Does CDing change your musical taste?

[JeanetteX]

As a guy I mainly listen to loud rock music. Not death or trash metal but classic bands like Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Metallica, Def Leppard and I stil have a love affair going with the 80's glam/hair metal scene (yes, Poison even made me try on makeup for the very first time!!).

But as soon as Jeanette walks in, the mood changes completely. I like to sit down and relax while listening to female singers from the soft pop/rock scene. Artists like Enya, Norah Jones, Eva Cassidy, Katie Melua and of course the most beautiful voice in music Linda Ronstadt take over.

Is this another example of the beautiful softness of our feminine side?

[Kate Simmons]

I would say that depends mainly on the person, not the clothes.:)

[Carroll]

Nope. My taste in music is as constant as the stars. As a musician (drummer) I rock out whether I am wearing jeans and sneaker or a skirt and heels.

[Beverley Sims]

I don't think it has affected me I like hard rock as well as wallpaper music.

It all depends on the mood I am in at the time.

When searching for music for programming any sort of music can appeal to me at the time.

[Lily Catherine]

Not really on my part, save for the fact that I prefer Chinese songs in particular while en femme. They indeed tend to be much more mellow than English-language pop, but to me my taste in music is independent of my cross-dressing. I have never played the drums in a skirt, and have only and will only drum in jeans.

On the other hand, Kiss Me by Sixpence none the Richer takes on a totally different meaning now.

Also I've played guitar both en drab ("home clothes") and en femme (strapless dress) and see no difference in my articulation and picking.

[Nikkilovesdresses]

Yes! I'm currently listening to some very girly music that I would not have listened to before. It's Japanese stuff with dreamy female vocals, think teenage Bjork meets sissy Cocteau Twins, dressed in Gothic Lolita.

Jeanette, ask your other half if he's seen Heart's live cover of Stairway To Heaven, it's a Zep tribute concert, you'll find it on Youtube. Makes me cry every time, and you can see Jimmy & Co are loving it.

[JeanetteX]

Yeah Nikki, the other half has seen that one and thinks its fantastic. Mrs. Wilson has such a great voice. Jimmy likes it indeed and I think I can even spot a few tears in mr. Plant's eyes!

[BOBBI G.]

With my realization as to who I really am, my tastes in music didn't change, they improved and broadened. I love music in the entire spectrum, classical instrumental, music of the 50's, 60's, etc. But my collection has added a larger number of female performers, their messages are presented in a way I appreciate, and identify with more closely.

Bobbi

[Krisi]

Strapping on a pair of boobs and a wig changes nothing for me. I am still the same person with the same mind and tastes.

[Nikkilovesdresses]

Glad you like the Heart video- I just watched it again, totally crying my eyes out, and it's mostly because of the expressions on Zep's faces, and how bloody old they look. It reminded me, there's a Japanese or Korean girl called Luna, she plays a gayageum- trad Japanese instrument, check out her version of The Great Gig In The Sky- it's short, but it's fantastic. There's also a 4-instrument gayageum version of Stairway, really weird. Also try some tracks by Cuushe - trying to think of stuff that might combine both your sides.

[Vinni]

Great question. I say that because as I grow (slang for age) I do find my taste let's say expanding. I have always thought a good song is a good song. My latest favorite is the all girl band Haim.

[Candice Mae]

Nope, currently painting my toe nails soft pink (bought it for my first Vday!) and listening to the new Venom album.

[JeanetteX]

Thanks Nikki, just checked out both artists. Cuushe isn't exactly my kind of music but perhaps it'll grow on me as I listen to it more often. Luna sounded very interesting, but weird indeed. The east Asians seem to love doing weird stuff...have you seen any YouTube videos by Ameri1122 yet? She plays some strange looking synth including foot pedals as drums. There are some good videos, she does Kansas' Carry on, Rush's YYZ and Leppard's Switch625 among other things.

Also thank you Vinni, I have heard of Haim. They had 1 or 2 minor hits here in Europe. Will check out more of them as well.

[Jaymees22]

No my musical taste is the same male or female very eclectic and my playlist would probably put most people to sleep. Hugs Jaymee

[Cheryl T]

Not me, I still like all the music I like any other time. I might lean a bit more towards one genre or the other, but nothing drastic as going from Black Sabbath to Celine Dion.

[Cassie.]

