Do we all CD for the same fundamental reason?

[Camille15]

We all dress-up as women to different degrees. For some it's just a few undergarments that interest them, or just underdressing. For others dressing head-to-toe with wigs and forms is a must to satisfy the urge. Some of us do it once in a while, and some all the time. Some of us even feel we would prefer to transition fully. For some it's sexual to a degree, and for others not at all. Sufficed to say, MtF CD'ers come in many different shapes and forms (pun intended), with a wide range in desire to dress.

But at the core of it, do you think it's the same root cause that causes us to have that desire, even if to different degrees? That is, do we all CD for the same fundamental reason, like something different in our brains. Whatever the root cause, it is the same in all of us? Like some sort of imaginary fem-volume-knob, which is just set at a different level in each of us? Or are there possibly several different fundamental reasons for men to CD?

My own take, at the moment anyway, is that it's probably the same root cause, and is physiological. I think this because of the surprising similarity in all of our stories of self-discovery, starting from an early age. Something about our brains is partly female. But in some of us that part is more developed, or connected, or "turned up" than in others. Even if turned up all the way, it doesn't make a person's brain totally female, but does make them more likely to want to transition eventually.

Other thoughts? Hope I'm not offending anyone here. Just curious what people think.

[Jenniferathome]

it is genetic. no different than eye, hair or skin color. Maybe one more milligram of testosterone and we'd be just regular guys...

[DarlaCross]

For me I think it's genetic also. While growing up I identified more with my mom than dad. Have tried to stop many times but my mind keeps bringing me back...If you can't beat em, join em!

[Alice B]

I did not start until in my 60's, so genetic reasons do not seem to fit. At first I think it had some strong sexual content, but not now. I simply enjoy the feel of woman's clothing, seeing myself dressed and expressing myself as a female when I can.

[UNDERDRESSER]

No. While there might be ( probably is ) a common root for a lot of CD behavior, there are too many types for there to be just ONE cause.

[Vickie_CDTV]

Sincere there is no instances of TV/TSism (or homosexuality for that matter) in either side of my family, it seems unlikely it was genetic for me. Brain injury and psychological trauma are more likely in my case.

[Camille15]

I should comment that something being different in our brains doesn't necessarily mean genetic, anymore than being gay has to be genetic. It could be something that happened during fetal development, due to some hormonal dance. That may have been due to chance more than anything. So while it's a part of us physiologically, it's not necessarily coded in our DNA.

[ArleneRaquel]

In my case I beleive that it is genetic. I have had these urges to be a female since I was eight years of age or so. Since then these urges have come & waned, but they never have completely me, and as I get older, but they are nearly 100% in the become a woman mode at this time. I love dressing as woman and my current lifestyle.

[docrobbysherry]

I'm with Alice. Not genetic as I started dressing out of the blue in my 50's. There was and still is a sexual component to my CDing!

[AmyGaleRT]

It's an interesting thought. It's not entirely implausible, but there's no way of knowing for certain; we just don't know enough yet. And something like that may not account for all cases.

It makes me want to ask my mother if she had anything odd happening while she was carrying me, or any premonitions that I'd be born a girl, or anything like that. Of course, I'd practically be outing myself to her by doing that...but part of me wants to tell her anyway...

- Amy

[ArleneRaquel]

I'm with Alice. Not genetic as I started dressing out of the blue in my 50's. There was and still is a sexual component to my CDing!

Perhaps our genetic time clock goes off at different stages of our lives. Just my opinion.

[Lynn Marie]

I really have no idea why we are what we are, maybe it's genetic, and it could easily have the same root cause. I just don't know, and at this stage in my life, I don't much care. To me it's just an unexplainable phenomenon. I don't even try to explain it, I just enjoy it.

[NeKoi]

for me, I have no idea how it all started, along the line of wanting to be female... when I was much younger, I think I've always wanted to see myself as a girl and secretly enjoyed picking up girl's stuff, although I would definitely deny it. I still can remember once I was shopping for jeans, when me and my friend picked out pieces to try out, I unknowingly picked out a ladies jeans. On my way to purchase counter, I was pretty excited, however my friend decided not to buy his pair and I sadly dropped mine in order to accompany him to search for others. Many times I also have dreams of myself being a girl, or dressed as one and becoming one... of

I guess's that's why for me.... ^.^

[belladonna]

