Is crossdressing a _necessary_ symptom of gender dysphoria?

[Jay Cee]

I have full out crossdressed a few times in the past six months, which is how long I have acknowledged to myself that I am (at the very least) TG. While I enjoy it, I haven't done it much in the past couple of months, other than night clothing, painted toenails, some jewelry, and so forth. I have noticed, however, that the desire to be a woman has increased dramatically in those two months.

So, if you have gender dysphoria, do you want to crossdress? Or is that a separate issue?

Thanks

Jay Cee

[Cherry Lynn]

Jay Cee, your situation sounds like what I have been going through for the last few months. I am not dressing fully or going out much but the desire for SRS is driving me up the wall.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

short answer...NO....

not even remotely.

[Sophie_C]

Agreed. I dress rarely and it's as clear as day, every single day...

[christinac]

I am not dressing fully or going out much but the desire for SRS is driving me up the wall.

I know exactly what you mean there, Danielle. But Jay Cee, the answer to your question is no. The desire to crossdress is not necessarily a symtom of gender dysphoria. Some crossdress purely for fetish reasons, and some crossdress just because they like the feel of womens clothing.

There are many people both male and female with gender dysphoria who do not crossdress at all either by choice or circumstances. An example of what I mean by circumstances is that for years I didn't dare to even joke about crossdressing or it would have distroyed my career.

[CharleneT]

That rush is sometimes called the "Pink Fog", enjoy it !


GID is a completely different thing, in most cases you "know it" from your earliest memories. That said, sometimes people with GID do cross dress. In many cases it is an attempt to give yourself and outlet, with the hope it will make life as a man bearable. Often CDing just makes it feel worse.

[Stephanie Anne]

Separate but equal issue. You may crossdress in hopes of "curing" your dysphoria but it by no means is a symptom of transsexuality. If you really are suffering a dysphoric state then you really need to see someone to make sure it is not a body image disorder.

[christinac]

If you really are suffering a dysphoric state then you really need to see someone to make sure it is not a body image disorder.

I never thought about body image disorder before and it makes prefectly good sense too.:bonk:

[Melody Moore]

No I don't think it is - I didn't dress as a female very often as a child & also only did it on the very rare occasion
as an adult because of the shame & guilt I felt when I did it because I could see very clearly that I was a female.
I know now the real reason I was dressing up as a female was for validation reasons because I was trying to work
out if I was meant to be a boy or a girl. But despite the feeling of shame & guilt I had every time I dressed as a girl,
I could ever forget the deep down feelings that I always felt happier with what I seen when I was in femme mode.

So I had no doubts that this was who I am. Despite this early discovery about my true gender identity it became
my battle because I knew who I was and who I was meant to be, but I know that many people in society wouldn't
accept me as my true self. So I was in a kind of 'I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't' type situation. For many
years I was gripped in the battle of gender dysphoria - my female side competing with my male side & slowly each side
was slowly killing each other and the conflict that went on between my two gender identities nearly killed me. I tried
very hard to repress the female side, however she was very strong and would always manage to fight her way back.

My male side was obviously weaker & it never felt anywhere near as natural as the female side of me which I always
fought hard to try & repress it because of the 'boy bits' between my legs. Eventually I learnt to understand & accept
that gender identity is not defined by what is between your legs, it is really defined by what is between your ears &
what you learn about you true self. Because of the freedom & the inner peace I feel now I have no doubts that I kept
Melody locked in a box for many years. But now that she is out of her prison there is no way that she will ever go back.

[Barbara Dugan]

Separate but equal issue. You may crossdress in hopes of "curing" your dysphoria but it by no means is a symptom of transsexuality. If you really are suffering a dysphoric state then you really need to see someone to make sure it is not a body image disorder.

I have some curiosity on what may be a symptom of body image disorder?

[Jay Cee]

I have some curiosity on what may be a symptom of body image disorder?