Nope but that might be because I have always had a certain way with music. Its quite simple really if I like the song I will play it or own it. Sure I listen to a lot more metal than anything else but it don't matter to me I could be playing J-pop/rock, Heavy metal, Metal, Pop , Classic club, blues. love them all the only things I really don't like are rap and main stream stuff. But it never changed what I listen to. Don't have music moods my playlists are so random. One second it would be Dir en gray to DHT to david bowie lol.

[MsLana]

Just depends on the mood really.I am a musician /singer also (acoustic guitar ,perform bluegrass,old country and some obscure stuff)..but I /we listen to everything. Im a channel changer so...girly club stuff is ok for a while...rock?? pick em....then we might listen to big band station for a while..I love the old swing tunes from the 30's and 40's...so nahh..don't guess getting the glam on changes much as far as music goes..if we can drink to it..play it..my 2cents.

[Karolyn]

It does not change my musical taste, but it actually changes the way I compose music. I am a piano player for 26 years, and I like improvising a lot, particularly romantic style, like Chopin. Usually, when I improvise, I think a lot logically (sequence of chords, what chord works with what other chord, etc.), but when I am Karolyn (particularly in a dress), my emotions talk! Forget about the logic, it is all about emotion. I have composed my best improvisations ever while being Karolyn, simply because I was letting my feelings go into the music. Fortunately I recorded some of those to be able to replicate them later.

[Nadya]

I wouldn't say it changes our tastes but rather coming to terms with crossdressing breaks down the barriers we put up to maintain our "maleness" and at least for me, it allowed me to enjoy things I normally would avoid to maintain a certain image.

[carahawkwind]

Not as much as having a 3 year old girl does. But sometimes the two things intersect musically.

[justmetoo]

Nope, not at all. Because I'm the same person no matter which clothes I'm wearing. :)

[Jorja]

No, music tastes the same to me. Could use a little salt and pepper though. Maybe some mayo too.;)

[Shinya]

The song remains the same

[justmetoo]

haha - I like that, Shazna! :)

[DorothyElizabeth]

Nope. No matter what I wear, I still can't stand any kind of "crossover" music. I have a pet peeve about music that tries to be more than one genre, or that tries not to offend anyone. And, by definition, music has to have certain elements: it must have form, rhythm, and melody. In my never-to-be-humble opinion, rap is not music, nor is timed noise, such as compositions by the likes of John Cage, because they lack one of more of the three necessary elements.

[Adriana Moretti]

I am a DJ....its my job to know, appreciate and learn all kinds of new music and keep up with the jones......so I have to like everything ( or at least pretend to) ...I DO love my girly tunes too....and like others here my musical taste does not change depending on what I am wearing....

[paulaprimo]

in drab mode my musical taste varies from country to italian opera.
one of my very favorites in either mode is the one below. as a guy
its kinda obvious as i love the curves and the moves... besides being
paula's new workout video, i dream of being the one with the curves
and the moves, and i must admit it does take a lot of dreaming!! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsyMLqJy14

[StarrOfDelite]

I am pretty much of a generalist no matter what presentation I am making: 50's rock & roll and rockabilly, 60's psychedelic, 70's superstar rock, 80's glam rock and heavy metal, 90's grunge, plus bluegrass, cool jazz, broadway show tunes, cole porter, new wave, reggae, and always classical symphonic whether it be Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, Borodin, Moussorgsky (sp?), J. Strauss or R. Strauss, Grieg, Sibelius, Shostakovich. I just love music!

[DorothyElizabeth]

"When I want a melody
Lilting through the house
Then I want a melody
By Strauss!"

Thank you, George and Ira

[Mink]

when i'm in boy mode I only listen to girly girly princess pop!

but for some reason in girl mode I can only stand utter death metal... oh god?


I listen to everything but rap and country!

also can't stand jazz!

(they just make it up as they go along!)

[Thrymr's Bane]

I was either not listening to anything or listening to lighter fare than the usual heavy/black/death metal when I was dressed, which I think was somewhat due to compartmentalization and somewhat due to just having my mind on other things. Now that I'm doing this more often and for greater lengths of time I tend to keep the same music on, although maybe with a bit more David Bowie.

[Marcelle]

Hi Jeanette,

Not for me. Same person, same tastes just different packaging.