,y personal belief is that given the male XY chromozone we are half female. Not to mention in the womb we all start "female" but something during incubation most likely chemical flips a switch and says its a boy! But who knows how much or little we get of that or if somehow we were meant to be female and something changed the plan be it something the mother ingested from food cause with all the preservatives and such I've found no research on what some of the more common chemicals in our food can do to ore nadel development.
All my life I've always enjoyed the company of females far more to that of men and enjoy everything "womanly" from dressing up shopping and watching girly movies. I know my feminine side is way stronger than others and I've come to terms with it long ago, never really hated it since I was fortunate to have been brought up with an open minded mother who had me spend an entire summer with a lesbian couple when I was young while parents were at work and I got all my questions answered and learned nothing is wrong if you feel like its a part of you.

[Wildaboutheels]

The word ALL is NON productive in any conversation involving Humans or Human behavior I feel. However, if you change your Q to "Do most all of us CD for the same fundamental reason"? the answer is amazingly simple at least as far as MtF CDers go.

The evidence for anyone willing to remove their heads from the sand is overwhelming. It's our vision, [MEN'S VISION] plain and simple compliments of good Ol Mother Nature. [Evolution at work] Our vision [as opposed to that of most females] IS what enables us to "get ready" in just 15 or 20 seconds so we can carry out our prime directive to impregnate as many females as possible.The popularity of the picture/video Forum serves as testament to this...

MEN'S VISION is also the simple and correct answer as to WHY do women have so much more variety/choices/colors/styles/textures/ fabrics in clothing than men. Because THEY [women] need all those choices [to hopefully become "more" attractive to "more" men] and us men don't for the most part.

As far as most of the ladies at this Forum... I think there are possibly many contributing factors. Nature, Nurture and genetics among them. But I also believe that feelings of shame/guilt also play a very large part for many based solely on the fact that they are an overriding theme here that the vast majority have felt at some time and possibly still feel.

[Cheryl T]

it is genetic. no different than eye, hair or skin color. Maybe one more milligram of testosterone and we'd be just regular guys...

I whole heartedly agree....a slight variation in the mix of the womb, or some A replacing a G or a T or a C on that double helix and who knows.

[Kate Simmons]

We are fulfilling our own personal grid program with this in order to experience feelings and emotions. If we progress to the point where we feel we want to be a woman, it becomes more about doing the things a woman does rather than the clothing so much. Our goal may still be to look nice but for different reasons than previously.:)

[EmilyLynn28]

I definitely think it's in my genes. I tried stopping for years to appease my wife, but it never went fully away and has come back with a vengeance.

[Kris Taylor]

I found it interesting that so many replied that the cause was genetic. For me I think a significant part of things has to do with the fact that my father was rarely seen as my brother and I grew up due to working all the time. I was much closer to my mother as a result. I think that plays a part. I do think it's extremely likely there's an underlying hormonal difference or something similar. I also find that I tend to be more interested in dressing when I have a very high amount of work-related stress (mainly deadline pressure, not drama) so the dressing is an escape. While dressing I am extremely serene and detached from the other things going on.

[Beverley Sims]

There are probably different reasons for me probably genetic, others hereditary and those that started later in life, sexual activity, environmental and other influences I would assume.

[samanthaswish1]

I belive my reason for crossdressing is that I don't like the way men'sclothes fit . That said I love to change the way i look at myself , when cding I can change the look of my eyes, face , body structure that I am not supposed to do as a natural male . Society should let us dress like we feel comfortable .

[wilt575]

In my case I beleive that it is genetic. I have had these urges to be a female since I was eight years of age or so. Since then these urges have come & waned, but they never have completely me, and as I get older, but they are nearly 100% in the become a woman mode at this time. I love dressing as woman and my current lifestyle. Arlene I'm with you all the way on genetic. All the time I was growing up always played hung with and spent most of my free time with groups of girls. Liked dressing like and with then, btw having wide hips and curvy(cute) butt didn't hurt things, as time went on I just identified with them. Never felt or showed any attraction to boys, infact when I got old enough got breast implants, the weight, sensation/feeling and jiggle/bounce to complete the real me.

[NicoleScott]

I whole heartedly agree....a slight variation in the mix of the womb, or some A replacing a G or a T or a C on that double helix and who knows.

You might be on to something. Maybe a AC was replaced with a TG. ....think about it..........

