The history and future of crossdressing

[sarahcsc]

Hi all,

I was just hoping to get an idea of how crossdressing has been for the older members of the forum throughout life and how has it evolved (if at all) in terms of general acceptance and its impact on the public. Where do you think CD is heading? It seems to me thatthere is definitely more acceptance today compared to 50 years ago. And more and more CDs are coming out of their shell.

However, there is also quite a lot of taboo surrounding this issue in various other cultures and contexts... I thought its just interesting to discuss about this topic... I want to know where I'll be in the next 20 years...

[Lucy_Bella]

I am 46 years old and have been a closet dresser most all my life. My parents pushed me there in lew of shame. I guess it would depend on the area you were raised in , I was raised in the Bible Belt during the late 60's til the end of the 70's..Crossdressing was looked down upon and sin full ( still is in them parts today )..

I think it's better understood today thanks to the internet and the ability of connecting other Cder's.. I didn't have that in my 20's and early 30's ..I always felt like I was alone with a shameful disorder and getting that feeling from the few sources that was available , talk shows , bad media coverage and word of mouth ( wives leaving husbands for wearing their clothing)..

I am pretty sure my ex wife got her bad vibes from that same type of resource on how she looked at my Cding.. very Mis informed,,..Today , thanks to the internet, the Gay community movement and correct information re guarding those who CD along with support sites ,I believe it's much easier to no longer live in the closet if one chooses not to. But we have a long ways to go educating the public and getting a better ideal of the different spectrum's involved ..

[Nikki A.]

The internet has been a great barrier buster in that we finally relized that we are not alone and found a way to communicate and find acceptance within our group and aso to ourselves. Where all this leads is still a bit cloudy, I will say that there are more of us out and about than before and we are finally receiving some balanced press. How hard we work together and educate others that we are not threats to society will determine where we go from here.
As for me, I will never see the time where we will be completely accepted, but at least I have lived long enough where I can express myself and go out and about.

[Marleena]

Sarah, it looks like things are changing for the better in leaps and bounds. The internet and mass media have helped.

When I was a teen in the sixties I thought I was the only CDer in the world. In those days it was considered a mental illness. Can you believe even shock therapy was used similar to how they tried to "change" homosexuals? So I hid this part of me and repressed my feelings for decades. I only allowed myself to accept it a few months ago. I sure wish things were different back then.

[Allisa]

Please refer to a thread called Mortality it has a few slants on your quandry.Where you will be in 20 yrs. is up to you and how far you wish to go,we must all strive to dispell the lies and myths of CDing and grow as a community.

Lisa.

[Karren H]

I'm not good at predicting the future... 20 years ago I'd have never projected I'd be where I am and done what I've done. Figure I probably won't be around in 20 years so what happens won't mater much to me.

[Regan]

Things have come a long way since I started in the 60s. I could never thought of talking to anyone of my desires, they would of automatically called me a freak and gay and multiple other nasty words. Also if I had the internet in the 80s I might have been out there sooner. One of the hardest things was purchasing clothes and having all the options that are available today. I hope society will keep being more accepting of all different life styles, but time will tell.

[Dee Baker]

I think that one day crossdressing will be the “in” thing because I have done many things in my life that weren’t “cool” at the time.

One day there will probably be a country song “I Was CD when CD Wasn’t Cool”.

Dee

[ArleneRaquel]

Despite the great progress made over the 20 years or so I'm afraid the the forces of reaction are about to strike, I hope that I am wrong.

[sarahcsc]

I want to believe that things will get better from here onwards. Acceptance will come but ever so slowly as with all the great revolutions. Only problem is, there will be a lot of hurt when the revolution takes place. Like what Arlene has mentioned, that the forces of reaction might already be acting and that is very true.

News today on google news shocked and disturbed me to no end, when an Afghan man in Canada murdered his 3 teenage daughters together with his second wife and son because they were rebellious, dressing in short skirts, and dating Christians. He maintained that he wanted to preserve his "honour" above all else and this was his way of doing it. I wonder what that man wuld do, if his son was a crossdresser.

News of another man in afghanistan has reportedly strangled his wife to death when he realised that she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son.

Then again, you don't hear of news where crossdressers gather together in a bar and celebrated their differences. I like to belive this veil of ignorance will be liften with the internet and hopefully encourage mainstream science to conduct more research on the subject to help us understand ourselves better. I don't know how I would've survived in my parents' era...

[ArleneRaquel]

Sarah, it looks like things are changing for the better in leaps and bounds. The internet and mass media have helped.

When I was a teen in the sixties I thought I was the only CDer in the world. In those days it was considered a mental illness. Can you believe even shock therapy was used similar to how they tried to "change" homosexuals? So I hid this part of me and repressed my feelings for decades. I only allowed myself to accept it a few months ago. I sure wish things were different back then.
Marleena,
I hope that you are right.

[Marleena]

Marleena,
I hope that you are right.

It is only hope Arlene.:)

We've come a long way since I was a kid.

