CD and transgenderism without internet (~10 year ago)

[Tina Francis]

Hi Gurls,

Today I enjoying all the time the communication about CDing and transgenderism via the internet.

What I experienced in the last few years is much more than in the last three decades. I can't imagine what happens when I have had these possibilities several year ago.

Without the internet I only found some information in very rare articles in some magazines. I though I was nearly alone and I have to out myself. I cd always in the secret under crazy conditions (e.g. no forms).

Maybe I found a complete different way of my life and I think I haven't achived the actual level of transition.

Exchanging experiences, beauty tips, etc. is so easy and impouves the transition essentially.

What is your meaning, how you experience the past, did you maybe chose a different way when you have had these possibilities 10 to 20 years ago?

:doh::daydreaming::heehee:

Hugs
Tina

[Gerrijerry]

ten years ago you already had cd groups such as TRI ESS and rainbow support groups. Twenty years ago there was only a few hidden groups that you found out about if you had a friend of a friend who happened to know about it. Before that you either stayed in the closet or everyone gave you a hard time. Of course today with the world wide internet every thing is open and out there to help and support. The groups of support are getting larger by the day. People are much more accepting of others. Doctors will help now instead of trying to cure you LOL. Surgery is possible now.
So of course over the years for those that are CD or TS life was different. Changed along the way. Very few ever dreamed that there would be a day when all of us could actually walk down the street and the law would help protect us and people would say hello instead of .....

[LilSissyStevie]

Before the internet, I thought there was only one freak like me in the universe. Now, I'm sure of it.

[Rhonda Jean]

Although I love the interaction I have with others now, I strongly believe that my parents, and early on even my wife's comfort level with it all was more positive because they didn't have such ready access to information. Back then, their entire concept of of the behavior they saw in me was based on ME. I'm certain I was better off because they had no way of accessing the endless research, information, porn, etc. that is all over the web about what it means when a boy or man exhibits the behavors and tendancies that I exhibited. I know for a fact that my wife's acceptance dropped like a rock when she started doing her own internet research. It did not help her understand me. It scared her. I'm lucky that my dad and stepmom don't own or know how to operate a computer!

[Daenna Paz]

Before the internet, I thought there was only one freak like me in the universe.

Pretty much my story ... :eek:

[StaceyJane]

10 years ago there were already several TG groups online. I was begining to find myself through some online groups back then.
20 years ago I was on my own. Sometimes there would be something on TV or in the the newspaper but not much and it was very hard to connect with anyone.

[MelodyS.]

I remember how alone I used to feel before the internet. The only exposure to crossdressers I had would either be mpovies in which they were treated more like clowns or daytime talk shows like Donahue in whoch it was treated very seriously or mocked depending on the guest, and even then I thought most of it was not real.

I will never forget the first time I got on the internet, as soon as I was alone, I did a search for crossdressers and my world exploded. I was not alone anymore, I must of been up the entire night reading stories of people that were all pretty much the same as mine and seeing wonderful pictures of other girls that inspired me to work on my own look.

I for one thank the internet for that.

[Samantha_Smile]

Before I discovered this place and others like it online, the world did seem a bit lonely.
All I ever read or saw on TV was that CDing more or less meant you wanted to be a girl, and I didnt, so out and out confusion gripped me for a long time.
There was also shame because and some of you have suggested, CDs et al get mocked on a fairly regular basis in tabloid rags.

I woulnt be where I am today (in both life and CDing) if it were not for the internet.

[NV Susan]

Before the internet, I thought there was only one freak like me in the universe. Now, I'm sure of it.


Pretty much my story ... :eek:It's the same for me too.....

[MargaretJ]

This site is a godsend, as CDing is a solitary pastime for me, and I have enjoyed reading lots of the posts, in particular the first time out threads. Also a great source of info, I mean how else would you find out that anti chaffing gel is a great make up primer. I very much doubt if my CDing would have gotten as far as it has, without the internet and this site.

[Rianna Humble]

Before the internet, I thought there was only one freak like me in the universe. Now, I'm sure of it.


Pretty much my story ... :eek:


It's the same for me too.....

That would be the difference then, in the days before the Internet, I didn't think I was the only freak in the universe. I knew I was!

Twenty years ago, I was still sufferiong from the wrong teaching of a group of misguided people who had told me that gender, like sexuality was the result of right or wrong choices - binary gender, heterosexuality = good choice, everything else = bad choice.

Perhaps if I had known 47 years ago what I have discovered through this forum more than anywhere else, I might not have spent so long denying who I truly am.

