C.D.ing in the 21st century.

[suzy1]

This is dedicated to all the young girls here………. blast you!

Aren’t the young C.D. girls lucky today?
They have the internet and can go online and find they are among a whole crowd of us out in the wide world.
They join crossdressers and talk to and make friends with other girls.
Even any guilt that they are suffering from is lessened or gone when they find out they are not alone, doing anything wrong, anything weird, or anything immoral.

Then they post a cute picture looking all innocent and flawless!

Blast it, I want to live my time over again in the 21st century.


Feeling a little old, [but still very sexy!]

SUZY

[Laura912]

Suzy, age is only a number. You seem young at heart and mind. You could be my age and hopefully you will someday. Chin up old girl...maybe this is not a good time to use a British cliche. :)
Laura

[Amanda22]

You have a good point, Suzy. I thought I was mentally ill the first few decades of my life because I didn't know anyone else cross dressed.

[Jeannie]

I am with you girl. To be young and have all of this available to you is wonderful. Before you would have to go to some sleazy book store and buy a magazine to find out any information, whereas now you just google it and there you are. I think I was born 61 years to soon.

[Miriam-J]

Amen, Suzy. I didn't even have enough courage to look up a book or magazine, and couldn't imagine that anyone else out there was crazy enough to share the same habit. The 21st century is shaping up nicely in quite a few ways.

Miriam

[LeaP]

This is dedicated to all the young girls here………. blast you!

Blast it ...

SUZY

Shades of The Ghost and Mrs Muir!

"To the contrary, Mrs. Muir! It is you, not I, who founders on the reef of perceived mutual attraction. Blast it. The answer is no. I mean, yes. I rather fancy you my tacit inamorata, which is to say, blast!"

Lea

[Jilmac]

I may not be a spring chicken anymore but I've been told by several GGs that I look 10 to 15 years younger than my actual age when I transform into Jill, and that works well for me. When it comes right down to it, age is really just a number and if I think young I can be young.

[L0vleyme]

I am extremely thankful for the access to all the Internet content. I started to research when geocities websites where the latest and greatest. That was my early teens, I am 28 now and the wealth of networking and meeting similar people is growing so fast. It's only going to get better for newer generations

[busker]

Suzy, you've been eavesdropping on my thoughts again.

[kimdl93]

Suzy, I am right there with ya. In part its a "wish I knew then, what I know now" thing, but the world has also changed a great deal since I first hid in my sister's closet. But, we can't live our lives over....so, I'd settle for 20 year old skin!

[Julogden]

Suzy, I know EXACTLY what you mean. I was born 40 years too early. ;)

What I would give to be 20 now instead of 60.

Carol

[Miriam-J]

Perhaps this easy access to information is also what makes our young people so much more accepting of the unusual lifestyles among them, including ours.

[Glenda58]

When I was young I thought I was the only one that dresses up. The young girls now have the internet and each other. I didn't start going out till I joy this Forum and finding more people like me.

[Marleena]

Suzy I'm happy for the youngsters too! Times are changing.

The old saying is "You're not getting older, you're getting better".:)

[Salene]

Hopefully it gets even better for the following generations.

[Alice Torn]

It is the best of times, and it is the worst of times, at the same time.

[suchacutie]

Suzy, the big thing to me is that their peers have a completely different mindset from the peers of our generation. To me that is their biggest advantage. I admit to being a bit jealous :)

tina

[STACY B]

An you forgot the main thing ?? PLATFORM shoes came back !!! Dam we had to endur the ol pump erra .

[Brittany CD]

As a 20 year old, yes we are lucky

[docrobbysherry]

Suzy, I guess u haven't heard? 60 is the new 20! At least it is for Sherry!

Guess that makes the current 20's the new 6's? I'm SO SORRY, girls! You've got to go thru puberty again! Not to mention MIDDLE SCHOOL! Sigh!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Suzy, I have had all the thoughts growing up like I was the only male that ever dressed up and all the others too.

[NathalieX66]

The 21st century sure beats sharing Polaroid photos in a dark alley, that's all I can say.

I had no idea what people thought of me when I'm out & about. My area of NJ, near NY city, people are too concerned with themselves to actually give S*** about whether I'm a guy or a girl.

[barbie lanai]

In the 60's, I was 18 and in the Navy before I wandered into an adult book store and found I wasn't the only one. But even buying a book on the subject seemed taboo.