Hugs

Isha

[pamela7]

CD-ing changes so much in me - from micro behaviours, feminine reactions, postures, poses, thoughts, languaging, consideration, care and attention, how I walk.
I've not yet got to really test out the music, but when my daughter comes home end of semester, I'm reckoning there'll be more chick-flicks on ... its funny now in retrospect, one of her all-time fave films is "white chicks", and I recommended it to her! I have to laugh at myself. anyone for Shania?

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Jeanette, For me some thinks remain constant.:daydreaming:

[ophelia]

Well there is that Shania Twain single which has crept into my playlist....

[JeanneF]

I listen to just about anything, but I will admit that the girly me has a bit more of a taste for terrible house/electronica music and dance remixes. I attribute this to the large amount of time spent at gay dance clubs en femme while in my 20s.

[Sarah-RT]

I listen to quite a broad range of music, depending on my mood or what ive recently been doing but when dressed I usually go to girls music, i dont really like to mix my normal mode with dressing so avoiding music and tv etc althought listening to my ipod on the bus I notice any songs ( linkin park have a lot ) about regret or struggling to overcome something and all I think of is my dressing yet I wont listen to those songs when dressed. strange, but then again nothing really seems so normal anymore haha

[detty]

"The first MC I had was Michael Jackson’s Bad. I mean, I remember listening to other music before, but this was certainly the first media I considered my own. I was convinced he was a beautiful girl. On the cover and in the videos, he had long, curly black hair. I could not believe when I learned he was not the beautiful chick I thought he was. He later appeared muss less feminine than in the times of Bad. Did I really like the music? I am not sure. I liked many of his later released albums better. But the „Man in the mirror” was cool. Wished it was the „Woman in the mirror”."

[Jorja]

OMG, you mean Michael Jackson wasn't a chick? That really changes my perception of her.

[joank]

I have no real taste in music if you discount some listening to 40's, 50's and early 60's big band and rock. So I guess I do have a taste but I very rarely listen to any music.

[Mink]

you should check out some of the stuff from the 90s and 00s!

or better yet the 10s!

live in the now!

[Tina_gm]

The only thing that changes for me when I dress is the fabric of the clothes....

[Tracii G]

Nope my taste in music stays the same no matter which mode I'm in.
Harder rock/metal mostly but 80's hair metal I love too.

[HannahF6]

I'm with Karolyn above. My tastes remain the same but there are subtle changes. I do play piano and love Bach whether I'm in femme or guy mode, but I do seriously believe my playing is much more sensitive when I am in femme mode.

[Alice Torn]

I started out, as a kid, liking oldies, and old country western, then easy listening, then discovered great classical music. I still listen mostly to classical music, but still like some old country, and some old rock songs. Mainly easy listening and classical now.

[Brandy Mathews]

Ophelia,
Love that cd too. Very good call.
Bree

[ophelia]

Well, A) The lyrics...and B) Just another super canadian hottie like racheal McAddams, Joni Mitchell (younger),

[Stephanie Julianna]

I've always preferred female singers but then there are guys like Johnny Mathis, Sinatra, Perry Como, etc. that I grew up on that always sound great. I would say that right now Diana Krall is at the top of her game. But I can be dressed and listen to the Beatles as well.

[Rhian]

My taste doesn't really change a great deal, I normally listen to NME type bands in both modes.

[cindyinsatin]

While my cross dressing does not change my musical listening habits, it does seem to make me want to dance! As a guy, I just don't do it. Not very good and too self conscious. When I am dressed femme, especially a dress or skirt and heels, I find it very fun to dance around while listening to music.

Cindy

[Khora]

I wouldn't say it changes our tastes but rather coming to terms with crossdressing breaks down the barriers we put up to maintain our "maleness" and at least for me, it allowed me to enjoy things I normally would avoid to maintain a certain image.

This would be me. As a male there are things I like that I can't admit to because I'm "not supposed" to like them. With Kristina all of those barriers come down and I can freely listen to all the girly music I want! There's just something to getting dressed with Britney or Ke$ha playing...maybe a little Miley before she went all loco.

[donnalee]

No change, but I always found playing and listening to music (can't really do the first without doing the second) an emotional outlet and felt it brought me closer to the other musicians and the audience; far different from my coldly analytical talents for math and science (although these were enormously helpful in learning song structures and accumulating a huge repertoire). This may, in a way, be my most feminine trait. I also have been working on vocals for the last dozen years and this has increased my openness to lyrics to the point where I can now listen to country without vomiting. Rock is still something I don't listen to much, (k)rap not at all (not music, period; hopeless devolution of a culture that reached it's heights with Ellington and Parker et al.).