[busker]

I found it interesting that so many replied that the cause was genetic. For me I think a significant part of things has to do with the fact that my father was rarely seen as my brother and I grew up due to working all the time. I was much closer to my mother as a result. I think that plays a part. I do think it's extremely likely there's an underlying hormonal difference or something similar. I also find that I tend to be more interested in dressing when I have a very high amount of work-related stress (mainly deadline pressure, not drama) so the dressing is an escape. While dressing I am extremely serene and detached from the other things going on.

Kris, very likely it is brain chemistry in the same way that some people can't seem to get enough chocolate or alcohol or whatever it is that relieves their stress or cravings. And some people don't seem to have any of those cravings and it would be interesting to know what their stress levels are and how they handle them. For those who started in adolescence, it is very likely hormonal and if there is a cd gene, it would be recessive and and there would other members of the family within a few generations back with this particular interest. Otherwise it couldn't BE genetic.

[anastasiafantasia]

Who knows maybe as research into newly popular field of epigenetics continues to progress a whole pandora's box regarding human physiology could unravel; and it might help shed some light on propensity to CDing amongst males as well.

[busker]

The word ALL is NON productive in any conversation involving Humans or Human behavior I feel. However, if you change your Q to "Do most all of us CD for the same fundamental reason"? the answer is amazingly simple at least as far as MtF CDers go.

The evidence for anyone willing to remove their heads from the sand is overwhelming. It's our vision, [MEN'S VISION] plain and simple compliments of good Ol Mother Nature. [Evolution at work] Our vision [as opposed to that of most females] IS what enables us to "get ready" in just 15 or 20 seconds so we can carry out our prime directive to impregnate as many females as possible.The popularity of the picture/video Forum serves as testament to this...

MEN'S VISION is also the simple and correct answer as to WHY do women have so much more variety/choices/colors/styles/textures/ fabrics in clothing than men. Because THEY [women] need all those choices [to hopefully become "more" attractive to "more" men] and us men don't for the most part.

As far as most of the ladies at this Forum... I think there are possibly many contributing factors. Nature, Nurture and genetics among them. But I also believe that feelings of shame/guilt also play a very large part for many based solely on the fact that they are an overriding theme here that the vast majority have felt at some time and possibly still feel.

It is backwards in the human animal. Women have more choices because business recognizes that women have been turned into "gatherers" (men are hunters) and so since shopping is what women "do" then it is obvious you can only generate new business by offering more choices. Men wear 4 colors because they don't shop and don't have a great deal of "style consciousness". In the animal world, females choose a mate with the "BEST GENES" in order to produce offspring that will survive. Males are chosen for best plumage, best house construction, and the dominant males like moose that do the choosing of females depends mostly on brute strength during rutting. Apes also fight for control of the female herd. Is that why we are so close to them? Where females choose it is less like due to physical prowess but genetic superiority. Darwin at work. In the human world women should be choosing nerds and scientists--not body builders and car mechanics--perhaps that is why we are pretty much circling the drain as a species. Women would do well to choose a cd as thre could be important and as yet unknown factors that make that choice a good one.

[busker]

[QUOTE=EmilyLynn28;3084247]I definitely think it's in my genes. I tried stopping for years to appease my wife, but it never went fully away and has come back with a vengeance.[/QUO it is already setTE]

If this were a genetic condition, it would be with us from the very first day we breathe. Like eye color, or handedness it is set in the fetus. It is possible that one of the switches that also effect the genetic disposition is responsible like the one for blue eyes. Perhaps some hormone switch only partly worked and we are distantly female in some way.
Some 6000 years ago we were all brown-eyed and that a "defective" switch that turns on the brown pigment didn't quite work and so we got blue--all blue eyed humans are related to the original single human ancestor with the bad switch.

[Michelle M]

I should comment that something being different in our brains doesn't necessarily mean genetic, anymore than being gay has to be genetic. It could be something that happened during fetal development, due to some hormonal dance. That may have been due to chance more than anything. So while it's a part of us physiologically, it's not necessarily coded in our DNA.

This gets my vote. We don't all start out female, and then go male. We start out neutral, and Mom releases hormones (T) at regular intervals for about half of us and we develop as male. By the time we are born, the testes take over production of Testosterone and we grow into great big lumbering fools.

In some cases Mom doesn't release the juice as scheduled. We are born a little closer to the center of the M-F scale. Enough juice and we get born with the dangly parts. A little less, and we'd all be wearing skirts like a bunch of..........ok I took a wrong turn there somewhere....i need my diagrams..