[drushin703]

True that Jeannie>> I found myself in an adult book store one evening, browsing, and found a magazine called Female Mimics.This was in the late
80's with slow computers and no internet connections.Perhaps you remember the 80's when renting an adult movie cost twenty dollars a weekend and to purchase one cost well
over ninety dollars.The magazine Female Mimics was great and ground breaking. It had stories about crossdressing, crossdressing adventures and
most importantly, pictures of crossdressers.I have thrown out countless fashion mags over the years but I still have those few copies of Female
Mimics. That magazine gave me reason to smile and not feel like the only person (like me) on earth....It was just a shame that the only place to find
it was in an adult book store...........dana

[ReineD]

Suzy, I posted the question once in this section, and asked our <25 members to respond, if it is any easier for them than the prior generation. Most said they don't feel as uptight about coming out to close friends, but they still find the world in general to be a non-accepting place in terms of jobs, girlfriends (in general), etc. They still have some friends they don't want to come out to, and of course many still experience difficulties with their families of origin.

[paige_stone]

Being 30 now its so much better than it was when i was a teen and now i feel lucky to have sites like this where i can be myself.

Your right about those in the 20's having it much better but if it were not for you girls it would not be easier for anyone so cheers to all the girls.

[Noortje]

The internet is a good start for sure, but to say that young crossdressers will have it easy? That is a bit overoptimistic. After all, all the ignorance, intolerance, bigotry or just plain lack of knowledge of the general public that is a problem for us, is also a problem for them. The guilt and anguish will be lessened for sure by the knowledge that there are more people like them. However, if every person you meet in your direct vicinity has a problem with transgenderism, a little reading on the internet is not going to be enough to make you comfortable with who you are, especially during the confusing teenage years. Remember, these kids are basically floating in a bath of peer pressure. Being different is not the way to happiness in teenage land. Being openly gay is not even an option most of the time for teens today, and I'm talking about Amsterdam here! Imagine being transgendered!

The internet is an excellent catalyst for social change. But the actual social change hasn't happened yet...

[paulaprimo]

suzy, how very true that is!! i wish i was a 20 year old now, life would certainly be easier and a lot more fun...back in the 70's i thought i was the only one who dressed and had to stay very deep in the closet. i remember getting a simple small diamond stud piercing in one ear and how everyone made a big deal about it. i could imagine the horror if they caught me in a dress...

[Cait]

May I offer the perspective of someone who is actually a young crossdresser (I'm 22) to this discussion?

I think there is a wilful oversight by some in this thread to the realities of crossdressing and transgenderism for young people in todays society.

Whilst I understand that having forums - such as this one - which offer a wealth of support, advice and acceptance is a good means by which to seek information on the subject it completely overlooks the fact that there is still no wide scale acceptance of transgenderism in society. There still remains mockery, criticism and abuse aimed towards transgenderism on an almost constant basis, surely it is not to see difficult this? It is mentioned on this forum all the time! Forums like this exist to offer a safe haven because negative attitudes towards transgenderism are still prevalent.

I also feel that some people are grossly overestimating the acceptance that our peers give us, there is an enormous pressure to fit in amongst young people today. It has never constrained me but I am only too aware that it prohibits a lot of young people from expressing everything from their gender and sexuality to which clothes and music they like. There are also far more means by which those that do not fit in with convention are bullied by and I would implore you all to remember this.

Access to clothes and puchasing them may be easier and more discreet but that is surely only part of the issue.

Be under no false illusions that being a young crossdressing or transgendered individual is easy or widely accepted today. It is not.

Anyway, Noortje's post expresses it all far more eloquently than I am able to manage so I have quoted it for posterity.


The internet is a good start for sure, but to say that young crossdressers will have it easy? That is a bit overoptimistic. After all, all the ignorance, intolerance, bigotry or just plain lack of knowledge of the general public that is a problem for us, is also a problem for them. The guilt and anguish will be lessened for sure by the knowledge that there are more people like them. However, if every person you meet in your direct vicinity has a problem with transgenderism, a little reading on the internet is not going to be enough to make you comfortable with who you are, especially during the confusing teenage years. Remember, these kids are basically floating in a bath of peer pressure. Being different is not the way to happiness in teenage land. Being openly gay is not even an option most of the time for teens today, and I'm talking about Amsterdam here! Imagine being transgendered!

