things.

However, here, there seems to be a drift in meanings. Along with all the other issues we need to keep up with the word meanings too?

[Robin Leigh]

Along with all the other issues we need to keep up with the word meanings too?

I'm afraid so, Celeste.

We need the definitions to drift, so that they can keep up with the evolving concepts. Maybe we need a CD.com Glossary.



Robin

[MJ]

thank you for the replies the umbrella term such as G,L,B,T i think does not fit us but we are all under the same umbrella but not part of the group
a . gay not
b. lesbian not
c. bisexual not
d. Transgendered unmm yes
so i wanted your ideas on this matter. so i can understand thanks

[PaulaJaneThomas]

It's all part of the same continuem. We are all transgender.

[lynn27]

No, it isn't really the same thing. CD'ers generally look to modify their appearance were as TG's generally look to modify their body. BUT, I think everyone is different, even among CD's and TG's there are wide differences. Some people that identify as TG would never go thru SRS, were as many that identify as CD'ers have gone as far as HRT.

I think the word "spectrum" is very appropriate to describe our wide diversity. These words CD, TG, TS, ect are just points along that spectrum. We choose to identify ourselves with one of these words, based on our belief of their meaning and our feelings. One person's meaning can differ widely from another's meaning.

[Marla S]

thank you for the replies the umbrella term such as G,L,B,T i think does not fit us but we are all under the same umbrella but not part of the group
a . gay not
b. lesbian not
c. bisexual not
d. Transgendered unmm yes
so i wanted your ideas on this matter. so i can understand thanks

Sexual orientation and gender identity are two different things.
GLBT is more of a political platform (not a very good one, though), than really a suitable umbrella term.

[Robin Leigh]

It's all part of the same continuem. We are all transgender.

I'll agree, as long as you agree that it's a multidimensional continuum, not just a single spectrum.

PS. Love the avatar.

Robin

[ErikaLeigh]

Well I consider myself a crossdresser, but under the umbrella of TG. I think of a TS as someone making body changes, if its just hormones, or SRS. I dont consider myself part of the GLBT category though. That is a whole different world in my opinion usually with bold declarations of who they are, and thats fine for them, but my CDing is part of my private life for the most part and I prefer to keep it that way. Well with the exception of going out a little, and then its to blend in.

[Casey Morgan]

We need the definitions to drift, so that they can keep up with the evolving concepts.

I agree. Let's not forget, "transgender" originally (and still does) refer to a specific category of people rather than the whole of the Transgender community, and that group wasn't transsexuals.

[PaulaJaneThomas]

I'll agree, as long as you agree that it's a multidimensional continuum, not just a single spectrum.

Very much multi-dimensional

PS. Love the avatar.

Robin

Thanks Some say it's a good likeness

[Kieron Andrew]

Thanks Some say it's a good likeness

it is!!!!.......................

[PaulaJaneThomas]

it is!!!!.......................

I thought you might chime in LOL

[Kieron Andrew]

I thought you might chime in LOL

but of course

[Tristan]

I think there is a difference in how pple feel about their crossdressing and their gender identity. They interviewed drag queens that do a show here in town on the news this week and for the founder he saw it as the ultimate acting experience. To dress up and perform as a woman. I would view myself as different from that in the way for me, it's not an act, it's not a matter of putting on male clothes. For me I feel that I am a man and for whatever reason I was born into the female body. I don't get caught up in the terminology.

[Charleen]

Yes i do think crossdressers and Trans people is the same thing.......crossdressing is crossing the gender barrier of two identities......transpeople is that of two genders either merging or crossing over....same thing in my mind

whether someone decides to take it one step further with surgery and pills is a different matter entirely

Well put K. We have to keep in mind that there is a wide range, but no matter where we fall, we all fit under the umbrella.
Love and xxxx, Lily