Childhood Alienation Poll

[Ellaine]

From childhood rape to disfunctional families, many can point to some early link to their current crossdressing. This poll does not seek to simplify what is a reflection of the multi-facetted nature of humanity. I thought it might be of interest to take a snapshot of this little corner of TG world.
Please Poll, even if you have no comment to make.

For those that simply "felt different" from others, please do not Poll yes, unless there was home/upbringing distress of some kind cause for the feeling.

[Kate Simmons]

I used to think so Ellaine but now I enjoy being Ericka for the shear pleasure of it. :happy: Kay

[Barb Valentine]

I think dysfunctional families are the normal now

[eleventhdr]

I can agree with this one.

It did take me quite a long time to realize that this is just one underlying cause of most of us becoming crosssdressers. and or else some other stuff as well

But being a crossdresers is really very harmless compared with some of the other stuff going on put there indeed.

It is just some of us are feminine and or female inside and do want to become what we reallly do feel we are outside as well

So yeah coming from a famliy that just can not and or willl not get along can be and manifest itself just this way.


But then most of us did realize that praticle from the very begiinning that we were bron the wrong esx and jsut alwasy did want to be what we have alwasy felt we really were but were never allowed to say and or express just how we did feel.


Oh welll

I do think that the so called norm is what is at the very core of what is so very wrong with the whole of what is the very basic problem here and that this is what is drummed into each and ever indiviual from very early on you are not evcer allowed to be at peace and be who you realy are boy girl what ever have you.

NAd that this is the real shame not being different or something but being taught to be what other' want or feel you must be.

So!

Jay Suzy!:

[Ellaine]

I used to think so Ellaine.....

That's a yes then?



but now I enjoy being Ericka for the shear pleasure of it. :happy: Kay


That's a YEEEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! :D

[Clare]

My response is 'No'.

My upbringing and family life was normal in all respects. Nothing unusual occurred that would have otherwise triggered my crossdressing.

For me, crossdressing is purely an inherent part of me that was there the day I was born.

[Tina Dixon]

I was a spoiled brat growing up and had no problems:devil:

[Teresa Amina]

Did a childhood problem cause the 'dressing or was it the 'dressing that caused the problems? My family was no more "dysfunctional" than others I knew, but being of a TG nature certainly caused problems with meeting those expectations which pester us all our lives, not just in childhood.

[Dominique Melt]

I did not have any problems that caused the CDing, but the Cding sure caused problems for me. My family really paid no mind to it, they thought it was better to explore than to be repressed. They are still open about it. But boy, did I have a rough time accepting myself with it. I felt like Jeckyll and Hyde.


It is just some of us are feminine and or female inside and do want to become what we reallly do feel we are outside as well

I believe all of us generic males and females have tendencies of both genders. We come into this world as a tabla rasa and with an incompletely developed nervous system. The majority of us have a mom and dad [dysfunctional or not] and since we have loving feelings for them -- one of each gender -- we naturally harbor those feelings through life. For many people these echoes of attachment and need cause a lot of emotional stress and tension; causes many of us to think that there is something really wrong with us when we can't reconcile emotional longings for members of the same sex. And a lot of us have been sold a bill of goods from so-called religious authorities that these feelings must never be acted out or indulged. But I won't go there. Suffice it to say that I think John Lennon was right when he said "Everybody's got something to hide ... " and that there does not exist ONE human being on this planet who does not struggle to some degree with all the thoughts and feelings we discuss on this forum. As much as I hate to say it, the deconstructionists were right about the social construct thing regarding gender and clothing; we've built our own jails and caused our own pain when we started trying to pidgeonhole our sexuality.
The point I am getting at this: I no longer even attempt to understand why I want to dress up or why I fantasize incessantly about actually having a female body. It just is. I can't waste time and psychic capital worrying about it. I only have so much time left, and I want to really enjoy it. I want to enjoy some of that time reconciling, exploring, indulging in and excelling at my ability to cross over.
And I really look forward to talking with as many of you as possible!

[Kate Simmons]

That's a yes then?





That's a YEEEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! :DMy Dad was never home when I was growing up--always working at one of his 4 jobs. Plus he was a member of the American Legion, VFW and volunteer Ambulance Corps. It never bothered me really. My Mom concentrated on the siblings but ya know what? I was happy to be just in my own little world. Didn't do much dressing as a kid but was into Superhero comics. I always KNEW I had a secret identity and I always KNEW it was female. I did a lot of boy stuff but secretly considered myself a Tomboy. I was kind of disappointed when my girl playmates "femmed out" on me in their teenage years (feeling hormones, etc.). I decided right then if I ever dressed, I would be a combination of boy and girl, so here I am an adventuress. Still learning about myself and who I am. I've pretty much reached my goal even if it did take me 59 years. I feel young though. I think being in touch with myself helps. Childhood did influence me but now I look at it as a positive thing and am certainly no "victim" Kay

[Karren H]

Nope, no problems here!!

Love Karren

[Carroll]

I said no also. I came from a very normal family, however I was the oldest and only boy with three sisters.

[DonnaT]

I had a pretty good childhood, except for the spankings doled out by both my parents.

The only time my dad wasn't around was when he had national guard training a couple of week out of the year.

So, my family wasn't dysfunctional.

I'm a firm believer that being trans is a result of genes and hormones on us in the womb. Causing the brain to be intersexed, much like how hormones and genes affect whether a person has ambiguous genitalia or not.

[Charleen]

I also voted no. I believe I was born this way. The more I think about it, and come to terms, the more I believe I have the wrong body. As a child I was closer to my Mom, loved my Dad dearly, but couldn't be the son he wanted. Absolutely no athletic skills, could not care any less about sports which he loved. I'm sure that even though he said as much to me at least, he was very disappointed. We did share a love of cars so I guess that made him happy. I was always closer to my Mom, and entranced by her femininity as far back as I can remember.Whether this has anything to do with it I don't know, but 'till the age of 8, I had only girls to play with as for some reason there were very few boys in the 'hood. Does any of this matter now? I honestly can't say, but in the end, I'm what I am regardless of the reason, and for me today, that's fine. We can analysis this to death, look at some recent threads, but I feel I'll never truly know the answer. Truth be told, I'm going to try finding out why and allow me to be me. Love and xxxx, Lily

[allisonrn06]

I remember before starting kindergarten that I wanted to wear tights,and a few years later it was pantyhose.But there was absolutely nothing traumatic in my early childhood that I can point to and say - that's what got me started.

[Calliope]

No on my part - lovely childhood. I did 'want to get in line with the girls' from 1st grade on, however. Seemed like a nicer line. When adolescence began, my mother tried to 'toughen me up' - karate lessons, pressure to play baseball and stuff - but that was much later, after my fem identification (and dressing), so it didn't 'cause' the dressing (escapist theory which I pretty well reject).

[Ellaine]

We love all happy endings...but happy beginning are great too. :)



My Stepfather was a monster, I hated men.... But that's a book.

[Siobhan Marie]

I had a perfectly normal and happy childhood and it certainly didn't contribute to my crossdressing.

:hugs: Anna x

[tekla west]

In retrospect I don't think I was any more alienated than anyone else. Grew up in an upper middle class suburb, nice parents, all the boy stuff, baseball, go-carts and guns. I did go to a traditional Catholic school with a few nuns that should have been put on trial for what they did to us, but its was not only me and in fact there was more than a bit of "Us vs. Them" solidarity. The fact that I blew the curve in most classes didn't bother any of the boys, who could have cared less. I had a strong ID with girls, but had lots of guys to hang out with too. Began early, caught a lot, not much they could do. Started smoking pot in high school, going to Dead shows and hanging out with hippies - which finally gave my mom something more important to worry about than me wearing panties. Graduated from go-carts and mini bikes to big motorcycles, still got all A's and won a few awards too. Went to college, got A's there also.

I don't think I was anymore messed up then anyone else, no more messed up than the nation was at that time.

[Joyce1702]

I am the youngest child, and the second boy. I always felt that my sister got more attention since she was the only girl. I think that it contributed to my desires, thinking that if I was a girl too, I would get the attention that she got.

Joyce