The Media

[deebra]

Even though some of us had the draw to wear female clothes at a very early age and for others it was later did being bombarded with beautiful sexy women and their clothes on T.V., magazines, stores, etc. get you into crossdressing ? Did it fuel your curiosity and desire to see how it would feel, how you would look, to cross over the forbidden line into the dangerous and embarrassing world of dressing in women's clothes??

[Beverley Sims]

I looked good at eighteen and my girlfriends encouraged me, looking at magazines only wanted me to look more like the girls portrayed.

Sometimes it worked and it was scary...... In a nice kind of way.

I could go dressed up over the top and make boys tongues hang out, my girlfriends would tell them to stop drooling and go away.

I am always glad I had the support of others.

[Sandy Storm]

since I first started at a young age, I don't think media every had any influence on me. But if I was a child of this young generation it probably fuel me to be either open or at least more adventurous

[Fiona123]

I don't think media got me in to crossdressing but advertising, especially lingerie ads, added fuel to the fire so to speak.

[Sarina Curtis]

As a "late starter' I honestly don't believe that the media influenced me to get into cross dressing at all. I've always been a bit more feminist in my beliefs that magazines and TV haven't presented a realistic or particularly desirable or achievable "standard" for women since I can remember looking at them. I've never seen a woman who is my "ideal" in a magazine, but I've seen many in the supermarket (a lot who are unfortunately wasting their time reading those silly magazines).

[Elizabeth G]

For me it wasn't so much the media but print ads. I distinctly remember around age 11 or 12 looking at the lingerie section of the Sears catalog (all that was available in my house at that time for a bit of that age) and after some time realizing that I was becoming just as fascinated with what the models were wearing as I was with the models themselves.

[NancySue]

I began dressing at a young age. I don't recall any media influences, except, like Elizabeth G, I enjoyed going through the lingerie section of the Sears catalog and newspaper stockings ads. I dagree what we do can be dangerous, but I've never been embarrassed. Dressing was and is, for me, a natural thing to do. My supportive wife agrees.

[Stacy Darling]

The media has definitely had an effect, but even if it wasn't around I would most likely be one on the landscape dressed in flowers and not loin cloth!
I'm much to Girly for cloth!
Stacy.

[Stephanie47]

My attraction to women's clothing started with fondling my mother's nylon slips that she hanged in the apartment to line dry. It was the feel of nylon which I liked. It was like none of the fabric little boy clothes were made of. There was no sexual stimulation. There was no desire to be a girl. I gradually nurtured the desire to try a slip on. I loved the feel. It was until my teenage years or at puberty that there was kindling to try on other garments' slip, panty, bra, hosiery. If anything stimulated me it was the store window displays of two women's stores on the main shopping street in my neighborhood. The mannequins were adorned in undergarments. Fortunately one of the stores was right at a bus stop, so I'd stand there pretending to wait for the bus and gaze at those mannequins. Sigh!

[Vikky]

Like Fiona adverts, especially lingerie adverts, did something for me when I was a teenager. For some reason adverts for corsets had special appeal. I don’t recall the general media having much impact.
Vikky

[ronda]

I started dressing early in life don't think I even knew what media was at that age I have always liked fem clothing over male stuff

[Tracii G]

I don't think media had much to do with why I dress.
I will say the Chico's sale books I get in the mail make me go spend money and that is printed media. LOL

[DIANEF]

From a very early age I watched my sister getting dressed and wondered why her clothes were so much nicer than mine. Then I began peeping into my mums catalogues and of course the lingerie section. I was fascinated about what women wore under their outer clothes, and the more I looked the more I wanted to try such things myself. When my sister reached the age of having proper 'grown up' undies' I just had to try them, and it grew from there. Of course seeing attractive women on TV all the time also influenced me.

[Micki_Finn]

Nope, I think I can honestly say that media had nothing to do with it. I grew up in the 80s and the clothes were terrible!

[Rachael Leigh]

Yes I do think at a younger age the media did influence me and I wondered how would I look in a dress or skirt and and later panties and bras.
In school cheerleaders always were my weak spot wanting to wear their outfits was my dream

[deebra]

Beverly you were truly blessed at eighteen to look that good and have girlfriends that encouraged and accepted you dressed as a girl and to have the courage to dress in front of boys also. WOW.

