Where's Waldo The Crossdresser?

[valenstein]

If you believe the statistics, I usually read that about 5% of the male population crossdresses, but I think it's much higher.

Do you ever sit at work or the mall or a big party and play - Spot The Other 4%?

Do you dig into the stereotypes, and see what adds up? Is it one thing that makes you suspect, say, shaved legs; or do you think, "Metrosexual/gay/drag queen/lifeguard/hairless cat?

Has someone ever looked at you while you were in drab, and you just knew they knew because they were also? A tg woman scoped me a couple weeks ago, I had on a plain brown women's tee and basic women's jeans and flip flops....she knew from twenty feet away, she looked a half second longer and I could see it in her eyes....

So, do you ever turn on your Gendar in public?

[steftoday]

ever since I joined here!
I try spotting the other 4%... at work, in the malls... they (we?) camouflage well apparently, because I'm batting zero!!!

[TommiTN]

My "CDAR" is always on but so far I haven't spotted any where I live now. Understandable due to the area of the country. I have spotted one or two when I lived in a large city, and one of them read me, even though I was completely drab. I believe there may be an aura involved that other CDers/TGs can pick up on.

[Joy Carter]

There maybe more than the estimated five percent who CD. But I belive that 99.99% of them are in doors.

BTW: Great tittle for a thread.

[PamelaTX]

My wife and I went to the grocery store together last week, and discussed CDing on the way. By the time we got there, I sensed she had had enough, so I said "OK, enough of this weirdness, let's get the shopping done." Once we got into the store the first person we encountered was an elderly gentleman wearing the loveliest pearl earrings you ever saw. Hmmm.

[deja true]

A couple of my acquaintances may be dressers, but I'm so paranoid, I'm not gonna ask them...

And a few others at work sometimes look at me funny, but i prefer to leave 'em guessing...

[TxKimberly]

I have looked but other than spotting a few that were actually cross dressed at the time, I've never spotted one in drab.

[Alice B]

I have spotted a few in malls and once on a flight, but thought nothing of it or said anything.

[Sarah Doepner]

I've never been sure that I've seen another CD in drab, however, as I walk through crowds I tend to evaluate everyone I see as either a potential CD or a pretty good CD already dressed. I know I have an overactive imagination, but it is kind of fun.

[marny]

glad to be in the top 5 %

[PamelaTX]

glad to be in the top 5 %

That's a good way to look at it!

Me too, BTW.

[RikkiOfLA]

Gen-dar is a funny thing. I've spotted my share over the years, such as...

the painfully shy girl whose shyness (she was hiding her face) gave her away,

the wildly inappropriately dressed girl (high spike heels walking down the street in hilly San Francisco),

the too-short skirts (hey, wait, that would be me at times!),

and so on.

And I've gone through a case of over-sensitive gen-dar (hey, wait, why is everyone transgendered?).

And I've been read enough to know that it's not the end of the world. It's actually a compliment that someone notices me enough to care!

Blessings,
Rikki

[Nicole Erin]

CDs tend to be hard to spot.

I try not to assume things with people.
Thing is, it is evident I am CD but no one had approached me and said anything to the effect of asking if I am or saying they are.

[Aurora27]

Well even in 'drab' (something about that word really annoys me...) my fingernails and toenails are generally painted (at the moment fingers are purply-green, toes are bright pink) I wear finger and toe rings and my hair is generally done up in what would be considered a girly style. The signs are there I guess if anyone is looking. I don't think I have ever spotted someone else I knew was CD but I generally don't look that hard though.

[sterling12]

I think that Joy has it pretty close to The mark. My guesstimate is that you are looking for perhaps 2% of the 5% that you were talking about.

So with those figures in mind, lets take an average small city, for whatever reason I'll pick Macon Georgia. If the population is around 100,000, and the sexes are divided 50/50; lets put the number of people who fit into the TG Spectrum at 2,500. 2% of 2,500 puts the number of out and about T-Gurls around 50. Now, we aren't all going to be out at the same time; so lets figure on a figure of 10% out on the street at any given time.

Your task is to find those 5 Gurls somewhere in The City of Macon! Sort of like a needle in a haystack, isn't it? It's a wonder that we ever see anyone!

Peace and Love, Joanie

PS. There is one way to kind of "beat the system." If you can find out where The Gurls hang out, inotherwords which club; you stand an infinitely better chance of finding another on a Friday, or Saturday Night.

[Princess29]

I went to an event in sydney recently for crossdressers and the morning after the ball when I was in guy mode, I ran into someone who was still in girl mode in an elevator and we had spent an hour or more talking to each other while at the ball and she didnt recognise me but I pointed out who I was.
And apparantly I didnt recognise someone who I had spent a little while talking to when she had gone to guy mode.
On a flight home, one of the male flight attendants had shaped eyebrows and something about him made me think (other than the eyebrows I mean) "is he one of us?"

[Angie G]

When my wife and I go to the outlet mall And shop for Angie I'm sure some sales lady must know What I pick out is for me As for the size and the way I go off and look at things on my own. Well the next time I'm at the Dressbarn I'm thinking of trying some things on so my gender will be out.:hugs:
Angie

[MarinaTwelve200]

I think that the percentage of CDers is closer to 20%---if not, MORE. But only about 5 % may act out their feelings---either indoors or in public.

Heck, in the 60's, nearly adoloscent boy I knew would dress as a "girl" on halloween---I didn't (fear mostly) but most did.

I saw a survey once wherin 70% of males that were asked said that they WOULD like to be a woman for a week---Provided the change was COMPLETE and that they could change BACK.----

Not to say that 70% are CD inclined, but the "curiosity" is very well spread. 20% is not an unrealistic number for those who have the CD "mentality", whatever it is, but I think, in most cases, that not everyone who is a "CD" has pushed themselves over the "threshold" of actually dressing.

[Jenny J]

If I could throw my nickel (inflation) into this discussion. From observations at my support group and the impression from them, the numbers will increase since the stigma isn't there for the latest generation. In fact the younger crowd seems to embrace CDing a lot more than my group of grayhairs. With so many hang-ups percieved, only 5% are willing to admit being a CD.

I don't know if young people do it today just for the shock value or maybe it's No Big Thing them. I think the numbers will start increasing and maybe greater acceptance from everyone else. Time will tell.

[Laura Jane]

Not sure of the percentages, but spotted two out and about CDers on my doorstep and three close to where I work in the last year or so!

[Janet Bern]

I do believe that the CD percentage is much higher then the 5%. I read that it is more like 20%. The 20% probably includes all men that wear them at any time mostly at home or wear their wife or girlfriends things when they are home alone. Most are no as addicted as we are but I do belive that the 20% is a pretty good number and the 5% would be more of us that actually go out or dress regularly.
Janet

[Cristi]

yeah, that percentage would depend on how you define crossdresser.

Every guy who has EVER worn (or thought about wearing) a pair of panties? Or, on the other end of the spectrum, only those of us who've gone out in public fully dressed?

I think that 5% (1 in 20) is probably pretty low for the first definition, but high for the second.

If I had to GUESS, just by a gut feeling, I'd say 15-20% for the most general definition (occasional panty wearers) but probably far far less for those of us who have gone much farther. If THAT number was any more than .5% (1 in 200) or so, we'd be seeing each other EVERYWHERE (and womens stores would probably be stocking a LOT more 'womens' sizes!) :)

Heck, .5% would mean over 100 crossdressers who 'go out' dressed in my small community of 20,000 people. I think I would have noticed that.

If we take the 5% number and run the calculations, that would mean:
US Population ~300,000,000
Male adults, ~100,000,000
5% of that: 5,000,000

I just can't believe that there are 5 MILLION adult male crossdressers in this country that go out in public dressed. If there are, they are a lot better at passing than I am!!

Even if there are *50,000* of us that go out dressed (which I highly doubt) that would be 0.05% of the adult male population of this country.

[PaulaMea]

Great thread.
I'm always looking for the CD in drab. You can never be certian. I've always thought how ironic it would be to have a friend who is also a CD.

We should have secret symbol or something. Like the "Friends of Bill" thing my AA friends use.

[Toni_Lynn]

I too have wondered this at work. Out of 25,000 employees everywhere and 7,000 locally, how many are CDers.

I'll wonder if any particular person is -- imagine him in a dress -- and then suddenly say, no, nah, nope.

There is one person I've seen in town with a license plate that says F2M. Curious

Huggles

Toni-Lynn

[SexyLatexSamantha]

I actually try to guess what guys have on under their clothes. They may have panties on. Or a garter and hose. It is fun trying to guess who is and who isn't. I now got my G/F thinking this way too. It is kinda funny. Until I mentioned it, she never had thoughts like that.

[Karren H]

I always look for very thin and neatly trimmed eye bows... Funny though on an episode of "Law and Order - CI" What's his name surmized that this one guy was a transvestite because he plucked his eye brows... lol I've seen a few but no way even close to 4%...

[TSchapes]

I have been actively trying to find out what the real percentage is. I think this number is very important if we are ever going to move forward. However, every time I try to verify the percentage from a publication, I can't find the originating source.

For example, in "Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls", on page 37 she sites the "International Foundation for Gender Education" as being 6 percent. When I check the IFGE website, I see no empirical articles stating the statistic or it's origins. Yet, I find it quoting Miss Vera's book as a source!

I'm thinking if this is true then in our large organization at work there are probably around 300 of us! My god we could have our own freaking club there with those kinds of numbers! But alas, unless I can truly state with authority that percentage, I can't use that at work.

-Tracy

[valenstein]

You'd think that some of those numbers do sound high (for the U.S.), but I'm not limiting it to people who dress completely and go out, just those that crossdress to some extent.

If you look at any of the networking sites, we are constantly one of the biggest groups there. I have come across numerous sites of guys who want to show off a bit in panties, at one time in my life, that wasn't much different than me. Add that to all the guys that mentally crossdress by IM'ing me and telling me they are GG...

But indicators, I usually have four or five going at once, I'm surprised no one has ever asked me right out.

I know several verbal indicators, but unless you work in the fashion industry, if you have a belly ring and can name more than one brand of women's shoe that costs more than $500, I'd bet money on it.

[Cathytg]

I rather imagine that the frequency of CD or CD wannabe is rather high. But I think most estimates only inlcude the men who actually dress and not also those who wish they would but never made the move to put on a bra or heels.

Is a CDer only the one who actually dresses or is the desire alone enough to qualify?

I have walked the streets of LA, Vegas, and Manhattan trying to identify other CDers. I have only seen two or three FTM dressed girls. How odd! Either the figures are wrong or I am the only one who cannot pass. What's going on here?

[TommiTN]

"Is a CDer only the one who actually dresses or is the desire alone enough to qualify?"

I would think that only those who actually dress, no matter how completely, qualify as CDers. Those who have had thoughts or even the desire but have never followed through with it would need to take that step to establish their bona fides as actual CDers. JMO.

[TSchapes]

Like I said earlier, I've been trying to track down these facts and figures bandied about. Here is a copy of an email I wrote, the response from the IFGE is below:


I like to verify any statistic that is published. So when I was reading "Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls" by Veronica Vera, I saw a reference to your organization on page 37. It reads:

"According to the International Foundation for Gender Education, based in Wayland, Massachusetts, as much as 6 percent of the male population has the desire to cross-dress."

Yet when I search for the word "percent" on your web-site, I only come up with references to Vera's book. This is a circular reference and therefore cannot be trusted. I would think that since you are a foundation for education, the percentage figure should be front and center and even under your FAQ section. But then again, there would have to be a study sited to back up any claim.

This may seem picky, but I believe one of the main reasons CD/TG/TS are not out is we feel so alone. A figure like 6 percent it quite large when you start thinking about the people, say in your own company or business.

Now maybe I just missed it on your web-site but, facts and figures would really be nice to have in this area. I know some have attempted surveys, like Peggy Rudd, but hers was just with CD's. I have not seen hard research done on the general population as far a gender is concerned. So when there is any mention of these kinds of figures, I try to ferret them out.

Here is the IFGE response:


Dear Tracy,
I do not really know where she got that statistic. If you count every guy who ever thought about trying on his girlfriends panties I suppose it might be close. I think that the true number is at least 1%, and many people use higher number, but I have not seen the studies to back it up. And of course, how honest are people going to be about what is still a very taboo activity?
A lot depends on the precise definition used, and who gets to make the call. The Kinsey Institute has a document which posits a incidence of 2% - 5%
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/ccies/us.php, but it does not cite any source that I could find.
So if you quote IFGE (and you are welcome to do so) you can say that we say the incidence is greater that 1%, but there are no conclusive studies. I'll ask Miss Vera next time I talk to her to see who she was quoting.

Best Regards,
Denise Leclair
International Foundation for Gender Education

13 Felton Street | Waltham MA 02454 | 781.899.2212
272 Carroll St NW | Washington DC 20012 | 202.207.8364



If you do go out to the Kinsey Report as Denise suggests, the section you would be looking for starts like this:


[Etiology of Adult Transsexualism

[There are no reliable statistics of trans people, but an educated, reasonable estimate would be between 2% and 5% of the general population, comparable to the most recent estimates of homosexuality.


So in other words, the IFGE will not claim much more than 1%. Kinsey is guessing by using statistics from gay studies. If the 1% value is true, it may be why we don't see as many CD/TG/TS in public as we thought. Or, they're just really good at stealth! :D

Love, Tracy

[Laura Jane]

If they include British Comedians, the percentage would shoot up!

[jennifer41356]

If you believe the statistics, I usually read that about 5% of the male population crossdresses, but I think it's much higher.

Do you ever sit at work or the mall or a big party and play - Spot The Other 4%?

Do you dig into the stereotypes, and see what adds up? Is it one thing that makes you suspect, say, shaved legs; or do you think, "Metrosexual/gay/drag queen/lifeguard/hairless cat?

Has someone ever looked at you while you were in drab, and you just knew they knew because they were also? A tg woman scoped me a couple weeks ago, I had on a plain brown women's tee and basic women's jeans and flip flops....she knew from twenty feet away, she looked a half second longer and I could see it in her eyes....

So, do you ever turn on your Gendar in public?

Ivy

I think its your overall look, you got wonderful long hair and looking at your pics you have some fem looking features, so maybe that gave you away.....I wear girl jeans and more unisex type tops and havent really noticed being scoped out , now I have been mistakenly called ma'am and beeen though I was a woman, when I wasnt really dressed like one, but thats another story:love:

[CD Susan]

I have been playing the 'where's Waldo the cd' game for many years. I have not been sucessful at this and I am puzzeled. If the 5% number is reasonably accurate then there should be approximately 875 of us in the city of 35,000 in which I live. I am always on the lookout for other cd's and have never seen anyone that I suspected of being a cd. I recently retired from a company of about 400 employees and knew all of them to some degree. I tried for 20 years to figure out who the other 9 in the company were that could be cd's. I could never find even one that I suspected could be a cd. Either we hide this well from the public or this number of 5% is much too high. I have a feeling it is closer to 1% or even lower.

[Tricia Lee]

I think I saw a CD'r today at Walmart. I was there in on my lunch hour just 'window shopping', looking at shoes and things. Walking toward the back of the store I glanced over into the panty aisle. There was a younger guy, maybe 20, in guy mode with a backpack, holding a package of cotton panties.

I don't think he was buying them for someone else because he was acting kind of nervous. He glanced over and saw me looking as I walked by. I just kept walking.

It's funny, after being on this site I really had the urge to try and talk to him. I never would have done that in the past. I think it's just the sharing that goes on here that made me want to say hello or something.

Anyway, I walked back toward the front of the store. He must have already paid. He was standing outside the front aisle of the women's clothing section looking at women's shorts. As I rounded the corner in his direction he saw me, turned, and walked out of the store.

I suppose he thought I was an undercover security guard, or that I might somehow embarass him. That brings up a real question about what to do in a situation like that?

There are only two other times I've seen CD's in public. One was at a Penney's. I was driving past on the street on my way to the same store. I noticed a tall, well-dressed woman walking toward the store in a dress and heels. I didn't think anything about it. While I was in the store I looked over and it was obviously a guy. He was well over 6' tall in the heels standing at the checkout counter. After he left the two checkout girls kind of giggled.

Another time I was in a Denny's with my wife and kids. A super-tall woman walked by the table on the way to the cash register. She was wearing a skirt and low heeled sandals. This was a college town, and I literally thought it must be a member of the women's basketball team and even made a comment to that effect. My step-daughter whispered "I think that was a guy!". Once I saw 'her' from the front it was obviously a CD'r. She had breakfast, paid, and left with no trouble... but, between her height and minimal make-up, I don't think she passed at all.

Both of those occasions were lessons to me that you can go out in public, even if you aren't passing, and not have too much trouble. It made me more comfortable doing it myself!