Can someone catch the CD bug or is it in your blood?

[Judy-Somthing]

Over the years I wondered can a so called non-CDr become a CDr.

I really don't know if my sister suggesting I put on her old Ballerina outfit when I was eight somehow started my CDing. I think it did.
Not that I have any regrets, it been fun.

I was wondering, say like when and actor, maybe a young male making a movie who has never CDed before gets a professional transformation then looks in the mirror, and thinks (wow I look so sexy) and lets face it, most girly clothes feels so much nicer than mens.

Every time I see a movie where a male actor CDs I think "they're messed up now"

And have you seen all the new commercials with males cross-dressing?

[docrobbysherry]

I can tell u from personal experience, Judy, trying on women's things does NOTHING for regular men.:straightface:

I dressed as a scanky woman and my ex as a possesive guy to a Halloween party years before I began crossdressing. It made such an impression on me, I didn't remember that nite until I had been dressing for 10 years!:heehee:

[AllieSF]

I believe that one can "catch the bug". Now, just like catching the cold or flu bug, it may affect people differently. I caught the bug for the first time when I was almost 60 years old. I caught it at the perfect TG/CD bug catching moment, being retired, a cancer survivor, single, open minded and adventurous. Now, I also believe that most males have some natural antibiotic that prevents them from ever being seriously infected by this. Maybe it is just being in the right place at the right time in the right frame of mind??

[Judy-Somthing]

Are you saying I'm not a regular man? LOL

[AllieSF]

No, not at all. Maybe your immune system was down that first day??

[Dawn cd]

The phrase "in your blood" suggests that some people might be wired, genetically, to crossdress. That's difficult to prove--although many transsexuals make that claim, and indeed some children know very early that they're gendered incorrectly. It's a nature/nurture question that is still unsettled among experts because gender is partly a social construct and partly physiological.

For most of us the impulse to crossdress is learned behavior that probably began at an impressionable moment when we were young, or later on. In that sense it's a "bug" we caught, and for many of us has become chronic.

[Mayo]

If you've been raised with traditional gender roles, then you've always been a 'non-CDer' until the first time you put on the clothes associated with the opposite gender. If it grabs you at that point and you're surprised, it's because it's fulfilling some need that you weren't aware of (or repressed) until that point. So, in that sense, you were only a non-CDer because you didn't yet know that you were one. Does that make any sense?

That being said, our sexualities and modes of gender expression can change throughout our lives. So it may very well be something that develops over time - I personally never had any interest in dressing until a couple of years ago (I'm now in my 50s), but it arose out of a variety of things that caused me to begin questioning the traditional views of gender and what that meant to me personally. Either way, dressing is a response to something that was internal to me. Whether that was present from birth or developed over time isn't really important.

[Candice June Lee]

I was intrigued by my mother's things rather early. Was disappointed when I was no longer allowed to go Saturday shopping with her and grandma and my sis. I was told I had to stay home, in the garage or yard doing boy things. Still if left alone at home I raided the clothing in mom's closet and drawers. Being careful to put it all back correctly. I can't say if I "caught the bug" or not. I just know it's always been there.

[Scarlett Viktoria]

I'd say sure, why not? I never dressed up in my mother's clothes or had sisters at all. I started in my late 20's because I wanted to see what it was like. Preciously, I had been curious for a little while what it was like to wear women's clothes but only got the courage to try it later. I do have a fem side that this does satisfy. But there is no reason why a dude couldn't try on a dress at 50 and fall in love with it.

[Nadine Spirit]

It's a nature/nurture question that is still unsettled among experts because gender is partly a social construct and partly physiological.

Do you have evidence to back this up with? I ask as I have read of intersex people who had a gender chosen for them, and regardless of the nurturing aspects, it didn't work out quite the way that people had hoped it would.



For most of us the impulse to crossdress is learned behavior that probably began at an impressionable moment when we were young, or later on. In that sense it's a "bug" we caught, and for many of us has become chronic.

Again, do you have any evidence for this?

Where exactly did I learn the behavior of wanting to shave my body hair? Where did I learn the behavior of wanting to paint my fingernails? Where did I learn the behavior of wanting to wear fem jewelry? I ask as those are things I did long before I ever even considered putting women's clothes on. And for that matter, if they were somehow learned, why did I learn those things, that maybe my sister or mother showed me, but I ignored what my dad and my male friends showed me?

Okay..... sorry!

To the OP - while I think that something could possibly happen to someone to introduce them to cross dressing or gender non-conforming things, if a person was not born with some sort of gender variance internally, then they would not be interested in those things.