[pamela7]

i can listen to everything except "waiting room" music - that remains the same.

[flatlander_48]

My musical sensibilities don't change as a function of what I'm wearing. Part of what's on my iPod is ADELE, Antonio Carlos Jobim, BeauSoleil, Billy Joel, Dave Brubeck, Enya, Glenn Gould, Hilary Hahn, Joni Mitchell, Keb Mo', Melissa Etheridge, Nat King Cole, Rihanna, Sade, Scott Joplin, Sheryl Crow, The Temptations, Vladimir Horowitz and 2Pac. If there is a pattern there, I fail to discern it.

I also tend to like songs that I can sing to and have memorized songs by Bill Joel, Keb Mo', Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and others. Mostly it is for my own amusement, but sometimes I will sing a song for my wife. Finally got around to checking out The Heavy and am learning How You Like Me Now and What Makes A Good Man. With a bit of luck, I may get to do What Makes A Good Man in public late this year dressed as DeeAnn. Now THAT would be pretty cool. Currently accepting applications for back-up singers. Must Dress! No money, no bennies and no entourage but Serious Fun guaranteed!!

[scarletcd]

I'm still into my Punk/Metal/Rock regardless :)

[JessicaMann]

I think so!!! I am open to a lot more music now that I have embraced my fem-side! I like a lot more hip-hop and female vocalists now, as when I was in denial, I listened to more hard and angry rock music. maybe it's just me? who knows... but I like what I like, and don't care how others view it!

[Katey888]

Currently accepting applications for back-up singers. Must Dress! No money, no bennies and no entourage but Serious Fun guaranteed!!

Does it involve glam gowns, big hair and feather boas...? If so - count me in!! :D

Something like this perhaps...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUSYj5zq144

While my preferences haven't changed, I look back on artists that I have liked through several decades and realise that there's a strong female presence there, particularly singer-songwriters, from Debbie Harry, Kim Wilde, Annie Lennox, Judie Tzuke, Sarah MacLachlan, through to Shania Twain, Bjork, Sheila Chandra, Madonna, Roisin Murphy and Kiesza... (thanks Ms Moretti.. :)) Quite a mix...

But I like other stuff too...

Katey x

[marilyn m]

love the 3 degrees katey, esp giving up giving in ,and the georgio meroder production the runner,
sheila fergusson amazing moves and sparkly dresses had me glued to the tv when i was very young,
cding used to change my persona when listening to music, but now iam doing the moves in the kitchen in drab baby yeah lol x

[Frenchy Michelle]

I don't think so but I sometimes catch myself moving my bum from side to side and head as well, to the sound of the music as a girl would :))

[alwayshave]

Not me, my tastes are pretty eclectic, so anything I'd listen to en femme, I'd listen to in drab.

[Candice Mae]

This started out as a reply to the "music to cross dress to" thread, but as I kept typing I realized these questions run deeper and should be answered. Normally I don't get too many replies to these threads, so hopefully more will lend their two cents this time.

Does the music really make a difference or is it all based on your state of mind? What makes you listen to artists that you regularly have no interest in or would not be caught dead listening to by your family/friends? Where does this other persona come from is it real or just a character created in your mind to help you reach a state of euphoria? Did you create this female persona to fill a void or escape reality? What drives you to do things that could turn you life upside down just to wear "woman's" clothes? Is it really about the clothes and accessories or is it based on replicating what you find attractive? What's more important to you, your current existence or the need to dress?

[Deane]

I may be weird, but to me good music is good, bad music is bad. Doesn't matter what I'm wearing or if it's Christmas or not. I listen to the same eclectic mix all the time.

[Alice Torn]

Existance, food and water, and shelter, is more important than dressing. I consider it a luxury, few on earth can enjoy.

[Nikki A.]

My tastes are pretty similar either way.

[Michaelasfun]

For me it's like finding the magical key that fits the lock. It doesn't feel like acquiring accessories in order to achieve exciting cosplay or some such; when I dress, it's filling a need, and then for the music part of it, I scan stations until I find one that seems to click with this person I'm trying to find, and I know it when I hear it..