I think this link explains it well: http://www.suite101.com/content/body-dysmorphic-disorder-a16840

I don't believe I have it. But I'm going to talk to a counsellor about whatever disorder I may or may not have.

[Pythos]

night clothing, painted toenails, some jewelry, and so forth

Well, perhaps there is another answer.

YOu are NOT in fact TG, but instead a guy that enjoys these things, none of which are inhearently feminine. They have only been relatively recently categorized as such.

This I think is a trap many of us fall into, and often do not acknowlege.

In a chat I had with the GG I had with a new pair of pants she got herself. They were girls jeans, skin tight, low rise (in many aspect to me awful, the low rise gave her a prominent plumbers butt, which even on a cute woman, just looks awful). She stated how "feminine" they made her feel. I asked her how a pair of pants can make her feel what she already is. Well, she began saying how women like to feel sexy, and that tight or sleek clothing was very sexy, and to be sexy is feminine. I had to stop her, because what I was hearing was the dogma that has been shoved down peoples throats. I countered nicely with "so the opposite of feminine is masculine, and to be masculine is un sexy. Why don't guys want to feel sexy.

Then I got her with my observation about how male clothing is made to block off the senses, as well as hide our bodies.

She was like "Oh yea, I don't know how you guys can wear the stuff you do...excluding you of course" (the last part was in reference to my odd style).

My point in this is that we silly humans fall into these silly social constructs that limit us, and our expression.

When we say something makes us feel like such and such. What is it about that item that changes our perception of what we are?

I have said many times, I can no more understand what it feels like to be feminine, as I could to feel what it is like to be a turtle.

I was born and raised as a human male. I have had stupid and limiting notions crammed down my throat by a society that wants to limit one group and promote another.

Well, anyway. Jay Cee, you may be like me and just enjoy these things that have been denied you for no good reason. Enjoy them. :)

[Inna]

I would call it degree of "true self evidence". Crossdressing is a major part of feeling of opposite sex, how else can one experience femininity without introduction of hormones and lifestyle. But deeper I've gone the less importance mere cloth has made and feeling of femininity spread throughout my psyche. No longer did I have to express womanliness through clothing in order to anthropomorphize ( incarnate ) but simply, I was seeking a final expression, reality based projection of true feminine self. I wanted my skin and bone to reflect my inner state. Is crossdressing that different from being an all inclusive transwoman or is it just the degree of assimilation we are seeking.

[Jessinthesprings]

I have full out crossdressed a few times in the past six months, which is how long I have acknowledged to myself that I am (at the very least) TG. While I enjoy it, I haven't done it much in the past couple of months, other than night clothing, painted toenails, some jewelry, and so forth. I have noticed, however, that the desire to be a woman has increased dramatically in those two months.

So, if you have gender dysphoria, do you want to crossdress? Or is that a separate issue?

Thanks

Jay Cee

I would say it is a symptom or side effect of gender dysphoria as more of a true expression of ones self than an actual desire and release of crossdressing.

[Byanca]

Everone needs to be dressed. It's illegal to do otherwise. I say dressing is a product of laws and power, not something else.

[Byanca]

In many cases it is an attempt to give yourself and outlet, with the hope it will make life as a man bearable. Often CDing just makes it feel worse.
If one have GID. I think it is just stupid to not dress as yourself. How it is considered crossdressing I don't know, just an invention that one can choose to believe in or not. It's a perception. And perceptions can be changed. Perceptions are decided by authority, like media that moulds our psychology.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

byanca, i think you may be harsh in how you say it, but it's true..

there is NO reason to NOT crossdress as you develop your identity

in my opinion, we are simply trying to lead our best lives...and so the above is true, so is the opposite, there is also no reason to dress and it won't help you much if you don't care about dressing..or don't want to dress ...you can't create a desire that isn't there...

one ts i know personally has transitioned very well, and she never ever dressed...she says "i feel like an idiot" when she dresses up, and yet she had ffs, srs, has long gorgeous hair and passes totally in sweat and sneakers...go figure..

society is rough on crossdressing..it's played for laughs or used to show how criminals are "crazy" on tv, it's mocked by boys as you grow up, on an on...positive crossdresser role models are hard to find (although they do exist)
you may feel like seeing yourself dressed is scary and traumatic, you female self may be safe in her cocoon and you simply don't want to feel like a big lug in a dress..
if you "know" you are ts, you may also be grasping at straws like i did to convince yourself that you are not ts...we sometimes play all kinds of mind games with ourselves to try to stay sane..

