can some one please un confuse me

[Kelli Ca]

I consider myself a cd'r but get confused at all the other lables. So what is the difference between cd and tg and tgirl or are they just different names for the same thing? Simplest answer please. Thanks

[Jenniferathome]

Cross dresser wears clothes. Transgender identifies as an alternate gender from their own.

[Roberta Marie]

TG, or Transgender, is an umbrella term that includes any person who's gender identity does not align with their assigned, physical sex. CD, or Crossdresser, is a subset of TG, and describes someone who lwars the clothes generally reserved for the sex opposite their assigned, physical sex. TS, or Transexual, is a person who's gender identity is the opposite of their assigned, physical sex.

[danielle.cd]

do u like to were womens clothes and emulate a women will doing so . crossdresser, some crossdressers find that they really need to take the next step and live as a female some just want to dress and play so to speak, theres many levels and no one can just really pin point it so they use the umbrella terms, are u needing to become seen, herd , and felt as if u are a women and your traped in the wrong body , transsexual , do you live as a women even though u still have some male parts and have acuired female parts. tgirl , some people are transgender and the lines get blurry and are not sure which way to go , its all labels and u have to choose what u are, these examples r how i see it and only represent my opinion so take them as u will

[Kelli Ca]

Thanks for the response let me re cap, this is what I got,
Cd basically likes to wear women's clothing
Tg wears clothing and lives a woman's life
Tgirl has male and female parts and dresses.

[Melissa Rose]

Thanks for the response let me re cap, this is what I got,
Cd basically likes to wear women's clothing
Tg wears clothing and lives a woman's life
Tgirl has male and female parts and dresses.

Not quite. You are confusing transgender (TG) with transsexual (TS). In the broadest sense, anyone who presents different than their particular cultural or social definitions of gender appearance falls under the TG umbrella. Some use a narrower definition, but the general idea is the same with most cross dressers and all transsexuals being classified as transgendered. There are not clear dividing lines and trying to find and draw them is an exercise in futility. If I was forced to draw lines and come up with a short definition, they would be:

Cross dressing is more about gender expression (i.e., which gender you want or like to present as following cultural and social norms and definitions). There is no strong desire or need to transition and live as the opposite gender. Most do not advance beyond clothing, makeup, wigs, etc. (no HRT or surgical procedures).
Transsexuality is more about gender identity (i.e., which gender you identify with from an emotional and mental standpoint). There is a strong desire or need to transition, and often HRT and various degrees of surgical alteration are undertaken. There are transsexuals who may appear to be cross dressers since they have elected not to or are unable to transition (non-transitioning TS).
Again, these are very broad and oversimplified definitions with a lot of gray area.

T-girl stands for trans-girl and may be used to include any biological male who is presenting as female regardless if they are a CD or TS.

[max]

Melissa hit the nail on the head :)

[jaanine]

while we are unconfusing folks and since i am new what is GG?

[Vickie_CDTV]

Jaanine, don't worry, trans terminology can be confusing for those newly introduced to the trans world. (I hope some day ISO will set up a steering committee on transgender label standardization!)

Anyway, GG stands for "genetic girl" (I have heard "RG", for Real Girl, used in the UK meaning the same thing.) A GG is a woman who was born a woman (XX with a vagina), as opposed to a TS or an intersexed woman (or a crossdresser.)

[jenifer wilde]

Vickie.............email me raibreakz@gmai.com

[ReineD]

Here's a list of other abbreviations commonly used here:
http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?162499-Common-abbreviations-used-in-this-forum

And from the WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health), here are various gender related definitions:
http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?162497-Some-Common-Trans-Related-Definitions

[noeleena]

Hi,

And then i hit the forums & come as different again. though not many of us here, im an intersexed /woman , born both male & female . or short . I S. = intersex.

Though we dont have every thing the same as to each other we are very different with in our = intersex differences. what applys to one of us may have some things incommon though not every thing ether body or mind.

...noeleena...

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Lolisa, why do we need labels I just dress up and enjoy it.

[Karren H]

Want to borrow my old Dymo? You can make you own labels!

[Annette Todd]

Want to borrow my old Dymo? You can make you own labels!

HEHEHEHE Karen as usual you find the brighter side of the topic. Who cares about labels? The only thing that really matters is whether your satisfied with yourself.

Love the new avatar BTW Karen

;)

[kimdl93]

use this link - it provides consistent and widely held definitions. http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?162497-Some-Common-Trans-Related-Definitions

[Missy]

Just go with what you want to be. for me I hate labels on anything even myself. I am who I am

[Kelli Ca]

Thanks for all the feedback, I normally don't care about lables but they are thrown around so much in the posts I just wanted to keep myself in formed as to what people are talking about

[Dana921]

I do not like labels when they are used to do what use to be name calling and therefore negative in conotation. Yes I also think, a label should never put someone in a box generated by another person coming to understand the other. But for the point of discussion and learning more about a subject we really do want consistant definitions in the words we choose. So when someone needs help understanding their path and how they can relate to others, we should be using the terms consistantly amoungst ourselves and is a good thing.

[linda allen]

Thanks for all the feedback, I normally don't care about lables but they are thrown around so much in the posts I just wanted to keep myself in formed as to what people are talking about
Labels are part of life. Without labels, we couldn't tell apples from oranges. We couldn't direct people to our homes.

The real problem comes when different people assign the same label to different objects, or in this case, people and how they think and feel.

Time and time again, including in this thread, some people label crossdressers as some sort of transgender or transexual. It is simply not the case. Personally, I don't want to live as a woman and I wouldn't accept a permanent magical body swap to female from a genie in a bottle if that were possible.