[Pearl]

what a fascinating thread, there's been a lot of thinking done about this by all of you, it must be important.

there seems to be enough room in the human genome for a crossdressing switch to flick, so to speak.

i like questions that raise other questions, and maybe the answer to your question is wrapped up in another question:
why do women wear men's clothes? (and while we're at it, why doesn't anybody in our culture care about that?) ok, so, two questions...

[Kaz]

[QUOTE=EmilyLynn28;3084247]I definitely think it's in my genes. I tried stopping for years to appease my wife, but it never went fully away and has come back with a vengeance.[/QUO it is already setTE]

If this were a genetic condition, it would be with us from the very first day we breathe. Like eye color, or handedness it is set in the fetus. It is possible that one of the switches that also effect the genetic disposition is responsible like the one for blue eyes. Perhaps some hormone switch only partly worked and we are distantly female in some way.
Some 6000 years ago we were all brown-eyed and that a "defective" switch that turns on the brown pigment didn't quite work and so we got blue--all blue eyed humans are related to the original single human ancestor with the bad switch.

Not quite true Busker... some genes kick in later in life due to triggers. That old DNA is very complex!

The nature vs nurture debate has gone on in the straight world too. Anyone with kids knows that they seem preprogrammed, but then we can and do influence things. I suspect that we are born with a predisposition... but can choose to act on that or not and for some of us that realisation only occurs later in life. Now what intrigues me in that line of thought is what triggers the realisation! For many of us the trigger is early and we are then in denial for decades! And so on... I also suspect, from all the posts I see here, that there are many different motivations or rationalisations about this... we are pretty diverse as a community, but I do wonder about the commonality question.

[busker]

This gets my vote. We don't all start out female, and then go male. We start out neutral, and Mom releases hormones (T) at regular intervals for about half of us and we develop as male. By the time we are born, the testes take over production of Testosterone and we grow into great big lumbering fools.

In some cases Mom doesn't release the juice as scheduled. We are born a little closer to the center of the M-F scale. Enough juice and we get born with the dangly parts. A little less, and we'd all be wearing skirts like a bunch of..........ok I took a wrong turn there somewhere....i need my diagrams..

Louis Berman, PhD Univ of Illinois, Chicago

A well-trained embryologist cannot tell the difference between a male and a female embryo if the embryo is less than seven weeks old. At that early stage of prenatal life, there is a fork in the road of development. If there are no hormonal changes in the prenatal environment, the embryo developes into a female. If, however, the embryo is destined to become a male, its Y-chromosomes trigger the production of testosterone (the male hormone), which masculinizes the brain and genitalia (internal as well as external) of the embryo. But it takes no female hormone to produce a female infant. (Only at age ten or later does the female body begin to produce the hormones that transform the girl into a woman.)

Every person begins life with a proto-female brain. Testosterone masculinizes the brain (and genitals) of those embryos that are genetically marked to develop as males. Almost all male genitals are thoroughly masculinized. (There are, unhappily, rare exceptions.) But, there is some direct evidence, and lots of indirect evidence, that there is a wide range of variation in the degree to which the male brain is masculinized. The Puzzle argues that the low-masculinized brain shades the inner life of the individual with female thoughts, feelings, and wishes. This tendency, it is hypothesized, underlies gender-discordant behavior, fear of homosexuality, and homosexual behavior. As one unhappy homosexual man lamented, "I am a male with a female brain."

Professor Berman is the author of The Puzzle: Exploring the Evolutionary Puzzle of Male Homosexuality (Godot Press, 2003). His book has won the applause of prominent psychologists, and of the foremost evolutionary biologist of our time, Harvard University Professor and author Ernst Mayr.
http://www.narth.com/docs/berman2.html

[busker]

[QUOTE=busker;3084992]

Not quite true Busker... some genes kick in later in life due to triggers. That old DNA is very complex!

The nature vs nurture debate has gone on in the straight world too. Anyone with kids knows that they seem preprogrammed, but then we can and do influence things. I suspect that we are born with a predisposition... but can choose to act on that or not and for some of us that realisation only occurs later in life. Now what intrigues me in that line of thought is what triggers the realisation! For many of us the trigger is early and we are then in denial for decades! And so on... I also suspect, from all the posts I see here, that there are many different motivations or rationalisations about this... we are pretty diverse as a community, but I do wonder about the commonality question.