[Jaylyn]

I tend to enjoy the same music wether dressed or not. I think that as I grow older my urge to crossdress becomes more about the dressing no matter what the outside stimuli is. I do get the urge sometimes by seeing a great lipstick commercial or a beautifully fix set of eyes on TV. I do find myself more attractive when in full makeup as the foundation seems to take away more flaws as we age. My life has not been turned up side down about CD ing. I enjoy it and my wife is fully supportive but I keep it all in touch by knowing she married me as her man, so I try and remain that as much or more than the woman in her life.

[Hell on Heels]

Hell-o Candice,
Quite a barrage of questions.
The music I listen to is the same music I always listen to.
Mode of dress has no impact at all.
As far as another persona, I don't believe I have one. Sure I use a female name, but how I act, and feel while I'm dressed is not much different while in either mode, the name change is just a means of making conversations with others more comfortable, and a way to remain a bit anonymous.
I think the initial driving force behind my dressing was probably a sexual attraction thing, but over time that has changed, and now it is more about just being me.
The clothes I choose to wear naturally are what I feel are attractive.
Who would purposely dress in something they thought was ugly?
What's more important? Well I've been super busy as of late, and haven't
taken the time to dress en-femme since the beginning of February.
Please don't report me to the officials and have my CD card revoked!
Thanks!
Much Love,
Kristyn

[PaulaQ]

My musical tastes are one of the few things about me that didn't change, either with dressing, or with my transition. I've always really loved classical music. I like all kinds of music really, but my main interest has always been classical music. I think my musical tastes were one of the few things about myself that I didn't hide before my transition. There are many things I used to do that hold no interest for me whatsoever anymore. In many ways now, I'm a very different person. But my musical tastes remain the same.

I think I allowed my musical tastes to show through because very few people really understood them. So they didn't reveal much about me, except that I like classical music.

[Suzie Petersen]

Several questions there so I will pick a few to answer:


What makes you listen to artists that you regularly have no interest in or would not be caught dead listening to by your family/friends?
My taste in music, food, wine, beer, cocktails, _blank_ never changed with the clothes I was wearing.


What's more important to you, your current existence or the need to dress?
Dressing was not compatible with my married life, so I stopped dressing. Ergo, current existence is more important.

- Suzie

[Angie G]

I have no void if my life to fill Dress fore the woman in me. A good part of my existence is being able to dress more hen 1/2 of the hours ina week, the music I listen to is the same as when I'm not dressedMy state of mind is much the same if I'm dressed or not.:hugs:
Angie

[pamela7]

i'm new to this relatively, so perhaps i've just not found the music or situations to delve into something new. My taste in music is so broad anyway it covers most genres except the recent trend for manufactured boy/girl band pop (idol, x-factor etc).

Maybe you're tapping deeper into the "not me" self that is everything other than the normal male persona? This could bring out complete opposites. One explanation for our alternate persona is a definition of "what I am not"/"who i am not like", as we are "everything" there are no limits to alter-egos. Just try playing with a glove-puppet or ventriloquist dummy to find an alter-ego expression.

My Pamela self is in many ways more my true-self rather than the socially-adapted-and-presented "normal me" the world has seen most of my life. The drive while inexplicable is that "this IS me". It's the clothes and my need to dress is presently more important.

[Beverley Sims]

In my current existence I find a need to dress.

Listening to music does add to the mood of the moment and will encourage me, a sort of hypnosis?

[cassiekat]

I have always had two distinct tastes in music and never realised until about 16 months ago, thought I just had a wide range in taste. As far as a" persona" I never really had a female one made up, I just learned that it goes much deeper then that. I have made up a persona at a place I used to work but it was a male one and very non-PC , but the women I worked with loved Eddie.

[Kandi Robbins]

What I am wearing has never had an impact on what I like in terms of music, food, drink, movies, whatever.

My crossdressing has evolved. The crossdressing has been there since I was very young, probably more the result of circumstance than anything else. As I grew, there was a sexual component to it, or at least a sexual sort of charge to it. Then it became an unscratchable itch when the stresses associated with adulthood occurred. Most recently it was part of guilt and self-loathing during some difficult times. And now, accepting who I am, it has become a true source of happiness, my reality has not changed. I am no longer escaping, I am embracing who I am. Don't know why I am how I am, I just have accepted and grown to love who I am. Took a long time, but I'm glad I'm here! Now that I am embracing "me", my female persona is just my letting down my inhibitions, letting this part of me that was buried deeply inside of me out!