I do enjoy dressing as a female and pretending to be one. In my mind, and using my definition, that makes me a crossdresser. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, it's a label, but as above, labels are part of life.

[Kate Simmons]

It really depends on who you talk to Hon. Personally, I'm just myself, all of the other standards and labels notwithstanding.:battingeyelashes::)

[Thera Home]

I'd thought to bring this one to the forefront just for fun. I know how much we love this discussion. Im a cdtgtggirlmanlymankindaguy.:heehee:

Thera

[Dannil48]

Hi all, Just one question ..I have always thought a crossdresser was the same as a transvestite.Am I wrong?

[Angela Campbell]

yep and tylenol is also acetominophen. Doctors love to make fancy names for what can be described so easily. Labels are there just to attempt to describe something but human behavior is hard to pin down. I crossdress all the time but I also know I am really a woman who has male anatomy. Although not entirely male. I have always been softer, smaller, and a little higher voice. Not as hairy either. So although I cannot actually get a full sex change as I would like to I am probably a transexual. Doesn't matter I guess, sometimes I am a man and sometimes I am a woman.

[Beverley Sims]

I just love labels, they are so "descriptive?". Ah well.

[Rianna Humble]

Hi all, Just one question ..I have always thought a crossdresser was the same as a transvestite.Am I wrong?

Yes and no. Technically, transvestite is the latinised term (once beloved of the medical profession) and crossdresser is the English (or Australian/American/Canadian/whathaveyou) equivalent.

In a some parts of the world transvestite is looked on as something more shameful than crossdresser and in other parts it is the other way around. The community here tends to stick to crossdresser.


Time and time again, including in this thread, some people label crossdressers as some sort of transgender or transexual.

Sorry, Linda, you are entitled to your own opinion of whether you are Transgender (despite the WPATH definition of that word being fairly unambiguous), but no-one would say that a crossdresser is transsexual.

[Annaliese2010]

To me, CD is an umbrella term that applies to all ppl who crossdress for whatever their reasons. TG is someone who inwardly identifies themself as being a member of the gender opposite to that associated with their physical or genetic (genital) appearance. An M2F TG tends to dress & behave as a female for reasons that are secondary to and a natural expression of their inward female self identification.

This is in contradistinction to those CD's who crossdress for other reasons, all the while feeling themselves to be essentially male on the inside. A MALE CD (or transvestite) tends to emphasize the act of crossdressing and has a fascination with all its varied details. An M2F TG individual tends to not assign such extreme importance to their crossdressing behavior because to them this behavior naturally flows from and is a true expression of their preexisting and predominant inner state of being, one which is female not male.

TGIRLS are TG individuals who have taken steps to biologically alter themselves as female in ways that nevertheless leave their male genitals unchanged. Usually this is done by medically altering their hormonal balance under doctor supervision. Except for their male genetalia they otherwise have female bodies eg. soft curves, well developed natural breasts & nipples and biological based changes in mood, voice, interests, perceptions & behavior. An individual who becomes a TGIRL at a relatively young age can be stunningly beautiful and absolutely female by way of facial structure and overall physique. For these, only a display of their male genetalia reveals their TGIRL status as otherwise, based on looks & behavior alone, one would never guess.

TRANSEXUALS are TGIRLS who take the next and ultimate step by having sexual reassignment surgery. This physically changes their genitals from male to female wrt looks and functionality, though of course they obviously cannot conceive or become pregnant.

How far a TG individual takes it wrt her outward female expression, from just superficial appearances to those that are biologically based is directly related to the degree to which they are inwardly female-identified. A male minded CD who is not truly nascently transgendered (TG by the above definition) would never consider any form of self alteration beyond the wearing of female clothing. Many have facial & body hair for instance.

[Rianna Humble]

To me,
TRANSEXUALS are TGIRLS who take the next and ultimate step by having sexual reassignment surgery. This physically changes their genitals from male to female wrt looks and functionality, though of course they obviously cannot conceive or become pregnant.

I'm sorry, Annaliese. I like much of what you write but I cannot allow you to brand me as not being transsexual simply because for medical reasons I have not yet had Gender Confirmation Surgery. I will stick to the definition accepted by clinicians the world over:


Transsexual: Adjective (often applied by the medical profession) to describe individuals who seek to change or who have changed their primary and/or secondary sex characteristics through femininizing or masculinizing medical interventions (hormones and/or surgery), typically accompanied by a permanent change in gender role.

I don't need surgery to make me know who I am, I need surgery (if/when it becomes medically possible) to rectify a birth defect. My clinicians agree that I am transsexual - not that I will become TS if I am ever able to have the surgery.

[Megan_Renee]

I found this website to be helpful: http://transwhat.org/

[NicoleScott]

Here we go again with the war on labels. Labels are words, words have definitions, and that helps us communicate.

[Veronica27]

Sorry, Linda, you are entitled to your own opinion of whether you are Transgender (despite the WPATH definition of that word being fairly unambiguous), but no-one would say that a crossdresser is transsexual.

The WPATH definition of transgender includes the sentence "The gender identity of transgender people differs to varying degrees from the sex they were assigned at birth." Thus being transgendered requires that one must identify to some extent as actually feeling they are female, as opposed to pretending to be female, or emulating the female sex for any of a variety of reasons, while remaining in total awareness of their male identity. The use of transgender as an umbrella term is therefore misleading, as it is actually crossdressing that is common to all.

Veronica

[Marleena]

Want to borrow my old Dymo? You can make you own labels!

I'm with Karren, let's make more labels.lol. *sneaks away*

[Megan Briana]

I thought labels were good for laundry and food items? Im just a person with my own personality. Let the people who like labels, keep them. In the end, we all fit under one: human