Will there ever be a time where cd will be accepted

[sarah378619]

I just thought it would be interesting to hear what you girls think there will be a time when cding will be accepted. It has come a long way in the last 2o years.
sarah

[SandyR]

Well, don't know. But I do feel that now its mostly accepted that men shave there legs. Etc.

So who knows.....

Hugs.

SandyR

[Long Tall Sally]

I hope so, soon too. It would be nice to just get dressed the way we feel whenever we wanted to. I do like dressing up and have gone out in public, but the first time or two I thought I'd wet myself. I do remember something changed when I was out buying pantyhose once, the clerk, a young girl asked "how tall is she?" assuming I didn't know how to buy the proper size, I started to say "an inch or so shorter and about the same weight" and then I just said that they were for me! She just smiled and said "you'll look cute in them." That made me very happy, and I started getting bolder. Sometimes if you are confident it works. Sometimes I do get frightened by some people when I'm in a dress, they'd probably scare me anyway but I do feel especially vulnerable in a dress and heels! If they wanted to get the better of me I don't think I could do much to stop them.

[SweetCaroline]

I just thought it would be interesting to hear what you girls think there will be a time when cding will be accepted. It has come a long way in the last 2o years.
sarah

Dear. There will be no Revolution, for no other reason, excpet we're too busy, doing each others hair, doing each others' make-up, hugging, kissing each other, rather than take the streets and fight.LOL:p

Series though.
We HAVE made great progress in the last 20 years, but seeing as we have always been around, and will away be around, there's no need to revolt.

If THEY don't accept us. That's their hang up. Not mine.

Enjoy yourself and have fun. :love:

[Karren H]

Doubt it....

and even if it were accepted ..... would it still be that much fun anymore??? Might have to find a new hobby... hehehe

Karren

[SweetCaroline]

I just thought it would be interesting to hear what you girls think there will be a time when cding will be accepted. It has come a long way in the last 2o years.
sarah

Oh. And there has come a time when "cross-dressing" is accepted. Any woman you know can walk down the street of any big city in a suit and tie, and no on would bat an eye. Therefore, it is accepted.

Just not amongst men.:mad:

[sterling12]

Accepted by Everyone? Never! Accepted by the majority of people? Probably never.

TOLERATED by most folks? Maybe within ten to twenty years. That's been approximately the time frame for The Gay Community's to go from outright hatred to some grudging respect and tolerance.

Of course to get that 10 to 20 year goal, we would all have to start working toward it. If we all got together and actually did such a thing, wouldn't that be nice!

Peace and Love, Joanie

[Chantelle CD]

The only way it will be accepted is if everyone on this planet stop judging everything they see, instead of just witnessing. Everyones EGO is so inflated, comparing everything to there own little world known, they just can let others have there own way, view, opinions. It isn't just cross dressers that are a victim here, its everyone. You can march a CD protest down the streets every weekend for 1000 years, and it wont do a lick of good, except to make CDing more known, it will not stop the judgment and ridicule!! People need to wake the hell up, and start living a harmonious life style, and live and let live!!

The mind, powerful tool, yet evil as sin!!

[Kate Simmons]

Hopefully it already is acceptable to us and that is a start. Sometimes I wonder though from comments if it really is. We have to be convinced first before anyone else is.:happy:

[Tip or Ozma]

I wrote a recently published biography of nineteenth-century actress who occasionally appeared on stage in the 1850s and 1860s as a man. Studying the aspects of that period's clothing and women crossdressers was part of nearly fourteen years of research. The middle of the nineteenth-century was a time when dress reform was a part of the early women's rights movement (the outfits were commonly and simplistically called "bloomers"). It would take almost one hundred years (1930s and 40s) before women wearing trousers became socially acceptable and another twenty or thirty years before it was common practice.

An aside:
My wife and I also share a common interest in nineteenth-century clothing. Studying the changes in fashion provides a good perspective on what people wear and why. She has a large collection of women's clothing of the 1850-75 period I have a large collection of men's clothing of that period (all to be studied, but not worn). I also have a growing collection of modern women's clothing that is worn. :happy: Our clothing and antique photograph collecting has been a great way to share many aspects of our interest in costume and dress. It is probably among the reasons that she accepts me.