[AnitaH]

It is certainly a different society that it was 40 years ago. There was nothing good about a CD'r, we were called some wicked names that and no access to something like the internet you felt all alone. The only way to live in that society was to never let anyone know. Suppression of this side of oneself was the rule of the day and I must say I did that all to well. That takes a toll on a person however, nothing good results from suppressing yourself. Its taken a great deal of therapy to find myself. Its only been less that six months that I have accepted that this is who I am. I am finally getting comfortable with it and myself. With the internet and more acceptance of society the younger generation may not experience the pain and even hopelessness that many of us older ladies experienced. It's my hope that this continues to be more accepted in our society but like others here I see some warning signs that a backlash may be in the future, I certainly hope not.

AnitaH

[STACY B]

Back in the 80s all the rock band were cross dressers ,, look at all the old videos on youtube an yull see ,, Thay looked more like girl than the real girls did ,, I think we just let it slip away,, We had it made an did nt even know it, Lets just bring it all back

[SethAutumn]

Yes in older days the dressing sense is very good.

[Tanya C]

When I was growing up being TG was considered some kind of sexual deviancy or mental illness. Now, in some places we are a protected minority with actual civil rights.
Perhaps in the future society will reach a point where most people simply won't care that much about another's gender expression, and will basically accept us by default.

[sarahcsc]

Back in the 80s all the rock band were cross dressers ,, look at all the old videos on youtube an yull see ,, Thay looked more like girl than the real girls did ,, I think we just let it slip away,, We had it made an did nt even know it, Lets just bring it all back

Well... I get this feeling that they got away only because they were rockstars.. >_< I bet we could set our own trend if we were famous enough. People just follow whats trendy and the trend is decided by whoever is famous.

[kimdl93]

how its evolved....my god I"m not that old!!! I can't speak for 50 years ago, nor even cmpare the general level of acceptance today vs 20 years ago. I think generally the public is more accepting of individuals who stray from the median a bit, but we also still have a lot of individuals who see any deviation from their standards as evidence of moral decay and corruption.

The biggest change, certainly, is the impact of the internet. With this new medium, we suddenly find ourselves part of a community instead of being isolated, often deeply closeted individuals. Being part of a community changes our behavior. Many of us take courage and examples of others. And we find support and advice for dealing with the realities of our lives. So, I think we are more accepting of ourselves, which makes it easier to come out of our shells.

[jillleanne]

Ok, let's see if I can remember this correctly:

1954 - They burned us at the cross for heiracy.
1969 - We rebelled and burned our bra's, but got to see lot's of buddies. ( Now that was really dumb wasn't it? lol ) Didn't last and the bra's went back on but we got our point across.
1974 - There are gay people walking out in public? Wow, are they ever weird( and brave). Meanwhile, the closets around the world were full of tg people wishing they were as brave. Reports of violence against gays become more frequent. Tg people not liking the idea of violence against them remain in the closets. Virginia Prince is becoming a popular and controversial person.
1989 - Apple and Microsoft have been duelling for 5 years now at who has the best o/s. People are becoming better educated on the GLBT communities. Rallies, violence, media reports become more frequest. Politicians are taking sides publicly. Organizations for GLBT people are growing in numbers and public awareness grows.
2004 - Modern medical science has become educated on GLBT issues, laws protecting GLBT people become more commonplace, public education and acceptance/tolerance grows, politicians take sides for 'vote getting'and renig on promises. Public appearances by the GLBT communities grow. Media continues to provide more access to information. The internet has become a common place connection that cannot be supressed.
2019 - Prince Abu Dabi announces he is transgender and makes laws protecting tg people in the small middle eastern country. Other middle eastern nations are up in arms over the decision by the Prince. At home, Vice President Buck Naked marries long time transsexual boyfriend and musician Bobbie Betty in a quiet ceremony in Los Angeles this morning. VP Naked told the press in an interview shortly after the wedding, " The Buck stops here."
In other news, a club in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas burst into flames last night after an explosion. People scrambles to escape the inferno. Sisteen people are still missing. The owner of the club( The Silk Stocking ) which caters primarily to transgender people says he suspects the cause of the explosion to be the work of a sick bigotted individual. Police chief Gonna Check says his department is staying on this case until solved. " There is no place in our society for things like this to happen and it is our goal to ensure everyone gets the same protection. Transgender people must be protected just like everyone else after all, they too are just people like you and me. Many of our officers in this department are transgender and do their jobs as wel as anyone here" says the chief.
2034 - Canada has elected a new Prime Minister in a landslide vote at the polls yesterday. Liberal leader Hava Heart, Canada's first transgender Prime Minister lead the polls all day and finished off with a majority decision of 67% of the voters in favor of her party. During an interview last night after the close of the election at the celebrant's ball room gathering for it's members, Hava said, " I believe in the Canadian people and their right to have a leader that not only enforces the laws of this great nation, but also enforces the unbiased beliefs of it's people. Today, the people of Canada have proven they place no importance on whether someone is a man or a woman or how they dress, but rather a person. " Asked what Hava will be doing tomorrow as the new Prime minister elect, Hava Heart said with a smile, " Well, I think I better go shopping for some new clothes shouldn't I ?"