i'm not good with labels can you help?

[smellymelly]

okay so this might sound a bit weird but i don't know what i'm classified as. i'm not as well educated on this as i should be. i don't know if im tg or just a crossdresser, or how any of this works and i don't want to offend anyone. so here is my situation. i have a girlfriend, i love to dress up, and sometimes just do nothing. i have been doing it all together now for 10 years or so and not taking breaks from it. i have been in public many time and am fairly passable... BUT i do not want sexual reassignment or any type of hormone replacement therapy. i do genuinely like being a a man sometimes. but also i feel so right when i'm dressed as a lady and hanging out with friends. maybe i'm just young (22) and don't know what the next 20 years hold for me. but what would be my clasification? and would someone please explain these classifications for me!

[IngeInCO]

You are who you say you are...channeling Dennis Green on that lol

[Tracii G]

CD is what I would say you are.

[AllieSF]

A lot of people do not like labels and will state that in their replies to you here. I like labels as a starting point to try to understand where a person is as it relates to where they are along that TG spectrum. I also believe that the term "transgender" is an umbrella term to include all from panty wearers to post-op TS's, and that is also debatable by many here. But after that, it only helps me when trying to understand what someone writes here when reading the posts in a thread. I think that for now you are a CD - Crossdresser. I am like you, I like both sides of myself and can actually say that I am comfortable in both modes. However, since I pluck my eyebrows, always have some type of clear coat nail polish on, am doing electrolysis on my face, epilate hair in a lot of places and spend way too much time on this site, even though I consider myself as a CD, I may be further down that road than I like to admit, though I have no desire to transition into anything other than who I am now. Now, you get to read everyone else's opinions, and somewhere in there you may find a definition that you like the best. Good luck.

[Tina B.]

You sound like a CD to me, but on the opening page, ReineD had done a list of definitions that you might find helpful!
Tina B.

[NicoleScott]

You sound like a crossdresser to me, and fall under the transgender umbrella.
I think labels are useful, and I use them whenever I can.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out for
two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun.

[Paulacder]

Drag Queen dosen't fit, Transgendered certainly not. Looks like the only label left it Crossdresser. Welcome to our world....

[Kate T]

The older you get and the more you understand yourself, the less important labels become.

The next 20 years holds whatever you want it to for you.

You want a label? CD. But I would call myself CD and I'm moderately passable and been out in public less than a dozen times. I'm also very happy. SO I couldn't give a toss what the label is.

[TGMarla]

Maybe.....just maybe.....you're a CROSSDRESSER!!!!!

[Krististeph]

The label most people here would probably be 'crossdresser', but be advised, most of us here also agree that a single word is not going to do justice to the complexity and various feelings you have about crossdressing- just like labeling Katy Perry as a 'singer' for instance- some folks are really into everything she does, some folks don't rate her at all for singing- I Agree with Nicole above, we would fall under TG as well, and then a dozen or so other adjectives as desired...

Mostly, people you know me call me an 'jerk' or other similar term, depending on which side of the argument we are respectively on...

I think it's good to define these labels well, but it's also god to understand that just because you are labeled (or label yourself) as something - this does not mean you should be restricted from or feel required to do any particular thing you are not comfortable with.

-kristi

[Taylor186]

Definitions: http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?162497-Some-Common-Trans-Related-Definitions

Two thoughts:
One, we really do not have enough information to tell which label best fits you, if any. Every transitioned person I know thought they were just a crossdresser at one point. That may be your journey or it may not. Only time will tell.

And two, your sexual identity (whether you're attracted to women, men or both) is totally independent of your gender identity (masculine, feminine or androgynous). So having a girlfriend is non-determinate as to which gender label fits you best.

[Cheryl T]

Stop worrying about what you are and concentrate on WHO you are.

[Georgia_Maine]

Stop worrying about what you are and concentrate on WHO you are.

Well said, Cheryl! I totally agree.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi SM, It sounds like that you are a Crossdresser with a lot of fun ahead of you.

[KellyJameson]

If I was in your position I would want to understand why I want a classification for myself (label).

You sound comfortable being you and I do not sense you are lost in the wilderness trying to find your way out.

Labels can cause confusion because life flows like water and is always changing and rarely is there only one reason for what we do or want but layers upon layers, mostly hidden from view.

If you felt limited by your body because it separates you from living the life you feel was meant to be for you than there would be a deep discontentment, a type of
saddness that comes from knowing your gifts and life cannot be fully realized or expressed which seems completely absent from your thread

You sound balanced and happy, that would be my classification of you.

[sissystephanie]

You are a Crossdresser, and since you crossing the boundaries of sexual being you are also a Transgender! That is what many of us on this Forum are!

But do you really care!! You are YOU, and that is what really matters!

[Saffron]

labels are only a way to group people with similar interests, you cannot classify yourself cause each person is unique in their own way.

[Sophia Claire]

Hey, it's good to see someone else in my position, and a young one, too! I'm 28 myself. Okay, to business. Here's the thing: if you go on trying to categorize every single branch of crossdressing/transgenderism (?), you'll do nothing else. The subcategories and details of our lifestyle defy generalization. For this reason, I tend to say that you are exactly you and that's good e-damn-nough for anyone who's asking. But if you feel it's necessary to label yourself, I'd say you're certainly a crossdresser. Whether you are a transgender lies more (IMHO, as always) in whether you feel like your soul is a woman's soul or a man's, not whether or not you will have surgeries done to change yourself.

[Lainie]

Crossdressing is what we do. Some of us identify as transgendered, which seems more like a state of mind or an attitude than a set of behaviors. Sounds like you are not transsexual, which is another subset of transgendered people who feel their mental and genetic genders are different; ie, "a woman trapped in a man's body".

[smellymelly]

thank you everyone for some very insightful replies. i definately have a better understanding now. and feel that the general consenses of crossdresser is the most accurate. but yes i am definately an individual and i know i'm not specifically one set label, but i wanted to know a basic idea. thank you so much everyone! i'll like it here

[darla_g]

you know i came on this site quite a few years ago and thought i needed to figure everything out, why i did the things i did etc. After a while i decided that I didn't need to do that and just do what you want and be who you want to be.

[reb.femme]

Hi Melly?,

I'll drop the smelly.
Yep, CD is my understanding from what you say, which is TG umbrella too.
Darla sums up my position, why bother worrying? Things may/may not develop, so just let life ride.

I like to present as female when dressed, and I'm very happy in both modes, but I feel more relaxed when femme. My whole idea is just to accept how I am and not bother with the what or why? Just wish I was 22 again. :sad:

Rebecca x

[Beverley Sims]

On this site don't over think who you are, there are too many opinions for that.
Pick one CD is the most common and slowly work from there.
You are young and there is a lot of future ahead for others to TELL you what you are.
Then maybe you can decide.:)