[Talisker]

Does the music really make a difference or is it all based on your state of mind? What makes you listen to artists that you regularly have no interest in or would not be caught dead listening to by your family/friends? Where does this other persona come from is it real or just a character created in your mind to help you reach a state of euphoria? Did you create this female persona to fill a void or escape reality? What drives you to do things that could turn you life upside down just to wear "woman's" clothes? Is it really about the clothes and accessories or is it based on replicating what you find attractive? What's more important to you, your current existence or the need to dress?

Does the music really make a difference or is it all based on your state of mind?
Music is good generally and I like watching women dance and have fun even if its just me playing around and in the mirror having fun. Dont dance as much as man.

What makes you listen to artists that you regularly have no interest in or would not be caught dead listening to by your family/friends?
I would listen to it anyway in man mode, but yeah I would not play some of Willam Belli songs in front of parents.

Where does this other persona come from is it real or just a character created in your mind to help you reach a state of euphoria?
Where does anyones sexual fetish come from? What do they say about people with a spanking fetish "half the people say it reminds them of childhood when they were spanked as child and the other half says they missed such attention!" I think it comes from all over, movies, music, ideas on forums like this. For me its just fun and fantasy, but the more you do the more ideas and extreme it gets.

Did you create this female persona to fill a void or escape reality?
Maybe, men dont really get to dress up much or express themselves. Escape reality - well yes probably but thats also why men go to the pub, play golf, go snowboarding etc.

What drives you to do things that could turn you life upside down just to wear "woman's" clothes?
Maybe the same thing as what drives politicians to have affairs or millionaires to shoplift. certainly some of it is for the adrenalin kicks. Yes that can be addictive.

Is it really about the clothes and accessories or is it based on replicating what you find attractive?
I like heel, corsets, stockings on women. Pretty much all the fetish items men like, just that I also like wearing them as well. Its more intense. You get the feel as well as the look. They cannot get much closer to me than that.

What's more important to you, your current existence or the need to dress?

As you may have noticed for me its a come and go hobby every 3 or 4 months maybe I get some free time to dress and also have a look in here and other sites. At the time yes it is rather all consuming and I dont get much done for a few days but then thats it for a few months. Maybe like a weekend trip to Vegas. I can understand how and why it consumes people, i get that, but i try to keep it in balance with other things. Its fun dressing but unless your a drag queen its hard to make a living from it so its a hobby.

Where is the link to the music to dress to thread anyway ? I want to have a look. I may have a few tunes to add :)

[Dana44]

Music, I love having tune to relax to and music is for the enjoyment. I always listen to the same, yet I might listen better to the words that the girls sing. The clothes are for the enjoyment of the physical self image. My female persona has always been with me. It did take me a while to name it though. I do not need the threads. It is an enjoying experience for me. I posted in another thread that the feminine aspect of us can be in full male clothes all day. Its a state of mind. I feel pretty much the same in female clothes. They feel so much better typically. The challenge of crossdressing is to bring your feminine side out and look as good as they do.

[Marcelle]

Hi Candice,

In response:

Music is music. For me, my choice of artist are flavored by the moment and mood not being TG.

Where does this other persona come from is it real or just a character created in your mind to help you reach a state of euphoria? Did you create this female persona to fill a void or escape reality?

I have to wonder why you always refer to CDing as a fabrication or something we invented because we had some void or lonely aspect of our lives. I think a read of most threads here will confirm like anyone along the TG spectrum we are who we are. This is not a hobby or passing fancy nor is it a choice. So I don't understand he reasoning or logic behind your question.

What drives you to do things that could turn you life upside down just to wear "woman's" clothes?

Again you make the assumption it is just about clothes and looking girly like that is the only thing of importance to a CDer. I may not like labels but I do consider myself TG that is all and it is not about wearing clothing or looking girly . . . it is about being who I need to be to exist on this earth . . . much the same way I suspect you do.

What's more important to you, your current existence or the need to dress?

Both as they are intertwined. I am who I am and dressing is part of that.

Isha

[Kate Simmons]

It has different meaning for each of us. If you answered your own questions, I think you would be surprised at the answers.:)

[kimdl93]

I don't find that changing my clothes changes the music I listen to, nor any other aspect of who I am. I agree with Duke Ellington...."if it sounds good,nit is good"

[Lily Catherine]

An armour piercing question indeed Candice. For now, I treat cross-dressing as an expendable of sorts. Yes, I love it, consider it liberating, would be beyond willing to spend a day dressed. That said, I could withhold it for a month at most (with brimming desire as a direct side effect), and the rest would be in my imagination.