Bit the plain fact is that I didn't know and I did spend all that time denying my true self. I simply hope that my example can help to avoid someeone else having to spend so long in purgatory.

[Vickie_CDTV]

There were TG sites online going back to at least 1994, and I venture to guess to the earliest days of the world wide web in some form.

In the 80s and early 90s there was Donahue (bless his heart) and his various imitators. Tri-Ess frequently appeared appeared, along with IFGE and gave out their address and phone number. I was in high school and wanted to write Tri-Ess but didn't dare in came my parents intercepted it.

From the 50s until today there were ("clean") contact magazines (like Transvestia, TV/TS Tapestry etc.) if one was willing to venture into a dirty book store to get them, and people could find contact info and write to each other and possibly find a group; writing letters, seems like the dark ages doesn't it? :daydreaming:

[Diane Smith]

People did sometimes hook their computers together before the Internet revolution of the mid-'90s.

In the Dark Ages of the personal computer, as far back as the late 1970s, there were dialup bulletin boards dealing with many of the same issues that web based forums tackle today. I remember two TG-oriented BBSs in particular, the Jersey Shore System in (naturally) New Jersey, and Feminet in California, that I was using regularly by 1984 or so. It required a (very) long distance call from my home in Illinois to reach either one, and modem speeds topped out at 1200 or 2400 bps in those days, so I remember needing to explain the $200+ monthly phone bills to those two numbers to my mom, who thought I was downloading software and such to support my new personal computer hobby. Although the graphics are much slicker now and you don't need to spend so much or know as much about computers to get connected, the content and level of traffic on those two systems was remarkably similar to the forums of today. There were also crossdressing forums and chat rooms on the big commercial information systems like The Source and Compuserve (which is probably where I learned about the dialup BBS numbers). For those lucky enough to have an Internet connection back then (this was when it was basically restricted to universities and a few high-tech companies), there were (are) Usenet newsgroups like alt.fashion.crossdressing that date back at least to the '70s.

- Diane

[JenniferR771]

I was amazed and delighted when I first found some cd information in magizines like "Ladylike", and my local adult bookstore. Also stories by "Sandy Turner". Imagine my intense interest when I went to the library and looked up Fictionmania com on their rental computer. An earthquake couldn't have kept my eyes off the screen.

[Kate Simmons]

The info was out there but it was mostly geared towards transitioning or being a drag queen,. It seemed like there was no middle ground or other options. Now we know transitioning is not for everyone but only those who really need to do it. We know we have other options.These days thanks to the plethora of info on the net, it seems more than likely that the thinking person will fathom where he or she will fit in in a more painless way and a lot sooner than previously.:)

[Kaz]

Before the internet, I thought there was only one freak like me in the universe. Now, I'm sure of it.

It is very simple... if this kit had been around twenty years ago, my life would have been different. If the internet had been around in 1969... I would not have upset the people I have and yes I would be living a different life right now.

So I guess the future is bright for young people embarking on this journey now? They will find acceptance and tolerance where we found hostility and rejection?

I hope so... xx

[jessica renee]

It's like they say "if I knew then what I know now". Maybe I wouldn't have to sneak out of the house and be worried that I'm gonna run into someone I know while I'm out dressed.

[MsJanessa]

I was introduced to the internet about 12 years ago--before that it was incredibly lonely---I thought I was the only one

[Butterfly Bill]

Ten years ago it was alt.support.crossdressing and alt.fashion.crossdressing and Laura and Diane exchanging obscenities.

I had a mother who took lots of psychology classes on her way to becoming a speech therapist, and she told me about "transvestites" about the same time that Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was in the theaters, and she had a copy of Havelock Ellis's three volume set The Psychology of Sex, so I knew I was not all alone in the world.

[Ana5551]

I know hat if i had access to the information that I have now, it would have changed my life 20 years ago. When I was 14 was the first time my parents found out I liked to crossdress. At that time I could have had more of a voice with all of what I know now thanks to the internet.

[Asako]

So I guess the future is bright for young people embarking on this journey now? They will find acceptance and tolerance where we found hostility and rejection?Only if they have the courage to face their feelings head on instead of burying them as deep as possible like I did. If I had actually tried to find out more instead of letting my fear of those feelings control me, I would have a very different life right now. Hindsight is 20/20. 14 years is a long time to run from something.