Reading Sears catalogs is the printed media, I did this also and Playboy too. Reading this gets a young boy horney as hell and if women's underwear are around he's going to try them on and this results in an involuntary action in the male genitalia and then you know exactly what follows. And these mag's did sway me to get into CDing. Women and their clothes are beautiful whether you see them in the mall and then on T.V. at night. Seeing women in any form of advertising or entertainment is seeing them in the media. Personally being drawn to femininity and seeing women this much in print and movies and T.V. did encourage me to try on my first pair of panties, nothing has ever felt that good, I wanted more so I became a MtF CD. Look at all the money I saved not buying men's clothes over the years, great financial investment don't you think !!!

[Teresa]

Deebra,
No the internal chemistry started it all, I didn't have that much external influences.

I do question why you think it crossing some forbidden line, I was born with a female trait that needed to be satisfied, as it turns out most of is perfectly natural if you have a degree of GD .

[Alice Torn]

Yes, to quite an extent, and also Sears, and JC penney Catalogs, and the dresses and skirt outfits girls wore to school, when i was in grade and high schools. And also, store mannequins in hose and heels, and dresses and tops with skirts.

[CONSUELO]

I know that it did not start me off on my fetishistic transvestism path. But I loved to look at pictures of well dressed women and admire their clothes. Like most people here, I recognized from an early age that there were social taboos about dressing up in women's clothing but I never thought of myself as crossing the line. It was more just being me.

[Lana Mae]

When I was a little boy and the little girl I was with flipped her dress up over her head showing her panties, I wanted a dress! I developed real slow! Sears catalogs! Catching a glimpse of a long leg panty girdle and nylons when a young lady in high school carelessly sat down! Many factors contributed to the whole! And here I am! Hugs Lana Mae

[Joni T]

It was the girls in jr high and high school with their short skirts and heels and knee boots. Oh how I wanted to be able to dress like them.
Jon

[lingerieLiz]

Before I was 4 I was in a room with several women getting ready to go out. Their slips, nylons and assorted lingerie of the 50s were fascinating and I assumed I would wear them one day. At 5 my mother put me in panties for a day and the dye was set. As I grew older I read girl magazines and wanted to have the experiences they had and the cloths they wore. With my older sisters having fun dressing me I got to wear many current fashions. Until I passed my upper 20s passing was easy. I was lucky to be able to afford outfits that were very much like some of the models wore.

[KimberlyJean]

I second Micki, I developed this way because.

[SDress22]

I second Micki, I developed this way because.

I don't know what the trigger was for me, but I do recall having some interest in floral, flowy dresses, and I recall seeing various TV shows where a character would crossdress, and that made me realize as a kid I could try that too.

[Invisible Emily]

It started for me in high school and not because of the media. I remember I was with my ex-girlfriend at the time and when we were being intimate we would sometimes trade clothes because she knew I enjoyed it. I didn't really think much deeper than that, but as time went on I realized I was jealous that men couldn't go through the process of prettying themselves up the way women did. It started with painting my fingernails and toenails, but as time went on I realized the clothing thing wasn't all sexual. It was just something I really enjoyed doing so it kinda grew off that. First underwear and then skirts, and now I wear pretty much any type of women's clothing if I have a chance to.

[Rachelish]

The catalogues (Littlewoods, Kays and GUS in the UK) certainly played their part but I think they were feeding a fire that had already been lit.

[Becky Blue]

Nope, it was totally internally driven. Once Becky emerged then I noticed women a lot more, both in the media and real life.

[Kate Simmons]

Most of the time they were touting a product, but yeah, I would say it worked. :battingeyelashes::)

[alwayshave]

I'm not sure it was media. I had several older sisters, so I was always dressed in their clothes. The first time I dressed on my own was about 4 or 5 years of age, well before media affected my life.

[deebra]

Teresa crossing the forbidden line is because men are not suppose to be dressing in women's clothes, and some of the reasons are panties are not made with extra room for male genitalia, men don't have breasts so why a bra, etc. and women are opinionated and selfish, they don't want men in their clothes that are made to fit women, not men.