The internet is an excellent catalyst for social change. But the actual social change hasn't happened yet...

[suzy1]

Cait, I agree 100% I was just comparing how it is now with years ago when there was no way for a lot of us to even know if we were the only freak on the planet!

You make a good point. It’s really hard for all of us. I do live in the real world.
Thanks for your imput,

SUZY

[Sandra1746]

Hi Cait; I agree with your general concept about peer-group acceptance. This is a characteristic of society in general and only time modifies these ideas. Think of society's acceptance of concepts like interracial marriage, in the late 1960's the Supreme Court ruled that it was OK but it still wasn't "socially acceptable". That acceptance took time.

We are seeing the same thing today with battles over gay marriage or cross-dressing and the religious arguments against it. Never mind the other "rules" they conveniently overlook when they cite rules against gays or CD.

At least it's not illegal now, changing society's ideas will take time but it will come. The path won't be swift, nor will it be uniform in time or location.

Hugs,
Sandra1746

[Foxglove]

I understand every Cait is saying. Twice over the last 2-3 days I've come across news articles on the net concerning TG issues, and the comments below those articles were just appalling. A little boy thinks he's a girl? One reaction to that was, "My dog thinks he's human!" When TG's are being compared to dogs, it's not exactly "Tranny Heaven" out there. You never know, 40 years from now the old ladies may be just like us: "You young girls have it so much easier than we did!"

That said, I do believe there is progress. The fact that so much information is available today, the fact that many places are enacting and enforcing laws to protect TG's--things like that can't be ignored. TG issues are being widely discussed these days. Homosexuality is more accepted these days than when I was a kid. There is real cause for us to hope as well.

You can always find reason to regret having been born when you were. A line I'll never forget from Dr. Zhivago was when Lara cried in anguish to Zhivago, "These are awful times to be alive!" And he tried his best to comfort her.

You have to live in your own times. Human life has always been awful in one way or another, mainly because there have always been so many humans around. But we do the best we can, we get by the best we can. On this forum, we're always talking about taking "baby steps". That's all one generation can do. Hopefully the next generation will take another baby step.

Best wishes, Annabelle

[Julogden]

True that Jeannie>> I found myself in an adult book store one evening, browsing, and found a magazine called Female Mimics.This was in the late
80's with slow computers and no internet connections.Perhaps you remember the 80's when renting an adult movie cost twenty dollars a weekend and to purchase one cost well
over ninety dollars.The magazine Female Mimics was great and ground breaking. It had stories about crossdressing, crossdressing adventures and
most importantly, pictures of crossdressers.I have thrown out countless fashion mags over the years but I still have those few copies of Female
Mimics. That magazine gave me reason to smile and not feel like the only person (like me) on earth....It was just a shame that the only place to find
it was in an adult book store...........dana
That was an early favorite of mine too. Female Mimics Magazine started in (I think) the late 1960's. I found several back issues of it in a regular magazine store in downtown Chicago in 1971 and bought a copy of every issue they had, as it was truly a revelation to me. Back then, it was pretty tame and had no pornographic content like it had in later years. It was primarily dedicated to showing professional female impersonators with occasionally someone who wasn't a professional. Unfortunately, I threw all those magazines away in a purge that was forced on me when I came out to my fiance several months before getting married.

Carol

[Darla]

I think we have to be supportive - period - of all members and know that it isn't easy for anyone, especially as we know it hasn't been easy for us. As we get older we've (well some of us!) set up lives for ourselves and made compromises with ourselves and society. Thank you Internet. But for all girls to express who they are, we should support all members regardless of whether they're out, young, older, closeted, gay, straight - whatever. And know that it isn't easy for anyone. If theres anything I can do in this lifetime to make being who you are more accepted, I plan on doing it.

Now I don't know what is acceptable in terms of moderation here, but we are talking about advocacy and politics here. But I personally support a culture of acceptance and tolerance that I feel is under attack. So I stand against those who'll preach hate and intolerance. From Rush Limbaugh down to the teen peers that make our younger members lives so much worse.

I look forward to the day when wearing a skirt for either gender is just a choice - with society accepting it as a matter of personal expression. I hope to live to see te day, in the meantime we have to model acceptance and good behavior.