[Sophie_C]

Well, without being all technical, around 15 years ago, most people weren't using the internet, so let's just use that as the bar. At the time, I clearly remember that Springer was running tgirls in his circus and girls like Caroline "Tula" Cossey were shown on night shows like Arsenio, so there was an awareness there. I can't remember where I had seen crossdressing, but it was simply "known" by most people. I was alone, but I knew I wasn't the only one. I didn't want to deal with the TS thing, at all, just like I really don't want to, right now. Not much has changed, I guess...

[Lucy_Bella]

Yes internet has change CDing for me....The way I was raised ( don't wear girls clothes ) really threw me deep into the closet to hide and hate cding.
Once the internet evolved I started searching, looking for answers as to why am I doing this. I slowly understood I wasn't the only one and that I didn't have to be Gay to enjoy female clothing. But still very deep in the closet and married to an unacceptable partner I continued to search looking for some kind of reason why I have these urges to dress..

To be very honest I had to really search the internet to find a clean site for support and understanding most all of these webs we nothing but PORN and no wonder cding has such a bad rep. But for me it was a very valued tool. I know understand myself better but not fully yet . I have this site ,the staff and of course all the great members to thank..

Oh and the internet also helps buying items more discret so no need to be embarassed standing in a checkout line..

I am slowly learning that being Transgender isn't the end of the world and there is life after self acceptance ,now the next step of introduce Lucy to a few more people to cut the isolation time down ..All this and thanks to the internet..

[Tima]

What is your meaning, how you experience the past, did you maybe chose a different way when you have had these possibilities 10 to 20 years ago?

Twenty years ago I was in my mother’s womb, so I’m lucky in that I’ve always had the Internet. I don’t quite understand it when people say there wasn’t as much information, especially about crossdressing, in the recent past. Really? I have nothing to compare it to. I didn’t have to look too far for knowledge, and I find this site to be extremely useful. I wouldn’t have chosen a different way, no matter what the circumstances!

[Nicole Erin]

I don’t quite understand it when people say there wasn’t as much information, especially about crossdressing, in the recent past. Really? I have nothing to compare it to. I didn’t have to look too far for knowledge, and I find this site to be extremely useful.

when I first started serious on my TG path, it was around 1997. It was not til 1999 that I learned how to use the internet.
The internet has put a lot of printed media out of business, but I also remember having to rummage a lot to find any kind of info. Magazines like TG Tapestry , ladylike, and transformation were my first source of anything educational. I did know that TG existed mostly cause when I was a little kid, there was a band called Culture Club and Boy George was the singer, who was very much a, well, whatever label but he dressed as a woman.
I remember looking up "gay/lesbian" in the phone book to see if they knew of any TG related groups. The guy who answered told me about IXE.

It is hard to imagine the world without the internet now cause we rely on it so much.
As of today, it takes a few keys and a mouse click to get most of whatever you want.

Now me, I cannot imagine how hard it was to connect say like before I was born. Imagine the difficulties that women like Christine Jorgensen wnet thru in trying to transition. Us poor girls like me would never have had a chance.

[LilSissyStevie]

... I cannot imagine how hard it was to connect say like before I was born.

Back in the olden days, you were isolated if you lived in the suburbs, a small town or a rural area. But larger cities usually had some kind of "bohemian" area where misfits of all kinds congregated. In New York it might be Greenwich Village or the Sunset Strip in LA. When I lived in Baltimore, we seemed to gravitate toward Waverly. The community was usually made up of gays, beatniks, hippies, artists, political minorities (I was a Trotskyist in those days), and etc. There was always a more or less separate "red light" district where all the sexual deviants gathered. You might find transfolk in either area. In a way, those were more interesting times because the various types of "misfits" had not separated into their own little protected ghettos like they can do on the internet. You were exposed, on a personal level, to a lot of different kinds of people. On balance, it's much better now but people were not totally isolated in the pre-internet world as long as they were willing to uproot themselves.

[Suzette Muguet de Mai]