In other words, when I was a kid, I thought maybe I was TG because I was on a swim team and was forced to shave my body. Thus, if I hadn't been forced to do that, then I would never have done it and would never have learned that I like it. Sounds pretty good huh? Well it is crap. I was thrilled to be able to have a legitimate excuse to finally be able to shave off my nasty body hair! Oh and as well, none of the other males I swam with ever seemed to be so thrilled at the prospect of shaving and as soon as they were allowed readily grew theirs back, while I continued to find excuses to insist that I needed to shave. Shaving only appealed to me, unlike others, because of something that was going on inside of me, and not the external influences.

[pamela7]

I think its in the blood but something needs to happen to trigger it, because otherwise social pressures will take their toll, at least they did on me.
So if its not in the blood, an experience won't cause a downstream lifelong need.

[Wanttodress]

I caught when I was dating a crossdresser.

[Kiersten]

I would say no. I was always drawn to my mother's things from a early age. It's just in me.

[Confucius]

I believe that crossdressing is more biological than psychological. Only about 3-4% of the population enjoys crossdressing. If it was contagious then the percentage would be much higher. Where I went to school we had pep-rallies with short humorous skits. It was common to include some crossdressing in the skit. Also my school had womanless pageants during spirit week. I would guess that about 50% of men crossdress at some point in their lives, but for the vast majority they feel nothing special from it.

I believe that our brains are hardwired for crossdressing. When we crossdress our brains interpret it as actual contact with a female. Our brain releases a host of feel-good neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and others) which produce sensations of well-being, comfort, pleasure, sexual gratification and self-identity (bonding). We love it. Most non-crossdressers feel nothing but embarrassment and they do NOT enjoy it.

Perhaps some of us were hardwired at an early age but never experienced the right trigger until puberty, or even later.

[Jenny22]

Some kind of bug was in me at a very early age, but it was to be a girl. My prayers to wake up as one never paid off, but I still have that dang bug in me ... TG = Totally a Girl.

[Nine]

I think that CDing is a natural bug.
How do the parents decide to dress their kids ?...because they have to do like their parents do for them. I think the real bug is here...
"We born naked, the rest is drag"
In my blood, I feel no gender.

[Pat]

You phrase it like there's only one correct answer. Perhaps it's both. To (wildly) paraphrase the Bard: Some are born to TG, some TGs are made and some have TG thrust upon them.

[Jazzy Jaz]

I was born bigender.

[Kate Simmons]

There is really no raw data for this one way or the other. All we have is supposition basically. :battingeyelashes::)

[mechamoose]

I tried on my Mom's stuff when I was little, I don't remember how old, maybe 8 or 9? I had gay experiences at 12.

It didn't really come out until I was 25. It felt like a prisoner being released from a cell. It was confusing for a bit because that was when I also realized I was bisexual. You examine all aspects of sexuality and self when that happens.

Dressing and sexuality are totally separate, but they -are- related. Far too easy to get them twined around each other.

[Krisi]

I believe that crossdressing is a reaction to an event or events in your life. In my case, my mother really wanted a daughter but ended up with three sons. I was the first. I found out many years later that she dressed me in girl clothes when I was too young to know and nobody else was around.

I suspect my dressing is related to this, an attempt to please my (now deceased) mother. At least that's how it started.

[Misty Rae Pleasure]

I think it's just in you. What triggers the expression of crossdressing in a person and when is different and the same for us CD'ers. I think mine was feeling a see through bra of my moms and some of her pantyhose. The feeling was a bit euphoric. That was probably when I was sixteen years old , but didn't have the opportunity to CD till my mid to late twentys. What I do know for sure is, I am glad I took the step to explore my feminine side years ago.


Lady Pleasure

[Cheryl T]

Absolutely it's contagious !! It's spread through the air and by contact the same way that you can become a redneck by attending a rodeo, or turn Republican hearing a Ted Cruz speech.
Now, let's get serious and go shopping, shall we !

[Heidi Stevens]

Cooties carry the CD virus. You played with girls when you were little, didn't you Judy! Ummmm hummmm...... Caught them Cooties!

[Teri Ray]

I believe the crossdressing passion is contagious prolly a lack of breast feeding when I was a baby gave me breast envy ....... nah... I just was born this way.

[Julia1984]

So many people (myself included) refer back to a pre-pubescent experience; that suggests something innate. But it could be nothing more than a genetic predisposition. Add that to an addictive personality, opportunity and, for some perhaps, a hormonal change (late bloomers, you know who we are) and Bob's your mother's brother. I'm sure that for many it is different, but that's my theory of my position, now.