Music wise, my tastes are largely independent of being cross-dressed despite the feelings many songs have invoked in me. I do have a few embarrassments in my iPod that are guilty pleasures, but my music taste is mine and isn't fully detached from current trends / the car radio / the supermarket PA system.

I've largely accepted the female persona formerly known as Iris as part of me (I am her, she is me), but I'm still figuring out why she even exists and is going out of the way to push open the closet doors. I'd like to remark on the inherent assumption in asking if the need to dress would cost one's current existence: that the female persona is a detachable entity.

[Candice Mae]

Hi Candice,

In response:...

Hi Isha,

Obviously these are not one size fits all questions, and I understand there are CDs here that the need is beyond skin deep. And I respect that you took the time to answer more then just the music question, as this thread is about more then that. This thread is more directed at the CD's that say they miss their clothes and other feminine material items, and those that go from their normal day to day selves to act like a diva or a teenage girl as soon as they put on a feminine item of clothing. Are they not acting to play out a fantasy that is usually only ended after self gratification? And those who under dress is it not for the thrill of the secretive taboo? As you all proclaim that no one noticed or that you think some one noticed, or just for the sexual side that your wearing woman's underwear?

For me the clothes help me reflect my internal self, but do not define who or what I am. I still wear some of my male clothes (well what still fits me) and it has no effect on what gender I am or how I act.

[Katey888]

This thread is more directed at the CD's that say they miss their clothes and other feminine material items, and those that go from their normal day to day selves to act like a diva or a teenage girl as soon as they put on a feminine item of clothing. Are they not acting to play out a fantasy that is usually only ended after self gratification? And those who under dress is it not for the thrill of the secretive taboo? As you all proclaim that no one noticed or that you think some one noticed, or just for the sexual side that your wearing woman's underwear?

More than a hint of being judgmental here, I feel... take care... :naughty

For sure there may be many who are playing out some sort of fantasy but not always for sexual gratification. I think you saying 'usually' is too generalised. And while we can probably all come across as somewhat teenage or diva-like that's often just unrestrained enthusiasm for many of us that don't get all the opportunity we may want for all sorts of reasons.

On underdressing: well, it isn't for me - but as much as flouting taboo I think there's every possibility that many CD/TG folk do feel a better sense of comfort and rightness in 'stealth' dressing... And if that's what they feel comfortable doing then I think they have every right to do that without being made to feel that there doing something wrong. Being CD/TG is a big classification and many types fit under it - I sometimes feel (without getting into the label thing and provoking Isha into a hissy fit again.. ;)) that if we were all to state what type we were (if we knew!) it wouldn't half help a lot of understanding between us.

Candice - you're 24/7 now, is that right? By choice, because I don't believe you feel your gender identity is 100% female or have I got that wrong? Apologies if I have, I'm just trying to understand your perspective on all us other partially-male identifying CDers who do this partially as an identity thing but also partially 'for fun'. For me, I'm Katey (to you) a CD/TG person who currently hasn't dressed for 50 days... and that might just be starting to get to me...

Many variations on this thing we do here and I'm not comfortable with any of them being singled out or ridiculed as 'wrong'... :hmph:

Katey x

[sometimes_miss]

I may be weird, but to me good music is good, bad music is bad. Doesn't matter what I'm wearing or if it's Christmas or not. I listen to the same eclectic mix all the time.
^this. I generally prefer female singers to male, especially when it's in video form, as I can identify with the romantic feelings, both the pain and the ecstasy of love, that the girls express so well. But thankfully, we live in an era where there is so much great recorded music, that we can go for years without hearing the same thing twice, yet still have even more great music available. As someone who has music playing every waking moment of my life, for that I am very greatful to all the wonderful artists who have put so much into their art. In one way, music is very much like a psychoactive drug; when listening, I focus so much on the sound that all my troubles fade away, and I feel good, no matter what else is going on in my life. Good music is a he!! of an antidepressant.

That said, no, crossdressing doesn't change my taste in music.

[Maria 60]

I think I know what your talking about, Maria comes out and all at once I am more relaxed and for some reason reading a book or novel. I never read. Go figure.