Jay cee..

if you noticed in that link, nowhere did it say mtf "body dysmorphic disorder"....i would urge you to ignore that as a real possibility because it isn't... people do cut off limbs and such, but it has nothing at all to do with identity...
when you get your deep thinking going around this...try to use the "keep it simple rule"...saying "i desperately desire to be a woman" is a pretty simple concept...and whether you think of yourself as a woman now, or always known you are a woman, whether you crossdress or don't.. it's irrelevant to the basic concept... I kick myself when i think of how many times I denied that simple thought and just kept digging my hole deeper and deeper..

[Kelsy]

If you're a woman it is natural that you would want to dress like one but if you can stand there in men's jeans, workboots and a tee shirt and your mind still says I'm a woman then that is the essense of the predicament. if the main need is to be female and not just dress like one ,then the dressing is just a symptom an expression of the inner reality!

[Julia_in_Pa]

Jay Cee,

Prior to my transition in 2006 I was never able to dress the way I needed to.
I started HRT through my doctor back in 2001.
Being on HRT allowed me to deal with the fact I had to dress as a man until transition.
The first day of full time living was the first time I had dressed in the correct clothing in years.
So in my opinion you are who you are and the clothing is just a outward representation of what you actually are.


Julia

[Byanca]

byanca, i think you may be harsh in how you say it, but it's true..

there is NO reason to NOT crossdress as you develop your identity

in my opinion, we are simply trying to lead our best lives...and so the above is true, so is the opposite, there is also no reason to dress and it won't help you much if you don't care about dressing..or don't want to dress ...you can't create a desire that isn't there...

one ts i know personally has transitioned very well, and she never ever dressed...she says "i feel like an idiot" when she dresses up, and yet she had ffs, srs, has long gorgeous hair and passes totally in sweat and sneakers...go figure..

society is rough on crossdressing..it's played for laughs or used to show how criminals are "crazy" on tv, it's mocked by boys as you grow up, on an on...positive crossdresser role models are hard to find (although they do exist)
you may feel like seeing yourself dressed is scary and traumatic, you female self may be safe in her cocoon and you simply don't want to feel like a big lug in a dress..
if you "know" you are ts, you may also be grasping at straws like i did to convince yourself that you are not ts...we sometimes play all kinds of mind games with ourselves to try to stay sane..

Yes. But I also think that there is a strong connection to identity with dressing. Muslims is a good excample. It's the hijab that make who they are. I think it's the same in western countries, just different. If this was not the case 'crossdressing' would not be looked down on. It would be a non issue.

So very cultural, a form of religion.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

i never thought of this question...how interesting!

cultures are so different...i will say that it's pretty uncommon for any culture (although they do exist) to EMBRACE forms of transgenderism..regardless of the subsection

[BriannaCD]

For many years I was gripped in the battle of gender dysphoria - my female side competing with my male side & slowly each side
was slowly killing each other and the conflict that went on between my two gender identities nearly killed me. I tried
very hard to repress the female side, however she was very strong and would always manage to fight her way back.


I can so relate to this portion of you writing. I on the other hand, continue to live in my male role out of guilt and shame. I was diagnosed with GID as per the Harry Benjamin Standards as well as the DSM-V many many years ago. To this day, the two sides of me fight each other daily and it can be exhausting to say the least.

So glad that you are able to be yourself now.

:-)
Bri