The predisposition would be genetic and though one is predisposed to diabetes, Tay-Sachs, breast cancer, or even alcoholism, it doesn't always occur. But, it would still be there from the moment we breathe. So nurture could just as easily be responsible for triggering some things as not that are psychological but certainly not things like cancer or faulty-gene- based disease. Type II diabetes is diet/lifestyle based, while type I is genetic based, so an offspsiring can't "get" type II unless they have bad eating habits or are obese. Some genetic disease is passed only to females, some only to males--the "Hapsburg jaw", for example.

[Luna Nyx]

Maybe since i was born very early i didnt get enough T in the womb and maybe that is the reason why dressing up feels right. Or it could be that im still running/hiding from something that happened in my past that I have trouble facing even today.

[Kaz]

Busker... Yeah... it is complex! I guess we will never really know in our lifetime....but I love the speculation! hehe!

[busker]

what a fascinating thread, there's been a lot of thinking done about this by all of you, it must be important.

there seems to be enough room in the human genome for a crossdressing switch to flick, so to speak.

i like questions that raise other questions, and maybe the answer to your question is wrapped up in another question:
why do women wear men's clothes? (and while we're at it, why doesn't anybody in our culture care about that?) ok, so, two questions...
Pearl,
If it was really important, then people would find out. If cross dressing had any great effect on worldwide culture, science would investigate. We simply aren't worth the effort at this point, and may never be since the proportion of cd'ers in the world is >5%. And, finding out why we are the way we are wouldn't change anything. I would rather science spend the time trying to figure out why we continue to elect morons to serve in congress!

[Michelle M]

Busker,
Thank you. I will stand corrected if you like.

If anyone would here would like to read Dr. Berman's book review in full, instead of a paraphrase (copy/paste), here is a link
http://www.narth.com/docs/berman2.html
I did oversimplify, but I think you repeated what I just said, only with a lot more copied words. I'm no expert, I've just done a ton of research because I am/was directly affected by this. We are nowhere near a full understanding of these processes.

Anyway, It's not necessarily genetic. There are many many things at work here when a young brain is being developed, and I believe the difference between Male and Female is not a Y in the road, but a sliding scale. And any of us may land on a road less traveled by.

I, for one am happy to have missed a bit of my masculine immersion. It was a bit of a pain in my formative years, but I have a family full of wonderful young women and I am finding ways to connect with them which I might otherwise have missed.

Michelle

[aprilmaeflowers]

I think its the "What If" factor, what if that little swimmer would have been + instead of ^. Than the mental thoughts could make you think, well?

[Jacqueline Winona]

Never thought of it, but I think you might be on to something Camille. We are wired a little differently, and that explains a lot if there is evidence to support it.

[Wildaboutheels]

True or False?

How do you stop a MtF CDer? [Okay, "most" MtF CDers]

You take away his camera and/or mirror/s.

No?

Yes?

Maybe?

[melissakozak]

Dressing has always been a means to an end, not an end in itself for me. I feel very much bigendered, and the clothing simply allows me to express my internal sense of being female. I am just shy of being full blown TS, and so my motivation makes sense. It is not a novelty for me to dress up, but it is a necessity to keep me balanced and harmonious. I dress, I then go out to a club, get treated as a woman, and this satisfies me emotionally. Going out validates my internal sense of self and gives me that boost in self esteem I think we all need.

[JadeEmber]

[QUOTE=Wildaboutheels;3085218]True or False?
How do you stop a MtF CDer? [Okay, "most" MtF CDers]
You take away his camera and/or mirror/s.
QUOTE]

That wouldn't be true for me. Although for some that's surely true.

Alas, I'm working atm, so not enough time to read this entire thread and all its ideas now, but I can think of at least five reasons off-hand for CD'ing, some of which might be genetically inspired, and some of which probably are not, but are sufficient and I think distinct in terms of their psychological roots. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if more than one such reasons combined to get people to overcome the social taboo.

I suspect there really are different groups not just within CDs, but within the entire TG group, but I also think some of those group divisions are partially artificial, so that when people begin CD'ing for whatever reason, they might adopt a cause that is flexible. For example, liking silky clothes.

The off-hand ones I could think of were: a) variants of fetishism, sexual and asexua leading to pleasure from either desire or beauty/transfiguration b) transsexual undercurrents leading to a sense of consonance when CD'd c) gender tourism -- for some the forbidden, for others the sense of travel, crossdressing can be a bit like going to different culture d) gender rejection/anarchism -- the pleasure of rejecting norm, hence punk, the pleasure in dissonace and e) warm pleasant clothes to wear, for example a nice snuggly sweater dress or a satin nightgown.