If accurate and correctly constructed reproduction clothing (men's and women's) for the nineteenth-century was not so expensive, I would be tempted to commission an 1860s outfit for me (easily $1,000). We have period reproduction wardrobes for our respective genders, but my modern shoe and peignoir purchases use up that part of my "hobby" budget. It is fun to be the "dresser" when assisting my wife with her hoops and lacing.

[Raychel]

Doubt it....

and even if it were accepted ..... would it still be that much fun anymore??? Might have to find a new hobby... hehehe

Karren

Karren nailed this one right on as usual. If it is every totally accepted. It will not be anywhere as much fun.

Would I still dress in womens clothes? YOU BET.
Would I dress more often? YOU BET.
Would I still have mens clothes? YUP
Would life be better? For me it sure would.

[Angie G]

Not soon hun :hugs:
Angie

[Paige.]

Perhaps eventually but it will take a long time and probably not in my lifetime.
There is a huge stigma by the general public. I am an oddity among my girlfriends but I like exploring boundaries. No one else I know is interested in CD'ers.

[ChristineRenee]

As was said earlier...fully accepted by the majority...not likely. I think eventually it will be tolerated by many, and perhaps most, but that might take another decade to reach that point even. I think that there will always be a segment of society, both male and female and largely the far right religious groups, that just will not ever accept it because it goes against traditional male and female roles. If that barrier can ever be successfully broken down, I think more widespread acceptance will eventually occur...but there is still a long way to go for that to happen if in fact it ever does, IMO. :(

[Holly]

I am encouraged at the progress that has been made in the last 20 years. To me, the key seems to be effectively educating those whose lives are within our sphere of influence. If everyone did that, I think we have a shot at it in the not too distant future... but then again, I am an optimist. :p

[Sandy1967]

People today are too busy most of the time to pay attention to you, as my wife says that the world does not revolve around you. I continue to wear more and more obvious female clothing since I stopped buying anything male. I wear the female clothing every time we go out. I get looks but no one has said anything, but I seem to judge myself harder than others will. My wife tells me to wear whatever I feel comfortable wearing and who cares what other will think since I will not see them again.

We cannot go through life not being who we are based on what others think we should be wearing.

I do not dress to pass, I just wear the clothing I feel comfortable in, panties, bra, womens socks(colored to match my shirt), womens shorts, womens shirts, and womens tennis shoes or sandal with my nails polished. This is what I wear when we go out, I just cannot think of going back to mens clothing, it is not what I find comfortable.

Life is too short to not let the little girl inside out to play.

By being out in public more, having more news stories and more shows showing that we are just normal people not hurting anyone should continue to help with people to understand us. There will alway be those who will not understand, judge you for what you are wearing and make fun of you. They will never take the time to talk to you and ask question, they will just make their own assumptions. This will never change, there will always be these people.

Best wishes to all,
Allison

[Alex!]

Yes.

[occdresser]

Yes.

good answer!:drink:

[sherri]

and even if it were accepted ..... would it still be that much fun anymore???
No, it would be even more fun, by a long shot. There's nothing fun about disapproval and non-acceptance.

Accepted by Everyone? Never! Accepted by the majority of people? Probably never.

TOLERATED by most folks? Maybe within ten to twenty years.
The difference between acceptance and tolerance is a very important distinction, especially at this stage of the game. I think tolerance is already on the rise, though it's still a long way from being universal.

I am encouraged at the progress that has been made in the last 20 years. To me, the key seems to be effectively educating those whose lives are within our sphere of influence. If everyone did that, I think we have a shot at it in the not too distant future... but then again, I am an optimist. :p
I'm with Holly on this one. She has a much longer track record than I, but even in my relatively short lifespan as a CD I can detect signs of progress and have the personal experiences to make me think the general situation is improving and will continue to improve.

As for educating the masses, I think for most of us that is a one-on-one proposition. It's really as simple (and complicated) as having the courage of our convictions, as well as getting out and interacting with people.

It has taken an entire generation to make any significant progress toward racial equality in this country, which is a social issue that by now even the far right wing acknowledges as a moral imperative. Obviously much improvement is still needed, but it is apparent that race is far less of an issue for our children than it has been for us. Much the same thing is transpiring regarding gays, even without the moral imprimatur of conservatives, although the latter will continue to slow the process of acceptance enough that it may well take more than one generation to achieve parity. So there's no reason to think it won't take a couple of generations for TGs to experience significant social integration.

