This Is A What ?

[Joy Carter]

Would you call your wanting to dress a hobby, life style or obsession? If not then what is it to you personally ? :D

[Jean GG]

Good question! As a GG I obviously CANNOT answer directly...but my impression is that it is a need/obsession/ESCAPE FROM REALITY for my husband. :) jean

[Kate Simmons]

Just a necessary part of myself Joy. It's part of my spiritual "balancing act". Take care, Ericka

[Lilith Moon]

It is an intense need, a hunger. If it is not satisfied then I get obsessed with thinking about it and wanting it. If it is still not satisfied then my old friend depression comes along for the ride. If the need is still not satisfied then I become less and less functional as I spend most of my time fantasizing, yearning and in hell.

So, when I'm not crossdressing it becomes an obsession. If I were allowed to crossdress whenever I wanted it would be more of a lifestyle.

[Marla S]

Right know I think it is more of life style that becomes an obsession if it is forced into the closet and a limited time frame . At least it feels less and less obsessive the more freedom I can get.

[Carroll]

Ok, once again I am going link you to an article that I did on the same subject. This same question was brought up in another group I belong to; the SouthernTier Gender Alliance.

http://www.vickyvogue.com/crossdresspage.html#oct%2005

I found the original thread, but I think you need to be a member to view it: http://groups.msn.com/southerntiergenderalliance/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=105&LastModified=4675540879134263356

Carroll

[Bernice]

Carol's answer is clearly more efficient, but since you brought it up again, I'll say crossdresing is a compulsion to pursue the lifestyle. We may pursue at various intensities, but we all want the same thing: the lifestyle whereby we dress as we please. Funny (ironic) how most of us (myself included) go about it in such a way as to ensure that we will never achieve the lifestyle.

[Kate Simmons]

Carol's answer is clearly more efficient, but since you brought it up again, I'll say crossdresing is a compulsion to pursue the lifestyle. We may pursue at various intensities, but we all want the same thing: the lifestyle whereby we dress as we please. Funny (ironic) how most of us (myself included) go about it in such a way as to ensure that we will never achieve the lifestyle.
Unfortunately(depends on your point of view, I guess) Bernice, I HAVE achieved it. My problem is: now what? I've been constantly re-inventing myself lately in an attempt to find out. Ericka

[Michelle Ellis]

I could probly say all three LOL the hobby turned into an obsession, and now it wants to evolve into a lifestyle.

I tried to answer in a more thoughtful manner, but it just sounded silly and convoluted. This is a deep question. The main reason I joined here is to get a handle on it, to try and understand myself better.

[Deanna2]

Wearing femme gear is something I enjoy - like coffee-housing with friends. If I don't do it I don't get hung up about it.

[Sarah Rabbit]

An intrinsic need...A 'want' I was born with (In a Nutshell)

Sarah R. :bunny:

[Gurly]

Currently, it is an obsession and a compulsion.

[EricaCD]

Part-time compulsion of varying intensity. More than a hobby, far less than a lifestyle.

[Toyah]

For me its a hobby nothing more, its a fun thing to do and I have met some really good people. Its not a lifestyle thing its a way of getting away for a while

[Marla S]

Ok, once again I am going link you to an article that I did on the same subject. This same question was brought up in another group I belong to; the SouthernTier Gender Alliance.
IMO the collected statements are the wrong answers to the (eventually wrong) question.

Here again I have my doubts if cause and action are well defined and the answers seem again to self-centered as they circle around "transgender life style". IMO living a transgendered life style is a secondary effect due to the social restrictions and can't in any way be the driving force or goal behind transgenderism.

It appears foreshortened to me to compare it with a "bikers life style" and draw conlusions from it. Of course as a transgendered you don't have the choice, which makes transgederism different from a bikers lifestyle, but you can't draw the conclusion from it that it is no life style.

I think the whole thing has a lot to do with living a feminine (for the MTF) or a masculine (FTM) life style. There can't be a choice because nobody has it, transgendered or not. As we are faced to the well known problems with acceptance, it appears quite logical to me that this feminine (masculine) lifestyle, we can achieve, has to be different from that of a GG (GM). In the extreme it is so condensed and forced into a corner that one would call it fetishism. On the other side if we would be free of the restrictions, we probably wouldn't talk about obsession, hobby, private thing etc.

[seanmc]

For me, it's on the same level as my car. Both dressing and fixing up my car are hobbies.

[michelle19845]

it's who i am.it's how express my self.it's kinda a hobby cause you want to devote lots of time and money into what you wear.and you onviuously want to look fantastic.

[Cherry Lynn]

It is a hobby for me and I am always trting to improve my appearance just as one tries to improve at a hobby. In my opinion a hobby is something one does to relieve stress and get away from the pressures of everyday life and that is what crossdressing does for me. Others may have a different outlook on it and it may be something different for them.

[Scrappy]

It is a hobby for me and I am always trting to improve my appearance just as one tries to improve at a hobby. In my opinion a hobby is something one does to relieve stress and get away from the pressures of everyday life and that is what crossdressing does for me. Others may have a different outlook on it and it may be something different for them.
I do it to feel naughty and sexy. My partner loves it. Started when I was 12 raiding mums closet. Sister of course aided my wardrobe. Now we shop together to buy both of us sexy lingerie. Few odd looks when you've got a size 18B bra and a 14C on the counter and I'm standing there with my Missus!! But life is short...do what feels good.

[Paula G]

I call it just being me, as it is just a part of who I am as a person.

[Wendy me]

it's the edification of the other side of who i am....

[Teresa Amina]

CD is Me pushing through the defensive outer shell, a big happy shout of "Here I am!":happy:

[michelleliz]

It's now an obsession. I would rather be a women then a Man' I live 90% of the time as a women. If it wern't for my work I would just live as michelle all of the time.

Michelleliz

[Carroll]

IMO the collected statements are the wrong answers to the (eventually wrong) question.

I actually like your answer better than the answers I had!!!:hugs:

Carroll

[melissacd]

All of the above.

[Cora]

I think for me it is an escape. I had very strong female role models when I grew up. I think I idenitified with them and wanted to part of the group. I enjoy many aspects of the male and female persona.

As I grew older beauty became part of the issue. I think that most beautiful people in today's world are women. It seemed to change in the 80's. Suddenly it wasn't a hairy chest but a hairless chest that seemed to excite. I think I started to notice that and gravitate towards what I saw a beautiful and that was defintiely the feminine.

[Maria2004]

I agree with Marla S also.


I actually like your answer better than the answers I had!!!:hugs:

Carroll

[Angie G]

It started as a hobby that is now a lovely obsession.
When I'm not dressed I think of dressing and dress as soon as I can.
Angie G

[Krystenw]

Sever of the therapist I have been to told me it is an obsession. I don't know whether it is or not. When I come home from work I change clothes and most generally put on a dress or Capri's. If I did something different my wife would most likely have me committed.

[Karren H]

Would you call your wanting to dress a hobby, life style or obsession? If not then what is it to you personally ? :D

I call it my hobby, but in reality its probably a little of all three!!!

Love Karren

[Kimberley]

I dont really know how to answer this except to say that it is a natural extension of who I am. I get no thrill what so ever or a sense of escape only a calm that leaves me feeling very at home and at peace with myself.

I am sure the other TG/TS's can relate to this completely.

:hugs:
Kimberley

[suchacutie]

Have you ever met someone you wanted to know well?

A short while back I met Tina. I was very much surprised that she really existed, and that I could have been so blind to her existence for so long. How can one go through life not knowing a part of one's self?

Does that make it an obsession? It does in the sense that I would not like to stop before I know her well. Then, once I know her well, assuming I like her (and for me to like her she darned well better be a good friend to my wife!), I'll certainly want to continue her existence.

I find it hard to put labels on this type of thinking, and comparing it to other important things in my life doesn't make much sense because the parallels aren't there. That brings me around to where I started: an exploration of self.

and a delightful exploration it is :)
Tina

[vcutenyc]

i second all of the above, just not all at the same time

[Joy Carter]

I dont really know how to answer this except to say that it is a natural extension of who I am. I get no thrill what so ever or a sense of escape only a calm that leaves me feeling very at home and at peace with myself.

I am sure the other TG/TS's can relate to this completely.

:hugs:
Kimberley

Some really great answers here, I'm totaly in agreement with Kimberly it's such a good thing to be who I am even though other's don't accept.

Thank's Gurls For The Input Joy Carter:hugs:

[Amanduhrob]

I consder my dressing to be the catalyst that keeps me sane and centered.

[Lynn]

Many of us here on the board have felt the need to dress in women's clothing since childhood. Society put some kind of a social stigma on crossdressers and anyone else they felt was not exactly like them. There fore many of us have had to fight to repress the urge to be in touch with our femine side. Crossdressing is not a hobby or a life style it is a natural thing that happens to some people. Using the term " hobby " or
" life style " puts a label on people who crossdress and we certainly don't deserve that.

My 0.02 worth

Lynn

[britney1]

Although I wrestled with this when I first began dressing, I would definately have to say that it's a hobby. Being accepted as a women is not my motivation. I do it merely to feel sexy and beautiful.

[kendrea]

i like dressing up it makes me feel goood in inside and wish i could do it alll the time i would be a female forever i am looking in my town for those like me and having trouble finding them would love to meetup with people like me so i can feel better inside and become the women i want to be love and kisses
kendrea:

[Marla S]

Being accepted as a women is not my motivation. I do it merely to feel sexy and beautiful.
though I could have said about the same, I'd consider this rather a life style than a hobby. It's to fundamental to be a hobby.

But the definition is in the eye of the beholder :D

[Angie G]

Kimberley got the feeling right. :hugs:
Angie G.

[Lotte L]

Dear Joy,

For me it's an urge. In mind I'm a girll and it makes me happy to were girly things. Even in drab I were girly colors.

Love,
Lotte

[pinkshelly]

For me it's a feeling of right. When I look in the mirror and see Shelly looking back, I think I love her/me. I have never thought that way about my male self. Never looked in the mirro much at all, till Shelly. now I like my self and look forward to the next time I can be Shelly and feel good.:D
The hobbie thing comes in the way of SHOPPING!!!

[Shelly Preston]

Hobby - No It's more than a hobby.

Lifstyle - No not for me.

Compulsion - Yes but that is too strong a word .its more like an itch you need to scratch. you can go for so long but eventually you have to strach it.

[Stephenie S]

Well, this is an easy question on the surface, but the more I try to answer exactly how I feel, the more convoluted it becomes.

I think for me, my CD is an attempt to reconcile how I present to the world with how I have always felt inside. For many years (more than I care to count) (I can remember gender confusion from as far back as I can remember anything) I surpressed my true self under a heavy facade of masculinity. I think I went WAY overboard to convince myself and others that I was a REAL guy. Occaisionally Stephenie, (although I didn't have a feminine name back then) would wiggle a bit of herself free from under this mask and spend some time trying to assert herself. I did spend three very happy months away from home in SF about 15 years ago. And there were other times as well, some happy and some wracked with guilt.

But now Steph is free. I am conciously and deliberately letting go of the old macho Steve and trying to find out just what parts of me are real and what parts I want to carry forward into my future as Stephenie.
Because I am married and have a family to consider there are others for me to take into account. The most important would be my wife. She, after all married Steve, not Stephenie. She is most supportive of this venture but I do have to make her feelings of UTMOST importance.
So, as I said at the start this is a difficult question to get your thoughts arround. I hope I haven't babbled on too much. Hobby? No. Obsession? I don't think so. Lifestyle? More than that. I guess I wasn't able to answer any better than that.

Lovies,
Stephenie

[CammyT]

Aloha,
For me, I believe it's more than a hobby, a bit of an obsession, not a life style. Cammy's my balance to keeping me from becoming "too full of testosterone". She's always been there, It's just that it took awhile for her to be heard.

[Casey Morgan]

I'm not quite sure what to call it other than it's a need to express in a physical form that part of me that is incompletely expressed through other actions. Just as a painter uses various techniques such as light, texture, and color to better illustrate how he or she is feeling, my body becomes my canvas to express my inner self. My crossdressing becomes the base of my self-expression which I then enhance with gestures and language to more succinctly impart a better idea of who I truly am.

[JasmineR]

I've never really thought about "what" this is I do, so good question. I've had the moments of "why," I'm sure others have to. Let's discuss the options further, shall we:

Obsession- Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.
- It was this at one point of my life... it was unwanted, then I came to grips with myself and realised... this is me.
Hobby- Usually affiliated with collecting things or a game of some sort.
- This would be true for some, those that collect panty hose or panties.
Need/Desire- To wish or long for; want.
- I think I can safely say we all want to do this. Unfortunately a lot of us long for it, meaning we don't have the opportunity to do it at will. Myself included.

All this is in fun, I would call what I am or do a desire or just a part of who I am. If I had the opportunity to dress more oft I would.
Actually my ex-gg would tell me it was an addiction therefore I should be able to stop at will... that ladies is incorrect.

[Melora]

For me this is a hobby, because I am only a once a week CD. This has BEEN an obsession in the past. I would have and still would love to go all the WAY.. and make this a "Lifestyle", ONLY IF I COULD, but for my personal reasons and the reality of my REAL life situation, this just isnt feasable, it is just a hobby for now!:happy:

[Cheyenne Skye]

At first, I think of my dressing as being an obsession. But I have an obsessive personality anyway. I also obsess about my other hobbies including my running and four wheeling. But upon further introspection, I think it's also a form of self expression. Some people dress down all the time, some are into the "goth" look, and some people dress as if everyday were Sunday and they are ready to go to church. So the way I dress shows a bit of my personality. Mostly I'm a shy introvert, but when I dress, I want to show off my curves (real and imagined) so I tend to dress a little provocative. That would be my extroverted streak. But at the end of the day, I just wish I could get up in the morning and dress however I happen to feel that day, whether it be drab, drag or somewhere in between.

[Joy Carter]

To me, it's a necessary part of my life, to keep me in balance. Without dressing up, my life is dull and pointless, just a steady diet of going to work, paying bills and not having any enjoyment. When I am dressed up, I become the person that I have always wanted to be, instead of just existing. My life becomes more interesting when I am dressed as a woman, being able to wear clothes that make me feel so erotic, and exciting.

Another good answer here but I have grown past the erotic stage just happy that I'm me finaly. Thanks gurls more responces than I had expected, just remember be good to your self and to thouse around you.
:hugs: JOY

[Jaydee]

I'll throw in my two cents. For me it started as a compulsion that I didn't understand ( and still don't), that has become something more than a hobby but much less than a life style. Much like fishing it brings me a sense of peace and calm, but unlike fishing I am not ready to do it outside.

Jaydee

[JoAnnDallas]

I am not sure what you call it, but something inside me wants/needs to be fem. The way I feel when I am all dressed up, with make up, heels, wig, jewlery, and perfume, is Indescribable. I just feel great, exhilerated, pretty, calm, relaxed, and a host of other feelings. Over the years, I have suppressed my fem side, due to one reason or another, but last year when I was staying at my sisters house, while the wife was holding the fort down in WV, I got the chance to dress almost 24/7 in one way or another for about 3 months. It brought forth to the surface all my fem feelings and urges and even today a year later, it has not gone away.

Every so often, I will get a IM from an admire that does not realize that I am not a real GG and it makes me feel really really great. Just recently, I got a email from an admire that said he was new to Dallas and wanted to know if I would go out with him and show him the city. I had to decline, but again it made me feel really great. I have been told by other sisters that have seen my avatar and photos that I really "Pass". In fact I accidently included a picture of my fem self to a old USAF buddy. He was really interested in the picture, who she was, was she single, ect, ect. Freaked me out when I discovered that I had included the picture. At the same time again I was amazed that I looked that good. Mabey I am a closet TS.

[Olivia]

It simply is. I really don't look any further than that anymore. Olivia

[Emeralddragon]

The closest it could be for me would be a hobby. I dont see myself as being or even becoming a woman. It just feels so good to get dressed up. Maybe in the future it will become more, I dont really know because really I have just started to explore that side of myself.