It is arguable that b,c,d and necessarily totally different, but I think they credibly be from different roots.

Anyway, that's just off-hand thoughts by a non-expert. I'm sure there could be more, and you might say some are the same at heart. I don't think those can be considered entirely genetic or epigenetic, except for maybe b. I don't think the meaning of gender and what is hormonal or implied by brain development is fully understood either.

It would be interesting to see what happened if we could find a sub-community where there was no real version of the codes and see what people naturally did without interference.

[Eddie]

I have always wondered if it is something in the way our brains developed in our youth or at birth. My therapist told me that when we are very young and have experienced a traumatic event or events, we can create an alter ego, or our own little world to escape from reality, a safe place for us to go. This can make an imprint in our brain that we carry with us for the rest of our lives. Especially if is a pleasurable experience, like it was for me. Maybe it's a little of both. Who know's?

[rivercity8686]

I think everyone does it for their own reasons... No two are alike

[k lynn]

I believe something happened to me at an early age cause I started feeling bras and panties in the store at age 4 and was wearing a bra at age 7 dont know maybe my mother dropped me and it all started but for some dumb reason i dont want to or cant quit

[NicoleScott]

Studies of identical twins are interesting, especially those who were separated shortly after birth. I don't know of any gender identity or sexual preference studies of twins, but if crossdresssing were genetic, both twins, independent of everything else, should be the same. Of course "independent of everything else" is almost impossible to have. Crossdressing seems to be so random that a genetic link would be hard to establish.

[Frédérique]

My own take, at the moment anyway, is that it's probably the same root cause, and is physiological. I think this because of the surprising similarity in all of our stories of self-discovery, starting from an early age. Something about our brains is partly female. But in some of us that part is more developed, or connected, or "turned up" than in others. Even if turned up all the way, it doesn't make a person's brain totally female, but does make them more likely to want to transition eventually.

Don’t you think that some people are just more sensitive than others, so they are drawn towards certain things (like crossdressing) because of the sensual pleasures it provides? You can call that “being wired differently” if you will, but how about having your sensitivity dial turned up? This would be genetic, I believe; perhaps skipping a generation now and then, and the lucky person WINS! Of course, increased sensitivity may exist across the board, and not necessarily manifest itself as crossdressing, but I think it must be “in the mix” somewhere...

In my case, an inherent sensitive nature led to artistic endeavors, and then on to crossdressing, so they are all part and parcel of a quest for sensual pleasure. I think we are all conglomerations of the two genders, in varying degrees, but the senses rule, and sensuality is not necessarily the exclusive property of females. It may be that a male expresses his female side by sensual means, thus balancing the two genders “inside” him, but you could just as easily say, “he’s a sensualist,” and leave it at that. Not being TG, not one little bit, I can’t possibly comment on transitioning...
:straightface:

[CassandraSmith]

Regarding the OP:

Wouldn't it be funny if the real reason was that we just have a heightened sense of touch. Feminine attire just is so much more tactile and enticing than male attire generally. Plus, the sounds of the clothing are really amazing to me also like the whoosh of your legs rubbing together as you walk, the clink of the jewelry, click of a makeup case snapping shut, the list goes on and on for me. I'm bored by guy stuff generally.

[ClosetED]

I believe closest to Frédérique. We are genetically more sensitive. But that alone does not cause it. It must be set off by an environment that begins it and maintains the desire. If it was purely genetic, more of our siblings would be CDers, including FtM. You might have an early exposure to women's clothes, just like other young boys, but being more sensitive (physically and/or emotionally) the endorphin pleasure is much higher. Those who started much later never had this early exposure but had in much later. But many boys may get dressed up once by a sister, but the environment must also be right to allow this enjoyment to continue. I read where 6% of men have CDed and 4% do it regularly. So it is a perfect storm of things which brings us to the unique and nicer people we are. I haven't gone of the FtM section to read if they get a pleasure from clothing or more from social interactions. There are threads here about the sexual thrill. Is there one on the FtM? Some thoughts ...

[Nichola]

Maybe its physiological, maybe its psychological? but I agree its probably a similar thing to the majority of us & how it takes effect depends on the individual.
I'd love to know though, I've wasted a lot of time wondering:doh: