Can you see the real me? Can you? Can you?

[Byllie]

(The title, BTW, is from the Who's Quadrophenia.)

This thread and poll was prompted by thoughts I've been having lately regarding my own CDing. I've come to realize that personally CD to express an aspect of my personality that in most cases does not get expressed. But whether or not I CD, I'm still the same person.

My name is Bill, which is why I chose Byllie as my handle, though I would rather just go by Bill; perhaps I should request a change in my handle ... a thought!

I'm not trying, when I CD, to become someone else. I'm perfectly satisfied with who I am; it's taken me a long time to be able to say that. But I'm also amazed at those of us who seem to become a whole other person when they CD. I suppose I'm as perplexed by their behavior as they are of me.

Yes, I know, it takes all kinds, but it's still rather confusing to me, especially when a fellow CDer, who I respect, cannot understand how I could live with a full beard and wear makeup at the same time. I do, and I enjoy it.

So please take the survey and reply with your thoughts on this issue. And thanks in advance!

Toodles!

[TGMarla]

I'm still me, but I'm a girl instead of a guy. As a guy, I can't indulge in feminine delights without being labelled a queer of some kind. I love the dresses, the hosiery, the high heels, the hair, the breasts, the long nails, etc. But I also love football and golf, and I hate the Lifetime Channel. So I think were I really female, I'd still feel the same way, I just wouldn't be a guy. Or maybe I'm just fooling myself. But I like who I am, and I like "being" a girl. When I crossdress, I get both.

[charlie]

I think the real me is there whether I'm dressed as a guy or girl. I don't feel any different, only more feminine when dressed. Flirting and exposing a bit a leg is different, but that only goes with the feminine part.

[docrobbysherry]

Wasn't sure how to complete the poll. When dressed, I am still the same person inside.

However, the person I see in the mirror, is COMPLETELY different!:brolleyes:

[Tomara]

I am still the same person just with different clothing .
I am also comfortable with who I am and the amount of time I spend cross dressing to enjoy my feminine side .
Tomara

[Jocelyn Quivers]

Simply showing my other side. In a strange way my femme side sneaks out more and more when I'm in male mode. When completely dressed my male side for some reason comes out more and more.

[Sheena Pink]

I am mostly just me in whatever I am wearing. If I am wearing tomboy clothes that's how I act, if I am dressed for a night on the town you bet I'll be all woman

[Angie G]

I'm still every much a guy. But I love to dress like a girl and show my other side witch is really girly.:hugs:
Angie

[Nicole Erin]

am the person I wish I could be more often, if not full time.

[Tess]

If I'm the same person it is part of my personality that is so repressed that I don't know it is there until I dress. The person that comes out is very feminine and liberated. I'd love to be that person more often if that were possible. I always regret having to change back to my male cloths but accept that role without a problem.

[Tracii G]

Just my other side. I'm a guy that likes to wear girly clothes.You gotta problem with that?J/K.

[2B Natasha]

I am the same person. I can't be anybody else. My Fem side is just the other side of my coin. Some times I wake up and it lands Bland and some days it's Fem.

[Andrea85]

I'm the same person while at the same time, I'm completely different. I'm the same person, but I'm completely different in the idea that I feel like I'm the way I should've been. I still like everything and want to do everything I normally do. Just as my femme side. Too bad I can't be that way all the time...

[mykhelee]

Most of the polls on here are an easy snap to answer, this one i had to do a little self-exam. I feel I am showing another side of myself that I wish I could express more often. This world is so demanding on all of us, depending on what you do for a living you have to exhibit the approved behaviors. In my line of work most of us seem to be right wing, evangelicals. Any thing that is not in the comfort level is a threat. I have to be careful not to allow too much of my softer side show.

[Byllie]

Okay, so far, from the posted replies, it seems that most of you feel you are the same person, only showing a different *side* of yourself. So far, so good. Now, are there any out there who see CDing as expressing another *aspect* of themselves as opposed to another side. When we speak of *sides* it feels as if there's a disconnect between the two *halves*, while the concept of *aspects* reflects a sense of being a whole, indivisible person. Does this make sense?

[Jonianne]

Same person, different cloths. Thats why I also use the name Joni (pronounced Johnny - which is my real name).

[Nadia-Maria]

Okay, so far, from the posted replies, it seems that most of you feel you are the same person, only showing a different *side* of yourself. So far, so good. Now, are there any out there who see CDing as expressing another *aspect* of themselves as opposed to another side.

That's me too and I completed the first choice , because I'm basically the same person wearing different clothes. Nevertheless I do show sometimes a different side or aspect of myself (what may correspond to your third choice).

Most of the time I dress, I show the same side or aspect of myself, mostly with my male mind. It's only at times, that I do express specific feelings or behaviour. For a short (or not so short) while I will be the woman-in-me. I will believe I'm truely a girl and will behave like your typical blonde before her mirror. It's a fascinating experience. My dream comes to realization.

Kisses

Nadia

[Karen_Ski]

:) Regardless of my attire I am still the same person. In a skirt I may be a little softer, a little gentler, maybe even a little more polite but deep inside I am the same. I just believe that my feminine side truly dominates who I am but when in male drab I try to put up the "image."

[anouk]

My feminine side is partly different from my maculine part. I've learned to react and handle things somewhat like my enviroment has taught me to do, but I don't feel very comfortable with it. So I really enjoy the moments when I can free myself from my masculine role.

On the other hand my feminine side has grown partly as a consequence of my masculine education. So, there are features that may be considered as "looking the women's world trough the man's spectacles". But still... I completely lack some main macho features (such as solving things with violence, trying always to win the rival,.....) and that makes my leap to woman's world quite short.

[mykhelee]

When you ask is it another aspect of us or a side-(toe-may-toe)(Tah-mah-toe). We could also use the word facet. Semantics, being what they are really won't distill this much better than the original question.
Many of us feel that this is another side to who we are and that it is an important aspect of our lives. Our lives and personalities are our private gems, a gem has many facets, this being one of them.

[Secret Sis]

This one was kind of easy for me... I consider myself to be no different when dressed - I'm just wearing clothes that I enjoy wearing. I don't wear makeup or wigs, so from the neck up I look the same. I just like the look and feel of feminine clothes, but I'm still the same person I always am.

[Clara]

I voted ‘showing the other side’. When I’m dressed it’s still me but, I suppose, a female side of me. I like the same things, I dislike the same things. But I behave in a more feminine way. I walk in a more feminine way. I’m more affectionate (or at least it manifests itself in a different way) and so on. So it feels like it is the other part of me that completes the ‘guy’ part and makes me ‘whole’.

[Toni_Lynn]

Hey Byllie

Glad to hear, er, see your typing.

My crossdressing has gone through stages of trying to figure out who is the real me, the girl or the boy. As I've matured, I have come to realise that I am me -- plain and simple, the girl within is me, and I'm unique -- just like everyone else!

The way I go about crossdressing, has been shaped and molded by my life experiences. I feel that I'm a virtual alphabet soup of stuff, but it all adds up to what is normal for me. In some ways I feel like the only way I could ever be a boy, is to be a girl.

So, yes, when dressed I'm the same person just in different clothes, but I guess, I'm just more of that same person.

Huggles

Toni-Lynn

PS -- I think you're cool!

[Sam44]

I feel more like "me" when I'm crossdressing. It's not that I feel wrong when wearing men's outerwear in public, but I really like the implicit feeling of acceptance I get when people smile or talk to me when I'm crossdressing (and like Byllie have a full beard.)

I do have to say that I'm more likely to be a little self conscious when crossdressing since it's still a little new to me. After all if I didn't feel a little different when crossdressed I probably wouldn't be a crossdresser.

[Joanne Curl]

It's definitely me, but a different side of me. A side of me that I hardly ever get to show but it's certainly part of the whole me. I'd like to be Joanne more often but can't. Being on this forum however helps me let a little of the girl inside of me out.
Joanne

[KIRA ANN]

same person, different clothes:love:

[Alana65]

It's a "toss up" between answers for me, but I guess I lean more toward.....

"am the person I wish I could be more often, if not full time".

[DameErrant]

When I am dressed en femme, I am still the same person, but different parts of my personality come to the fore. Diane is always there, even in guy mode, but I express myself differently as Diane than as a guy. I am sure most of you know how complicated we can be.

[arlene123li]

Ya, I still think and feel like the same person, It's just that different parts seem to show more. It's kinda hard to change the base person. I like it this way!

[jamie55]

Hi Byllie: I checked the first box but like mykhelee I really like the facet analogy, hence my signature. I am more comfortable in a skirt and heels sweatshirt and baseball hat w/ my company name by the way. When I get all dressed up I am more self consious. Why is that I wonder, maybe because that's not the real me.

[Cassy11]

I'm still me. I just love the feel of softer clothes next to my skin.

[Selene EV]

Like some of the other girls I had to stop and think about this one. My first thought was to pick "am the person I wish I could be more often if not full time". As I sat looking at the choices I realized that I'm the same person no matter what I wear. I fall somewhere between choice 1 & 2 ( I'm the same person that wishes she could dress way more often if not full time). So I picked the first choice as that best describes me.

[Janie Gunn]

Showing my other side, just a guy who likes to wear sexy womens clothes.

Janie

[Helen2407]

I am what I wear . If I am doing my housework or work around the home I dress in a manner suited to such work ..but when I have finished the heels , dress and hosiery are worn , so I am still myself , be it man or woman I wish to show myself as.

Helen

[Cathy J]

I think TGMarla has said it for me. I'm still me but when dressed I can love and enjoy all the femme frillies that we are all "non-accepted" for. Of course being chicken 2 sizes larger than "Big Bird" I stay in the closet.

Could use a face transplant, though. LOL

Hugs

[Lisa Golightly]

I'm just a girl.

[SherriePall]

I selected the second: I am the person I wish I could be more often, if not full-time. Actually, the third answer could also apply because when I dress, I am showing my femme side which is the side I wish I could show more often, etc. So, I think, in many instances, the second and third choices could be combined.

[jennylogan]

I become the person I have always wanted to be. Eventually it will be living as a full time female, sans surgery.

[Samantha43]

same person, different look.:)

[Susan Dee]

Okay, so far, from the posted replies, it seems that most of you feel you are the same person, only showing a different *side* of yourself. So far, so good. Now, are there any out there who see CDing as expressing another *aspect* of themselves as opposed to another side. When we speak of *sides* it feels as if there's a disconnect between the two *halves*, while the concept of *aspects* reflects a sense of being a whole, indivisible person. Does this make sense?

That's a good point. I answered the poll that I am showing another side of me, but now you've asked this supplementary I think I have to refine my answer.

What I am when dressed is not a disconnect, it's another aspect of who I am. Softer, gentler, more sensitive - things that as a male are hard to show. They are still there, but when I'm dressed I can let them lead. I like the dresses too !

Susan

[kym]

my female side, which oddly enough is dominate in my personality, is who i would love to be more often. However when i go to work, or i'm around my friends i have to be taylor the man because they wouldn't understand kym the woman. one of these days maybe this small southern city will change its views.

[Bethany_Anne_Fae]

I am definitely not the same person dressed, as I am in normal drab mode. Voice, movement, thoughts, everything is on the other end of the scale.

and I dont mind that at all ;)

There are two of me and I like em both

Zara