[inori]

I agree, I have to say I am truly blessed to live in the 21st century.
Although even for me I wish I could have started earlier in highschool. I do have a better figure back in those days!
As for the world outside, we are still swarmed with lack of understanding and the negative opinion of other no matter where we go, and this doesn't just mean the CDing part. Whilst the younger generations are learning more about not being discriminating against diversities, they still haven't break away from even the simple peer pressure of a small society called school.

[Frédérique]

Aren’t the young C.D. girls lucky today? They have the internet and can go online and find they are among a whole crowd of us out in the wide world. They join crossdressers and talk to and make friends with other girls. Even any guilt that they are suffering from is lessened or gone when they find out they are not alone, doing anything wrong, anything weird, or anything immoral.

No doubt about it, the Internet has made a huge difference, especially for us weird and immoral types! :heehee:

When I first had access to the Internet, I almost immediately began to research crossdressing and I found some inspirational things that helped me to stay the course. After being released from a fairly brief relationship, and left to my own devices (i.e. living alone), I located these discussion forums and really blossomed in ways I hadn’t imagined. I’d rather dress than write about dressing, but there’s no doubt that meeting others like me has been beneficial in many ways…

But, the 20th century was FUN, and it was glorious to dress in a vacuum, not realizing what others have to go through to express themselves, not to mention never discussing the whys and wherefores of this curious compulsion – let’s just say I was less self-conscious back in the good old days, when dressing was pure bliss and nothing else…
:)

[cdkateinboston]

This is dedicated to all the young girls here………. blast you!

Aren’t the young C.D. girls lucky today?
SUZY

Suzy, as a 27 year old girl myself who grew up in the age of dialup AOL and have watched the internet grow into what it is today, you are absolutely correct in stating how lucky we are. The fact that at 15 I was able to go online and find/talk to others like myself helped me not feel so alone, and was a source of support for me along the way. Don't forget the AOL chat rooms in which we got to learn at a young age to dodge the creepers too! lol. But I also wanted to say thank you, because it is your generation of women and those around your age who set up our community for a bit of an easier path in our progress. While certainly, growing up a male and having such an obvious feminine side that we feel we need to keep secret will always be difficult, you helped our generation who grew up with the internet know that there was nothing wrong with us. So while yes, I consider myself extremely fortunate for Kaite to have all the tools of the internet available to her, even us (ok I'm getting older here myself so I can't speak for the 18 year olds anymore lol) young ones realize, respect, and appreciate all you ladies have done for us :)

[suzy1]

I see it another way Kate. You will carry the torch after we oldies are long gone girl!

Nice post Kate and welcome to the forum.


hug from, SUZY

[BillieJoEllen]

Of course it would be easier to CD today and wish I could participate more. When I was a young adult a man could get arrested for CDing in public. When the psychiatric manuals and laws changed on this subject I wasn't even aware of it for about ten years. The net has really expanded our horizons. However when it comes to clothes I would much rather dress in the clothes of the late 50s and 60s.

[Amy07]

I read suzy's first post with a kindred link to what the chat world was, ten years ago, on dial up.
The girls in the room found a place to chat, be nice, joke around, and talk serious issues on one page. Showing my age then...

We had trolls in the few rooms, open as they were, and we fended them off. We had no pictures, but we chatted together, talked intimately like we wanted without the PM.

Be careful please. I don't get how the younger guys and girls live today with a net like this, with vid, chat, texting.

[Jeninus]

Yes, I'm rather envious as well. On the other hand, most of the 20 somethings have no money - and in our current world, precious few prospects. I hope things will get better for them, but I rather like my comfortable lifestyle. I just hope the Regime doesn't decide to nationalize our IRAs and the pension funds, as happened in Argentina a few years back. Then no one will be happy.

[Christie ann]

One of the greatest advantages to this information age is that we know we aren't alone. When younger I was told by my parents that I was "sick" because guys don't dress as girls and I had no data beyond my own feelings to combat that. Now, I know that isn't true. There are still plenty of un-accepting people out there, but as I wrote in a thread recently, there also seem to be way more accepting people than before.

[Wonderwho]

The new age is a two edge sword. Yes we can speak out and can get our words to many
new CDers but there are those out there who are looking for any reason to step on our freedom
to dress and be who we are. It would be a travesty of life to be (caught) because of the network
we all use and trust.
I have found a loving and caring famiely on this site and have now learned so much that have regained my
trust in people. I am willing to give my heart to to wonderfull ladies that here.
Thanks. Wonderwho