Is dressing en drab the true crossdressing?

[Satrana]

So I crossdressed as a man all my life....
Marie said this in another thread which got me thinking. If you are transgendered then maybe wearing feminine clothes brings you closer to your natural state of mind. If so, then wearing male clothes is actually the true act of crossdressing.

You do not have to be transsexual to think this way. If you feel more comfortable wearing feminine rather than masculine clothing then from your own point of view you are in fact crossdressing while en drab.

Of course the rest of society will not agree with you but thats because they are not transgendered and link crossdressing to your physical sex.

Does anyone who considers themselves a crossdresser think this way, that being en drab is the true state of crossdressing?

[amanda barber]

Many crossdressers dress to instill feelings of femininity, IE: "I feel feminine when dressed" or "I dress to feel feminine". Crossdressing is often a temporary release from an external source. A man seeking a safety valve or a release from a masculine role or a woman wearing pants as a route away from a imposed feminine role

A transgender person allready feels like that ALL THE TIME so "drab" (or "fem" in the case of FTMs)isn't really crossdressing as in dressing for effect, its a necessary evil. There is no benefit to the psyche when in drab. That necessary evil is often a cumulative detriment to the psyche, usually causing clinical depression.

[Wanda.cd.northern.NH]

I crossdress because it feels good and I like the looks and feel of femine clothes. I do not think of myself as a woman, except maybe when dressed, and then I feel femine not female. Not sure that makes sence, but it is the best way I can explain it. I feel very normal in drab, just feel very special when dressed. Wanda

[tommi]

Well stated Amanda.

[NatalieH]

Does anyone who considers themselves a crossdresser think this way, that being en drab is the true state of crossdressing?

Nope - to me en drab is the true state of boring.

Natalie

[Katrina]

Interesting theory. I'm not sure what I think. Since I identify more as a female (lately), I guess dressing in drab is crossdressing.

[Casey Morgan]

I'll go you one... weirder? I'm not a woman so dressing fully en femme is crossdressing for me. But since I'm not a man, dressing fully en homme is crossdressing too. The only time I'm dressing as me, and therefore not crossdressing, is when I'm interdressing. It really is all about whether you're dressing like the real you or not.

[Satrana]

Yes it is an interesting idea. I don't actually think this way myself but I thought it was a provoking twist to the whole idea. Crossdressing is defined by society's concept of only two genders, but if you are transgendered the definition of the word crossdressing can mean something different than the standard definition.

Our clothing preference is not based on our physical sex but on what we feel most comfortable in. So if Natalie, for example, defines en drab as boring then she would presumably want to spend most of her time in feminine clothing thus having to wear male clothes becomes the act of crossdressing - dressing in the clothes you have not assigned for yourself. In essence you are taking ownership of the crossdressing concept and using it from a transgendered viewpoint.

Maybe I drank too much wine tonight...:p

[Kristen Kelly]

Clothing is just another “LABEL” society has put on mankind. If we were meant to wear clothes we would have been born that way. Women rebelled to wear pants, during and after WWII, It’s time for another rebellion. :tongueout

[noname]

Clothing is just another “LABEL” society has put on mankind. If we were meant to wear clothes we would have been born that way. Women rebelled to wear pants, during and after WWII, It’s time for another rebellion. :tongueout

Agreed, we do need to fight. I'd definately like to create community awareness, but don't exactly have a way to do that. Women did have it easier though. They could wear pants and as most of them didn't have a job and not the bread winners, their families lively hood did not depend on them. So if they went out on the town wearing pants, they really didn't have much to lose.

[Casey Morgan]

So if they went out on the town wearing pants, they really didn't have much to lose.

Interesting. Hey guys, how much is dignity and respect going for these days?

[marie354]

Agreed, we do need to fight. I'd definately like to create community awareness, but don't exactly have a way to do that. Women did have it easier though. They could wear pants and as most of them didn't have a job and not the bread winners, their families lively hood did not depend on them. So if they went out on the town wearing pants, they really didn't have much to lose.

Actually, during WWII, all the men were at war. The women took their husbands/boyfriends place in the factories and became the workforce.
Pants were necessary for safety reasons, so a lot of women had to wear them back them.

[Kate Simmons]

Interesting concept. For myself, however (since I've taken total ownership), it's different. I could consider that I CD as Rich when I'm Sal or vice versa, or I could say I'm never CDing because I'm always myself. Depends on your viewpoint and self conception. I could also interdress as Casey does and still be myself. Makes little difference to me, since I'm the one controlling it and perceiving it. This is why I chose the name Salandra rather than Erica/Rich because Salandra is really the whole me and not just the feminine me, so I'm always myself regardless. If that confuses anyone, you are not alone. I'm learning as I'm going but I am moving forward, which is the important thing.:happy:

[Robin Leigh]

Or as RuPaul put it, we're all born naked. Everything else is drag.

A cute philosophy, but it's not exactly how I feel. Guys clothes are what I've been "trained" to wear, but girl's clothes are special.

OTOH, when I dress for extended periods (like 3 days or more), when I first go back to drab it does feel a bit like I'm crossdressing. It's just easier for me to pass as a guy. :)

:hugs:

Robin

[Karren H]

Hey!!! Talk like that will get you kicked out of the club for sure!!! Don't take my word for it, its in the rule book!!!

Forbidden to even look twice at a rack of dresses on clearence let alone purchase one and wear it!! Banished to dress in drab all you want!!!

So this is your first warning!!!

:tongueout

Love Karren.
Self proclaimed enforcer of "Le Rules De Enfemme"

:D

[Brianna Lovely]

I look at my CDing as just part of my journey through life.
Although I love the fem look, I realize that I'm just trying to express what I feel inside and really don't know how to go about it.

So, I may end up nude all the time, or...................
just dressing the way I feel, at the moment, giggle.

[bgirl]

I try not to mix it up. But I am all mixed up anyway, so I do. So explain this: I can dress in drab but still have a feminine 'feeling' but when in drag, I never feel masculine. When I am in the total masculine mode, I never feel female. So what exactly is 'true crossdressing'? I've heard a lot of opinions about this for quite a while. I think being a true crossdresser is being TRUE to yourself. I better go now before I lose my feminine edge. Bye bye

[DawnL]

Is "crossdressing" so much a state of mind or a societal tag. We are dressing for whatever reason each of us does it. Society is what is telling us that since we are gentically men or women then this is what we are supposed to wear. As others have stated women now wear pants as an accepted part of their wardrobe. In some societies this is still looked on as wrong. I think if we delve into this too much it will take all the joy away. Don't want to lose
the joy.

[Kate Simmons]

We're not trying to take away anyone's joy, Dawn, just trying to figure it out. I feel the basic mandate (to one's self) is to be happy being who you are, regardless of what you wear. If wearing women's clothes makes you happy, go for it. Some of us, however, are attempting to delve just a little deeper and we should not be afraid of doing that. If a person is strong enough, the femme self(or any part of the self) will not be destroyed trying to understand, merely enhanced and probably more appreciated in the end.:happy:

[VickieBonne]

Interesting observation.

[Kristen Kelly]

Or as RuPaul put it, we're all born naked. Everything else is drag.

Robin

:iagree:

After just finishing shoveling a later winter snow all I could think about was how soon Ill be on the nude beach (Sandy Hook) and be forgetting about all clothes.

[Lovely Rita]

I have to ponder that. It is an interesting thought.