CONSUELO, think about what you said; you knew their were social taboos about dressing up in women's clothing so why didn't this apply to you? Society would apply it to all males including you. As one Cd to another I can fully understand that it just felt natural, good and this is the clothing you like wearing, it just so happens that girls think female clothing is for them also. Be brave, wear what you like and cast a blind eye to society. And not all women find it offensive for a male to wear female clothing.

[Teresa]

Deebra,
I accept now that as a TG part of me has a female trait, to show that to myself and the world and satisfy an inner need I choose to wear appropriate clothes, so where is the forbidden line drawn , I'm a 36b so do have something to fill a small cup, my panties cover me as well as my male underpants .

We must stop making these demarcation lines, part of us has as much right to wear women's clothes as any woman, we need to accept this to move the whole situation forward.

OK if we are allowed to make the same comments , I prefer women to wear dresses and skirts, rather than any form of trousers, in the sixties before many of the female styles happened GGs did wear their male partners jeans, and Tshirts.

[deebra]

Teresa, love your second paragraph, well said. I never thought about it like you said it. I do have B boobs that fill a B bra and when tucked the panties are flat and not to be bragging but looking in the mirror wearing heels, hose and bikini panties I can hang with any woman. So not doubting what you said about our rights why don't women see we have the right to wear women's clothes? Why can't they understand panties and a bra can fit and feel comfortable on a male body the same as on a female body.

Hope you answer, really want to hear what you have to say about that.

[Teresa]

Deebra,
I guess it goes back to the sexual question , women like nice underwear, and maybe like their menfolk to buy them something a little racy , so turn that round and wonder why guy's like to wear the same underwear. Men aren't suppose to be sexy in that way.

Now days I get comments about my outer wear, many loved the skirt and blouse in my avatar . OK I did think leather was a step too far, especially as some women would love to wear it but haven't the confidence , it does feel good to wear it so where's the harm, women wear things to feel good.

I know some women are more than OK with it as I had two GFs who liked me to wear their underwear, those were the days when sex came first and second and ........ !!

[kathy chelan]

I don't think the media had any effect on my early dressing. I am pretty sure that at least by the time I was 5, it was my regular habit to put on my sister's sandals when we were playing outside in the dirt and she took them off. I was 5 way back in 1951! We did not get our first T.V. set for at least another three or four years. In first grade, we were babysat by a lady who was a close friend of my paternal grandmother. My sister is 21 months younger than I. I walked there after school. Both my sister and the one other little girl being babysat there would take their shoes off and leave them under a coffee table. When I got there, I would put on those of the other girl. Those were nicer than my sister's, black patent leather ballet flats.
The summer I was 6, we were invited to go swimming by the family of the daughter of our landlord at the time, but my sister had nothing to wear for that, so the granddaughter, who was my sister's same age lent, her a two-piece garment which I believe was called a sun-suit. That night it was drip-drying in our bathroom and I put it on and paraded around the house until my dad yelled very loudly for me to "take that off right now and don't ever let me see you doing anything like that again." After that, I did all my dressing activity in total secrecy from then on.

[Julogden]

I dressed in a limited manner as a little kid (late 1950's/early 1960's), and I don't recall it being due to curiosity. It was just what I wanted to do because I wanted to be a girl.

My favorite TV shows were those that featured women in the starring roles like My Little Margie, the Loretta Young Show, Our Miss Brooks, I Love Lucy, etc. and I remember identifying with them. I also identified with my mother and wanted to grow up to be like her.

[sometimes_miss]

It wasn't TV. I idolized my older sister and her friends, and constantly watched and listened to them, trying to learn how to be a girl. She being 4 years older, I never watched the typical boy tv shows like combat or lost in space, it was always what she wanted to watch, things like Gidget, Patty Duke, Bewitched, most female starring shows whenever they were on. So I was also exposed to all the advertising geared towards women. Additionally, I read her magazines all the time as well. So it was all about clothes and beauty. 7 years of that, and I was sort of stuck that way for life.

[Amelie]

It wasn't from the media. I don't remember reading much or watching tv, I was always out in the streets when younger. I do think other punk girls had an influence. I loved how some girls did their make up and the clothes were simple and fun. If I got a hole in y jeans, big deal, it made them look better. I don't know how I would have become if it wasn't for the punk/goth scene, maybe I would be a mod/ska/rudegirl/oi'.