When I was a teenager there was no one I could turn to for advice. In those days if you were discovered to be "different" you were the brunt of physical and verbal harassment. It was a Friday night event for the "different people" to be the focus of gang harassment. One feared to openly say I liked to dress in feminine attire, or dare venture anywhere with a hint of make-up left on your face. I thought that my interest in dressing feminine was a sign of mental instability, supported by an aunt who was a sister at a mental institution telling stories of her recent hospital cases. I only wish that what we have today in the way of the internet, blogs, forums and advice were around when I was a teenager. Maybe I would have transitioned without the need to "prove the male part" to the world in the way of weight training, martial arts, and stupidity resulting in a much altered physique, somewhat resembling an ape. Sigh so sad to remember the physique I had prior to gym visits, I was very petite, hence subjected to ridicule. Ten or fifteen years ago I joined some yahoo groups labeled seahorse only to see them dissolved due to idiots harassing message boards. Even access to online shopping was not around so accessing feminine attire was usually restricted to family discards. Now, I am so happy with forums like here. I shop online and explore my feminine side with enthusiasm. Currently I am trying to lose my weight to achieve my once smaller size and I am getting there slowly but safely. I am willing to offer advice from my experiences and willing to listen too through the forum discussions. I must say that the internet, today has opened my world to realizing I am not alone, and many emotions flood at times when I read others stories similar to mine. Maybe one day I will put a photo of myself here, till then I tread very carefully and always remember the past that still haunts me at times, hiding in the closet fearing to look too far from the doors. I say YAYAYAY for the internet, it has helped immensely.

[Patty B.]

I'm just another who had this been around in 1970, I'm sure my life would be different than it is, no idea how different, but just have to deal with the present, cant change the past.

[Angela Rose]

I can only speak for myself and my life in UK. I found it much easier to CD and go out before the Internet arrived and even well before computers arrived. In those days, as long as the CD did not look ridiculas, and some of them did, the general public assumed that the CD was a GG girl,because they didn't know any diffferent. But now the general public knows what to look for. In pre-Computer days even policemen seeing high heels, nylons, long hair style, good makeup, skirt suit and handbag, would assume that they were seeing a woman. Mind you if the CD did something to make the policeman think otherwise, then all hell would break loose. The good thing about the internet is that it has educated the public to be more tolerant towards people with a different lifestyle than their own. Some people of course don't want to be educated about anything.

[erickka]

This site is a godsend, as CDing is a solitary pastime for me, and I have enjoyed reading lots of the posts, in particular the first time out threads. Also a great source of info, I mean how else would you find out that anti chaffing gel is a great make up primer. I very much doubt if my CDing would have gotten as far as it has, without the internet and this site.

Oh My God!! You said it! Twenty years ago I was totally alone and in limbo, so I guess the internet has been a blessing

[Angelofsomekind]

Before we had the internet I thought I was the biggest freak ever. I think if I had this back when I was starting to dress I would have been far more comfortable with it knowing how many of us there are. I would probably have learned makeup long before I actually did, had a bigger wardrobe, and had gone out a lot earlier than I did.

[Joy3]

When I was young[started about 7or 8] and for many years I thought I was possessed by the "devil". I thought I was the only person with this compulsion to dress as a girl. This compulson was accompanied by immense guilt. When i discovered how many of us girls existed via the internet it resulted in lessoning my feelings of guilt a great deal.

We will never know the "why", but can and need to know the reality of our need.

[Angie G]

I would have loved it 20 years ago. Maybe I would have come out to my wife sooner. It definitely would have made that time more enjoyable.:hugs:
Angie

[Julogden]

When I first found info on the community, mid 1970's, it was in adult book stores. There were magazines published by Cathy Slavik under the Empathy Press name, and were not porn, they were essentially support for the transgender community, which didn't really exist yet. There was also Transvestia published by TriEss by Virginia Prince. I made a few pen pals all over the US through the Empathy Press magazines, so communication was slow, you literally exchanged letters sent via the USPS. I became a member of the national TriEss back then, but didn't attend a meeting of the local chapter in Chicago until the mid-1980's, and shortly after joined another support group, the Chicago Gender Society. Between TriEss and CGS, I really blossomed. The Internet stuff wasn't part of my world until 1997. It truly is a great thing for us, in my opinion. Access to information regarding gender issues was almost imossible to find back in my early years. Nowadays there's a whole transgender world available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's amazing to an old-timer like me. In my younger years, I was totally alone, now I know that we are everywhere. I can go to local stores and see openly TG people working there, what a difference.

Carol

[NathalieX66]

Anyone remember the Susana Marques website?
Two decades ago, I remember a boutique that was advertised in the back of the Fairfield Country, Ct. entertainment newspaper, the Advocate called something like Eidelweiss boutique in NY City that specialized in makeovers and merchandise for CD'ers.

[Vickie_CDTV]

Ah yes, I have a small collection of Empathy Press/Cathy Slavik's "The Transvestite" magazine. Great stuff, though I liked Transvestia a bit more. Ladylike was my favorite and have about half of them, I'd love to complete my collection of those but they are almost impossible to find today.

I have copies of a Donahue and Geraldo show where Caroline Cossy appeared. She was a real class act, too bad we don't hear from her anymore.