Hobby!

[pntyhslvr2]

Would anybody call crossdressing a hobby or a way of life? I've been cding all of my life and when people tell me to get a hobby it's hard not to say I already have one. I spend most of my free time dressed up. I make up excuses why I can't do certain things to my friends and family so I can stay home and be in femme. What does everybody think?

[Kate Simmons]

It depends. I've seen some folks here refer to it as a hobby. Many of us fine tune it and get down to details which really aren't necessary for me. I just look at it as fun myself and having a good time with my friends.:happy:

[Mean Green Irene]

I guess you could call dressing a hobby - but for me making jewelery to wear when I'm dressed is my hobby.

Irene

[Mixie]

It's funny that you ask. I was talking to a friend from the forum on the phone last night, and I heard myself call it a hobby. BUT... I'm not sure that fits. It's a little different. It's like I have a hidden aspect which I just need to give into sometimes.

If you can't let yourself be yourself, then you aren't living a harmonious life, and discontent will be a frequent experience for you.

[Fiona K]

It probably depends on where you see yourself on the TG spectrum; personally a hobby is something I can give up, come back to later in life or abandon easily- as I've done with various hobbies over the years.

Being a Transvestite is way, way more serious- the effect on wife and on my own peace of mind makes me feel it's more than just a past-time or "lifestyle". Almost as important as shopping.....

[becky t]

i wouldnt class it as a hobby, a hobby doesnt have the potential to destroy your personal life and drive away your friends, i,m very lucky in my situation but there are others in very bad situations... so hobby isnt really the word:2c:

[KandisTX]

It probably depends on where you see yourself on the TG spectrum; personally a hobby is something I can give up, come back to later in life or abandon easily- as I've done with various hobbies over the years.

Being a Transvestite is way, way more serious- the effect on wife and on my own peace of mind makes me feel it's more than just a past-time or "lifestyle". Almost as important as shopping.....

Fiona,

I personally think you hit the nail right on the head with your statement about the effect of crossdressing on yourself and your spouse. My wife and I both know that if Kandis were suddenly taken away from me, there would be serious issues that I or her could not resolve. It is more of a need/desire than a want of a way to spend "spare" time. A hobby in general is something you would do to occupy your mind and hands to escape from the trials and tribulations of life in general. CDing tends to add more trials and tribulations to life.. i.e. what to wear ;)

Kandis:love:

[Tallie]

To me, CDing is a lifestyle that is part of my everyday life. A hobby is more of an activity, as KandisDX said, that occupies my mind and body and allows me to escape from daily pressures. CDing would not be an activity that involves the physical or mental activity that "hobbies" involve.

As we get older and retired, we need things that keep our minds, and sometimes our bodies, active. These can be things that I may do occasionally or seasonally, such as gardening or woodworking. I know too many retirees who do not have hobbies and they are not as happy as retirees who volunteer or have hobbies to while the day away.
-Tallie

[Marvina Martian]

I also think that it is more like a lifestyle. When I have not been able to dress in the past I typically dove into a hobby, primarily to take my mind of of what I really wanted to be doing. I guess that is why I have had so many hobbies.......;) I can think of about 12 off the top of my head!

It's kind of funny that this has been brought up. I actually have started to "purge" my other hobbies as I realize that I'd rather be dressing, rather than waisting my time and money on doing something that is just occupying some space as filler!

So now I am turning the ebay tables and selling my stuff to make room for more girls stuff :bs:

[Ruth]

No way would I describe CDing as a hobby, but unfortunately it can occupy those parts of your time that might otherwise be devoted to hobbies, so it can definitely compete with hobbies.

[DeeInGeorgia]

A hobby is what I do to keep my mind off the need to dress.

Dee

[LilSissyStevie]

...a hobby doesnt have the potential to destroy your personal life and drive away your friends...


I guess you don't play the banjo like I do:dancing:.

CDing is just a silly hobby for me. I've gone long periods in the past without indulging in it and I can do that again. I just don't have a reason not to do it and I'm currently having fun with it.

However, I'll stop playing music when you pry my banjo from my cold dead hands.

[Cassy11]

I would call it a hobby because it's something that relaxes me and takes up a lot of my spare time and money. Any hobby can become a passion like golf, fishing, stock car racing; they take your mind off everyday problems, give you pleasure and can cost much bucks.

[Sapphire]

Hobbies are not normally associated with libido – they tend to be libido neutral activities. Thus “dating” does not get described as a hobby, unlike painting, making model airplanes, stamp collecting etc. At times it may seem like a hobby, but there is something very different about crossdressing: it’s roots often go much deeper and the satisfaction that is derived is of a different type – at least that is my experience.

[Eugenie]

It is definitely not a hobby for me... I'm fuly immersed in it, even when I'm not dressed... And I can understand that it causes my wife lots of concerns...

If it was just a hobby, she wouldn't mind, I think... But she knows it is far more than just some fun...

I have a hobby that allows me from time to time to get away from my x-dressing obsession; I like to work with wood in my workshop...

I have other hobbies but none really let me relax as much.

:hugs:
Eugenie

[Marla S]

Though, Cding shows some elements of a hobby like fun, relaxing, time consuming, collecting clothes etc. I don't consider it a hobby.

A hobby is replaceable, CDing is not IMO.

If you like music you can play the piano and switch to the guitar if you like it better , maybe afterwards the drums.

I am not aware of any CD that would switch from dressing feminine to dressing like a knight to dressing like an ice bear.

Of course you can make some aspects of CDing a hobby (sewing own clothes, collecting shoes, going to clubs etc.), but that doesn't make CDing a hobby.

A way of life ?
The same, not from its origin.
The way you choose or are forced to live with CDing in a certain way will lead to a certain way of life (closet, open, clubs only, female impersonator etc). But CDing itself is not a way of life.

CDing is, or being TG respectively, is a way of being.

This way of being has to be integrated in your social environment, which will make some aspects possibly a hobby and therefor are a part of your way of life.

[sandra-leigh]

i wouldnt class it as a hobby, a hobby doesnt have the potential to destroy your personal life and drive away your friends

I hear that "birding" can get pretty intense.

Some people let their hobbies take over their time, to the detriment of their relationships.

Oh yeah, and "gaming" (I don't mean gambling) can drive away your non-gaming friends if you let it.

I am not arguing that crossdressing is a hobby, just that hobbies can be ruinous too.

[battybattybats]

I'm not yet able to find a word I'm happy with.

A sexuality, not really. A seperate gender? Sort of maybe. A people? Well it may or may not be hereditary, it has had a strong effect on various cultures, it has a long and ancient history so it does have a heritage but it is spread throughout all peoples. A condition? Nope that doesn't fit. Way of life might imply choice, I didn't choose it. Hobby? No it's stronger, more important and more a part of me than any hobby.

What is a shorter way of saying 'an intrinsic and vital part of who I am'?

[kim85]

As i dont dress myself i can only say what i understand it to be. For people who are TS is not a hobby its who they are a way of life. For a CD although i thiknk its both. Its a hobby and a lifestyle. As is had been said many many times and probly will be said a million more times. just my two pence

Kim
xxx

[Angie G]

My hobbys are hunting, fishing model cars&plains But dressing deeper thet that hun :hugs:
Angie

[Dawn Marie]

I would definitely not consider CDing as a hobby, it is more of a life choice. If it were not for the CDing my life would have less meaning and I would probably go crazy. I have plenty of hobbies to occupy my time, like jewelry making, and gardening and dressing is not one of them.

[trannie T]

There is a big difference, I enjoy my hobbies because I like to, I crossdress because I have to.

[Oddlee]

In my own experience, being a CD could as easily be called an obsession or addiction as a hobby. As many others have said, you can put a hobby on hold for some time (or drop it altogether) without remorse.

I too have allowed it to interfere with activities with family/friends (as there are only a couple people who are aware of this side of me). I think that when I allow it to interfere with family or friends, it is showing signs of, addiction. At that point I should either tell the family/friends or be with them in drab.

I don't think it is a good thing when I decide to dress en femme to the exclusion of being with friends/family...

Lee

[Laura Jane]

Would anybody call crossdressing a hobby or a way of life?

Probably best not to list it as one of your hobbies on a CV!

[melissacd]

If you can't let yourself be yourself, then you aren't living a harmonious life, and discontent will be a frequent experience for you.

This has to be one of the most wonderful ways of paraphrasing the last 40 years of my life - I wasn't being myself, hence I was not living a harmonious life and voila - years of discontent. Wow that is so cool. Well the 40 years of discontent weren't cool, but the phraseology is...

[Patty]

To me my hobbies are photo taking, photoshop, going to night school but crossdressing is more than that.
I dress, shop or plan to do something when I do not have to be some place.

[shirley1]

sorry its not a hobby - if it was a hobby you could do it and tell all your friends at work ect about it - its a personal need for some more thn others ! the reason some might want to call it a hobby is caus it can take up as much if not more time in your life than any hobby and cost you and damn site more ! i dont think most people can afford to have hobbies if they are in to crossdressing a lot so i guess you might just as well call it a hobby caus its all the hobby you'll ever get from now on ! i guess the answer is to somehow get the balls to go out dressed and start havin hobbies again - easier said !

[Edwina]

I have told in another post how my wife found my breast forms on the bed and demanded to know what I was doing with them. I then told her that I was a cross dresser and as an afterthought in an attempt to explain, I said it was my hobby. That seemed to satisfy her for some reason and I have had none of the usual questions at all.
But I must agree it is much more than that.

:love:
Edwina

[Bethany_Anne_Fae]

Thats a toughie... I'd say it was a combination of the two for me.

[Suzie S.]

It may have started as a hobby for me, but it's definitely a way of life now.

[Pamela Julie]

To me crossdressing is not a hobby. I have to get dressed anyway, so I put on womans underwear and clothes. Where is the hobby in that. I do consider my bra collection a hobby because of the number of bras is far higher than a gg would own in a lifetime. I have other hobbies, I am using one right now, and built it myself. I have only a few times made excuses to be alone so I could dress up, but I really was doing what I said I was doing, doing it dressed up.

[SusanMarie]

Way of life for me!

Would anyone voluntarily take up a 'hobby' with such significant social and emotional issues?

[tricia_uktv]

It was a hobby, now Its a way of life!

[trannie T]

If collecting stamps is a hobby.
And if crossdressing is a compulsion,
then collecting panties is . . . ?

[Niya W]

a hobby is some thing you can quit, or just randomly pick up.

I think neither applies to being a CD

[shauna 9]

To me, CDing is a lifestyle that is part of my everyday life.

[docrobbysherry]

---- it's a hobby. Please have it be a hobby. I must be a hobby!
I WISH it was just a hobby!
RS

[bEEb]

If collecting stamps is a hobby.
And if crossdressing is a compulsion,
then collecting panties is . . . ?

Going to require some huge books and "mounts" :tongueout

[bEEb]

Old cars and hot rods was my hobby.
Half a life time later it is my passion.
Cd'ing is an "interest" with many variants.
Fetish has always been my secret passion.