In the meantime, someone has to do the legwork. Maybe they'll build a memorial for us some day. :D

[sarah378619]

I remember when I was a teenager and let my hair grow long and was wearing androganous style. That wouldn't of been accepted before the 90's. Time can change hearts and minds.
sarah

[Melanie R]

Acceptance by society has come very slowly. During the past 16 years my wife and I have sponsored 31 cruises for transgendered persons and their significant others. Our next cruise is October 22 out of Fort Lauderdale. On the cruises our numbers rarely exceed 50 out of 2000+ other passengers. On recent cruises we find that the majority of people either ignore us or have lots of questions. Usually by the end of the cruise many people are educated about the transgender community and have become very supportive. There are always people who will tell us that our "lifestyle" is "sinful" and confuse sex with gender. On one cruise we had a Baptist minister, a crossdresser with wife, who educated some of the fellow Baptist who tried to make this accusation. Most still believe that if a man wears a dress he must be gay. On every cruise we have men and couples who tell us that crossdressing is a part of their lives. On one cruise two women with their husbands spent a lot fo time with our group and told their husbands they were going to buy them a dress when they returned home, Yes, society is becoming more accepting but there will never be total acceptance - at least not in most of our lifetimes.

[Shelly Preston]

Yes it will

It is going to take time it has taken a long time for the gay community to be mostly accepted

As were become more represented on television programs which dont create a negative affect

The most recent good example is "The riches" with Eddie Izzard

[windycissy]

Incremental progress: it is now not unusual for men to have long hair, pierced ears and hairless bodies, which makes putting on the clothes a heck of a lot easier. As for the clothes themselves, women wear pants more and more, and a leading male tennis player wears capris....my guess is the sexes will look more and more like each other as we continue to evolve.

[Sam-antha]

That was a chancy word to start the thread with i.e. "accepted". I look more to "acceptable". Meaning that it will be OK to be dressed in public, however much it may privately be disliked by the same public. I suppose that means "tolerated", which is the state dressing is in right now in some places, usually city centres.
In terms of fun, dressing at present does have that certain something that full tolerance would remove. Or would it ? Personnallt, I feel that the thrill would be there no matter what.

[cd_keira]

i would be very much interested to here how the ggs on the forum see this issue, i know theyre gona be accepting of it or curious at least but as to how theyre friends or other girls they know feel about it.

personally i dont think any kind of tolerance will come while people dont understand what we do, for most "normal" people anyone who cds is automatically labelled gay although as we all know the reality is that most of us are completely heterosexual. cliche ridden psychobabbel i know lol.

xxx keira xxx

[MeraLehanga]

To cut the chase, everywhere people strongly believe in CONTROL! And to exercise control means they enhance/exploit and play with our personal inhibitions, weaknesses by which we (the CDs) succumb with embarrasement when it gets highlighted in public by majority of them against our liking.

Thus, we will never be accepted even in many light years! Getting the acceptance of our GG is the ultimate, those who are experiencing a normal association are truly blessed, hang on to her ladies! She is special!

[Cindi Johnson]

I just thought it would be interesting to hear what you girls think there will be a time when cding will be accepted.

Answer: No, Yes, Maybe...

No, because there will always be great numbers of folks waving the Bible or Koran, demanding that all of us be prohibited (by law!) from dressing as we choose, loving who we choose, drinking & eating what we choose, etc., etc.;

Yes, because even today, even here in the very buckle of the Bible Belt, I am accepted almost wherever I go, even when I don't successfully pass. The key is to try one's best to look and act female (gg's seem to appreciate tg's who make a real effort to pass), to be sincerely nice to others, and (important!) to leave a decent tip at restaurants, hotels, etc.;

Maybe, because I can only hope, against all evidence to the contrary, that someday gg's won't automatically reject TG's as potential mates, that instead we'll be given a chance to prove that we are every bit as good at being husbands/fathers as the next gm.

Cindi Johnson

[RobertaFermina]

I'm doing my best, out and open everywhere.
Not so much at work....

The part I can't control is acceptance. I only hear from the ones who do. That is a victory, when those who don't accept (if there are any) don't feel confidence to say so....are they on the run ?

:rose: Roberta :rose: