Crossdresser or transvestite?

[tanya1976]

I'm fairly new here so forgive my ignorance on the matter but...Crossdresser/transvestite...is there any difference? Do some people see themselves as one or the other or both, if so why? What's the difference, if any? I only ask because I'm trying to figure out which one I am. Even ignoring the gender issue, it's very confusing!!

[Jess_cd32]

My understanding of the terms is a cd is a part time dresser and the tv is full time 24/7 w/ no intention of having reasignment surgery or take hormones.

[carolinewalker_2000]

I've never really understood all the different shades of classification and have long since given up worrying about it. The one division I am clear about is those of us who want to transision and those that don't. After that, how we describe ourselves is a matter of perswonal preference. I guess each of us would define all the usual terms slightly differently.

The important thing is to be comfortable with who you are. You say you are fairly new - (to this forum or dressing?) - anyway, my advice would be - stop worrying about terms and enjoy the experience!!

[BlUeDrAgOn]

I believe transvestites normally do it in a more professional side. Crossdressers need to do it for themselves and not for others to see, I guess (at least that's my case). Not that I wouldn't want to go out in women's clothes and have fun oing it, but it's an intimate need and not a way of making money.

[Trish]

I always thought crossdresser and transvestite, was the same.

[avril findlay]

I always thought the terms had the same meaning. A person who dresses in the clothing normally associated with the opposite sex, in my case a male who dresses as a female.

[BeckiB]

By text book definitions a transvestite has more of a sexual need to dress where as a crossdresser needs are filled by the act of dressing and more non sexual in nature. I think today the two are for most part considered to have the same meaning. So I think it is your pick...which do you prefer? For me it is CD.

:2c:

[TommiTN]

My understanding of the terms is a cd is a part time dresser and the tv is full time 24/7 w/ no intention of having reassignment surgery or take hormones.

I agree with Jess with the addition that the term "transvestite" is considered somewhat derogatory and archaic by many in the TG community since it has lurid connotations outside the community. I can't dress 24/7 so I guess I'm a CDer, not a TV. Personally I don't care what I'm called, just don't call me late for dinner! :D

[tanya1976]

By text book definitions a transvestite has more of a sexual need to dress where as a crossdresser needs are filled by the act of dressing and more non sexual in nature. I think today the two are for most part considered to have the same meaning. So I think it is your pick...which do you prefer? For me it is CD.

:2c:

Hmm...I think, despite the negative, archaic, and purportedly lurid (news to me!) connotations I'd probably go with transvestite. Crossdresser doesn't really seem specific enough, although maybe that's the point. Obviously I would prefer to not be labelled at all, I'm beginning to feel like a tin of beans!!

[Brandiwvr]

the definitions are baic and general. but the real difference that i found is mod t girls dont care for the stigma associated to transvestite. mostly hollywood has made it out to have mental issues that really dont excisit. "rocky horror picture show". so we got a simple name such as cd.
what i prefer is Brandi, aka transgendered. which is an umbrella term but to those that dont have any real knowlage of the issue, it seems to work with out stigma.
hope this helps, Brandi

[tanya1976]

the definitions are baic and general. but the real difference that i found is mod t girls dont care for the stigma associated to transvestite. mostly hollywood has made it out to have mental issues that really dont excisit. "rocky horror picture show". so we got a simple name such as cd.
what i prefer is Brandi, aka transgendered. which is an umbrella term but to those that dont have any real knowlage of the issue, it seems to work with out stigma.
hope this helps, Brandi

Yeah that seem sensible. Maybe I'll try that. Thanks.

[SANDRA MICHELLE]

Whats in a name anyway, a rose by any other name is still a rose. As for me I like crossdresser since i have been doing this for 45 years and the old TV was in my opinion a harsher word to define us.

[BlUeDrAgOn]

Well, to be honest I only knew the term 'Crossdresser' a few years ago. I felt this need since I was a child, and there were times that I thought I was gay, transexual or transvestite, because of the fact that I was totally misinformed about this and the reason I felt this need. For this fact, I totally agree that the label is the least important thing about it.

[battybattybats]

Which term is acceptable depends on what country you are in, nothing more. Both words mean the same thing cross/trans dresser/vestite. Literally the same meaning (And Transylvania is trans/cross sylvan/forest ia/land - the land across the forest!).

Thing is in the USA mainly there were two combined forces.

The first was the term 'transvestic fetish' which it was decided by the psychological field (largely quackery at the time as that was back when they thought being gay was a curable mental illness too... alas transvestic fetishism is still listed as a mental illness in the DSM of the APA!) must be a form of being crazy for someone to be aroused wearing lingerie if it was lingerie designed for the opposite sex.

The second was a few very bigoted transvestites who decided that transexuals and homosexuals were all crazy and making them look bad but female-attracted transvestites were normal so having a term different from transexual would make everything better and make people acceptable and thus we got crossdresser.

But some people liked the 'trans' part so the term transgender was invented to get the 'sex' bit out.

Since then though a lot of people found the word Transgender to be useful for all 'sex and gender diversity' except for many Intersex people who can find it offensive to be called transgender, especially as some think that transgender people are crazy and making them look bad. Oh and then theres the Harry Benjamin Syndrome people who use the term Harry Benjamin Syndrome because they consider all 'late-onset' 'pre-op' and 'non-op' transexuals and transvestite/crossdressers and gender-queer people to be crazy and making them look bad. They like to claim they are the 'classic transexuals' 'true transexuals' and 'primary transexuals' and that all non-HBS transexuals are transvestic fetishists but as they blame 'the transgenderists' and 'behaviourists' for stealling the term transexual they are lobbying very hard for medical organisations to accept their HBS invention and it's criteria that relegate everyone on this site (even the transexuals who apparently are guilty by association!) as crazy sexual predators.

So you see, there has been for decades an internecine conflict over stupid hair-splitting as different groups try and look more 'normal' by trying to heap dirt on the rest to transfer the perceived stigma off them and onto others.

Yet the real harm, what has really been holding people back for decades while others have been achieving progress has been this stupid splitting of hairs.

We need to be proud of and stick up for the entire Sex and Gender Diverse community. Yep, the Drag Queens too! Crossdressing would still be illegal in much of the western world were it not for the drag queens and the transvestite prostitutes etc who actually fought against those laws and had them overturned. It didnt happen by itself, people made it happen, people all too often criticised for making others look bad.

So as far as I'm concerned their is nothing offensive in the term crossdresser or transvestite or transgender or transexual or drag queen.

What is offensive is the people who would rather try and gain their own acceptance by backstabbing parts of the community they owe a debt of gratitude to.

And considering the vile (child-torturing!) people on the APA DSM board right now and the large amount of lobbying the small HBS community is doing then if we dont get more active they will win!

Cause the latest term we should be worried about is Autogynephilia!
Thats the label that will be stamped over crossdresser and transvestite alike and most MtF transexuals too, all labeled as mentally ill under a new likely classification in the DSM that has some of the HBS folk so excited they keep forgetting its not officially in there yet.

We need to stop blaming each other, stop blaming the drag-queens, the leather and latex clothing wearers and other outlandish dressers and start standing up for everyone. Otherwise those who hat all of us may win.

[my_murano]

I've seen some clarification on that issue before, but not everyone may agree. CDs have interest in the other gender's clothing. While that could mean varying levels of interest, the clothes are the object of their desire. TVs desire to appear female, which goes beyond the garb. In addition to the term transvestitism, I've also seen the term transvestitic fetishism - I believe that refers to the fetish aspect, which is a different side. There are many "formal" and informal labels, so don't feel bad if you can't exactly pinpoint where you fall. Maybe more than one applies!

I regularly refer to myself as a CD because it's a more easily identifiable label, but I still see myself as TV.

May

I read Batty's post after mine. As you can see, labels are extremely unreliable - even for us who are sure about who we are! So again, don't worry about getting it "right".

[Barbra_in_Tulsa]

I always thought crossdresser and transvestite, was the same.

This is my take, I think the term Cross Dressing sort of developed since there seemed to be a stigma associated with transvestite. I compare it to how term (in a political sense) progressive grew out of liberal. Some of us don't care and are perfectly to be called a liberal transvestite while others prefer progressive cross dresser.

**************as I probably already opened a huge can of worms, I am not trying to inject politics into this sight but just using it to illustrate a point. So if you are a conservative, I'm not tossing zingers here. :hugs:

B

[jamie55]

Hi Tanya: Obviously Batty's explanation is pretty detailed and I don't think I can add much. When I was young my mother discovered my affinity and told me over an emotional discussion that I was a transvestite. That was before the term crossdresser was coined. I was pleased that there was a word to describe me because it meant there must be others out there. I think they are one and the same as Batty said. We're all in this together so I don't really care what they call us. Like my mom said "sticks and stones...."

[trisha59]

Perhaps we as a group that arguably has the most insight, should write the definitive definitions of these words?

[Vicki65]

I think they are both the same thing, but 'we' prefer the term 'Crossdresser' because 'Transvestite' sounds a bit medical, and we're sensitive little souls like that :heehee:

To be honest, 'bloke in a skirt' is more appropriate to me (I'm not, and could never be, a good looking or convincing gurl) but I dont care whether people refer to me as a CD, a transvestite, a tranny, a weirdo or any other term to be honest.

*I* know who I am, everyone else can go to hell :D

[Raquel June]

They're the same thing. Transvestite is Latin for crossdresser.

In practice transvestite tends to have more of a sexual connotation. That is, it implies that the transvestite is a transvestite for some sort of sexual thrill. But that also applies to a lot of crossdressers. I think a lot of people think "transvestite" and picture a scene from Rocky Horror involving a guy in lingerie molesting his guests, while a lot of people think "crossdresser" and think of a harmless middle-aged guy in a dress. That's obviously not always the case, though.

Eddie Izzard self-identifies as a transvestite, but he says it's not a sexual thing. He's also referred to himself as transgendered before.

[Tess]

This is my take, I think the term Cross Dressing sort of developed since there seemed to be a stigma associated with transvestite. I compare it to how term (in a political sense) progressive grew out of liberal. Some of us don't care and are perfectly to be called a liberal transvestite while others prefer progressive cross dresser.

**************as I probably already opened a huge can of worms, I am not trying to inject politics into this sight but just using it to illustrate a point. So if you are a conservative, I'm not tossing zingers here. :hugs:

B

Hey, a conservative CD here. I think you're spot on. BTW, before there were liberals there were populists. When a group doesn't like what they are called they come up with a more acceptable name and when that one wears thin they do it again. We live in the age of political correctness and people work darn hard to find the perfect term to avoid any shade of disrespect. I like the CD nomenclature and think of it as general categorization of all the different objectives in dressing in the cloths of the other biological gender. I'm not too comfortable with getting assigned to a sub category so I stick with CD.

[Sarah...]

Sometimes I'd rather go with "transgender" as a label. But you have to explain that to people.

Sometimes I'd rather go for the easy option and just tell folk I'm a girl with the wrong plumbing.

Sometimes I really don't care. Give me your own label and I'll run with that.

By the way, good piece of writing, Batty. Again!

Sarah...

[il.dso]

Labels, labels, and more labels.
I know I've struggled with who I am, what I am and why I love to dress up woman's clothing for over 40 years!

[Sammy777]

To make things as simple as possible, but not any simplier.

We are two countries divided by the same language.

It seems,
In the US the tern Crossdresser is favored.
In the UK/EU the tern Transvestite is favored.

Like:
smoke & fag
elevator & lift
erb & herb ["we same Herb because there is a fking H in it"][Thanks Eddie, lol]

You get the point.

Just use what ever suits you best & your most comfortable with.

I personally side with CD/TG

[Fab Karen]

To make things as simple as possible, but not any simplier.

We are two countries divided by the same language.

It seems,
In the US the tern Crossdresser is favored.
In the UK/EU the tern Transvestite is favored.

Like:
smoke & fag
elevator & lift
erb & herb ["we say Herb because there is a fking H in it"][Thanks Eddie, lol]

You also say "jag-yoo-are" ( jaguar ) :)


Back on topic, Right on, Batty!

[CD Susan]

I have to agree with most of us here in the USA and prefer the term cd. Tranvestite is somewhat outdated here and has such sexual and medical connotations attached to it. I some times refer to myself and others as a tgirl and find that acceptable too.

[Raquel June]

that was back when they thought being gay was a curable mental illness

Those people are still around. They're called Fundamentalists.




The second was a few very bigoted transvestites who decided that transexuals and homosexuals were all crazy and making them look bad but female-attracted transvestites were normal

Those people are still around. They're called Tri-Ess.




We need to stop blaming each other, stop blaming the drag-queens, the leather and latex clothing wearers and other outlandish dressers and start standing up for everyone. Otherwise those who hat all of us may win.

A dear friend of mine was the subject of a hat crime. It was brutal. She can't even talk about it. Those wounds run deep. :(

[tricia_uktv]

Ok, shoot me down in flames:

Transexual - starts dressing before puberty - wishes to change sex - wishes to pass as a woman - hates male body

Transvestite - starts dressing during puberty - primarily sexual motive - wishes to please men

Crossdresser - starts dressing after puberty - primarily does it to relieve stress - not interested in passing

Me - started dressing before puberty - not sure about changing sex - don't worry about passing, I know what I am - Don't hate my male body.

I like just to be called a t-girl. Nothing more, nothing less. This expression in the UK is becoming more accepted.

Have fun replying

[Raquel June]

Ok, shoot me down in flames:

I'll try! :)


Transexual - starts dressing before puberty - wishes to change sex - wishes to pass as a woman - hates male body

That's a reasonable definition, but in reality M2F transexuals don't all hate their male body. I don't. I'm in good shape. I wish I could trade with a GG who has also taken care of her body.


Transvestite - starts dressing during puberty - primarily sexual motive - wishes to please men

First we'd have to agree that transvestites were sexually motivated. That's the way I usually hear it used, but Eddie Izzard has really publicized the term and says there's nothing sexual about his transvesticism. Regardless, while a transvestite in a female role with a man makes plenty sense, there are certainly transvestite fetishists who are more interested in women or even just autoerotic activity.


Crossdresser - starts dressing after puberty - primarily does it to relieve stress - not interested in passing

There are many self-described crossdressers here who started before puberty but would still not consider themselves transsexual. And while I hear the motivation of "stress relief" mentioned a lot, I don't buy it. There are a lot of more socially acceptable ways to relieve stress.

[curse within]

Crossdressing and Transvestite are 2 in the same, Some here (like me) perfer the label crossdresser .. Transvestite or tranny for short ties its self to other meanings(labels) due to the name "Tranny". Trannys can also be short for Transexual which is not the same meaning for Transvestite . Most who perfer or consider themselfs as a crossdresser assume the name because it is straight forward (thats why I do) ..You dress in the clothing known to be accociated to the oppisite sex with no desires to become female.If you are a male crossdressing that is, because females can crossdress without drawing much attention these days.

[paulaN]

Myself I like transgendered or crossdresser. Transgendered because there is a girl inside along with the boy. Crossdresser because I like to where womans clothes.

[Alayna]

Maybe if us English speakers would stop interchanging and diluting the definitions of words (especially Americans) and be a little less lazy with our language, we probably wouldn't be in these predicaments....


Restricting ourselves to the following definitions of 'sex' and 'gender'...


Sex (noun) - either the male or female division of a species, esp. as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions.

gender (noun) - The mind's identification with either the male or female sex, particularly with concern for their culturally established roles.


...My understanding of the terms has always been the following. I'm sure I'll be wrong in some peoples' eyes, but by using these definitions I don't have any problems differentiating the little eccentricities of the broader scope of transgenderism.

Transgender: Any person who's thoughts andor behavior diverge from current social gender roles. Every following definition lies underneath this umbrella.

Transvestite: A person with the fetish that involves wearing the garments of the opposite sex for the purpose of sexual arousal and/or release.

Crossdresser: Someone who regularly wears or desires to wear the garments of the opposite sex, often because of an ultimately insuppressible urge to do so. While all transvestites are crossdressers, the opposite is not necessarily true. Be wary of attaching personal emotion to this definition, as it does not reach beyond the desire to engage in this behavior. I say this because people of like-minded emotional and sexual responses to crossdressing try to identify themselves as crossdressers to the exclusion of the other definitions.

Gender dysphoria: Internal conflict about one's gender identity. If one is happy about how they identify, then there is nothing dysphoric about him/her

Transexual: A crossdresser who's gender does not match his/her sex, causing gender dysphoria. Transexuals don't feel a sexual or emotional compulsion to wear the garments of the opposite sex. They feel they are the opposite sex and thus crossdress to at least partially satisfy the instinct to be who they are.

Drag queen: A man who dresses in womens' clothes in the context of performance and entertainment.





Language is not just a series of fads and hip catch-phrases, people! It is how we communicate, and the more we screw with it the more we screw ourselves up! Ginormous is not a $&%ing word, despite what Websters says! When you say "hopefully I'll go to the store today", do you truly intend to enter the local Safeway full of aimless hope? Not all Muslims are Arabs, and not all Arabs are Muslims.

This trend of *******ization of words and blending of meanings is not only a sign of cultural stupidity, corporate and government euphemistic substitution, and laziness, it reveals how much we let problems slide because we simply don't understand them! This is exemplified best in the climate change issue: You may care about global warming, but if you do are you trying to be "green" or do you try to live sustainably?

If you're green you probably recycle and do other fashionable environmentally conscious things, and you feel better for it. The problem is you still think like a consumer - you use paper plates, buy your jelly in a plastic squeeze bottle instead of a glass jar, and approve of Clean Coal and Biodiesel technologies that still release lots of CO2 into the atmosphere. "Save the Planet" is probably the dumbest "environmentalist" line ever concocted (see my sig). If you live sustainably then you understand that the concept of waste is a completely human invention. We are the only system in nature (yes, we are part of nature too! So is plastic and toxic waste!) that produces waste - a product of our actions that cannot be reincorporated into the cycle of use.

Sorry if all this comes across as mean, but we are fools to let our most important form of communication slide so recklessly, and it angers me. English is a difficult language, and we're just making it more difficult. Do you have any idea how much meaningless slang the average American uses? Try to notice how much you use - you'll be quite surprised (I certainly was). One other thing that gets my panties in a bunch - if you truly become offended because someone used a "naughty" word, you desperately need a reality check. If I say that something is fudging stupid, is my potentially unsettling emotion truly masked or do I just sound unconvincing, childish and euphemistic for saying "fudging"?

</rant>

[Vicki65]

You also say "jag-yoo-are" ( jaguar ) :)


Back on topic, Right on, Batty!

Once upon a time, an American (or 'merkin') said to me "you speak really good english"

Well, durrrr... maybe the clue is in where I come from! :D

It *is* a Jag-u-are, not a Jag-waaah. It is a British car. :D

[TGMarla]

Such a trivial thing, this alleged difference between the terms. One sounds so clinical, and has so much baggage with it. The other is the more accepted colloquial term in the US these days. On the whole, it matters little. Both mean the same thing, and it's not worth splitting hairs over.

[suzypier]

My understanding of the terms is a cd is a part time dresser and the tv is full time 24/7 w/ no intention of having reasignment surgery or take hormones.

I agree with you. But we could start as a cd and ending up with the time as a tv. :o

[suit]

do I just sound unconvincing, childish and euphemistic for saying "fudging"?

</rant>[/QUOTE]

thats not that much of a rant..and fudging ;somthing makes it sickingly sweet and ovryly candied....so (toung firmly in side of cheak ) did you suger coat the truth ? roflmao!

[Ashlie Marie]

I found this thread late tonite and you all have said everything. I know fir a while I was confused at all the terms until I went to a gender studies seminar. I found out a tredmendous amount of info. in a nut shell if you go to websters and look of these 4 terms this is what you get.

crossdresser: one who wear clothing soticty has decided is for the oppiste gender. That means that 50 years ago all girls who wore pants were crossdressers LOL.

Transgender: to act,dress,or protray that opssite gender.

Transvestite: this one i couldnt find online anymore however in the textbook it says a old slang term given to make gay dragqueens sound bad in certain countries.

and I was told by 3 of them that transsexual is just term they give themselves once their birth certificate gets changed for gender.

I also found out that 1% of the current male population crosdress in some way. one doctor even told us that back a year ago when I took the class that 33% of congress underdress everyday. most of them where his patients lol

I also found out that about 75 to 90% of all crossdressers are thought o be married strait men. that was a little shock to me.I still don't think that is right but who am I LOL.

but like a few of you girls have said what is a label and socity only changes its veiw when the populace changes..

have a good evening everyone :-)

[Karren H]

I always thought that Crossdresser was more an american term and transvestite was more a european term for the same thing.....

[gennee]

It doesn't really matter to me. I go by either name.

Gennee

[emmicd]

I believe transvestite and crossdresser are kind of synonomous. Trans - vest - ite really means cross dressing person.

I am a crossdresser by need and feel natural in womens clothes.

emmi

[tanya1976]

'Transvestite - starts dressing during puberty - primarily sexual motive - wishes to please men'

While I agree with the first two points where did the third one come from :confused:? I don't recall having any great desire to please men, then or now...Other than that I can see why different terms have came into use, and I suppose it's whatever you feel comfortable with. Personally I'm not sure if I feel transgendered, crossdresser still feels too vague, so I guess transvestite it is...

[Amanda.D]

Hi Tanya,
I much prefer Crossdresser. It just has a nicer sound to it and is less intimidating.
Mandy,

[Annemarie]

What's the difference between a transvestite and a transexual ? Two years.

MY definitions,

Crossdresser : a heterosexual male who occasionally crossdresses , is usually married or in a LTR, and often fears being associated with gays.

Transvestite : a bisexual or gay male who strives to dress, act and think like a woman and therefore logically will have sex with men in the female role.

Male to female Transexual : a male who has felt since birth that he is in the wrong gender, clothing does nothing for him , only surgery and fully transitioning into the female sex will do.

[Raquel June]

This is why some members here very much dislike "transvestite", because they feel it puts them in a medical or sociological category. I asked about this in a poll a couple of months ago and found that about 90&#37; prefer crossdresser or CD.

That's true on the forum here at least. After all, the name of the site is crossdressers.com.

In public I really don't hear the terms used very often at all, whether it's at work, at the mall, or at a club/bar. And the feelings I notice people associating with those terms are always very similar.

crossdresser = creepy middle-aged guy in a skirt
transvestite = creepy perverted middle-aged guy in a skirt

Tranny seems to have a better connotation. While people still often think "creepy" when they're referring to someone as a tranny, they usually use the term because they have some understanding of transsexuals.

Transsexuals make more sense to people because the motivation is simpler. A guy looks at someone they call "tranny" and thinks, "He was born a guy but wants to be a girl." It makes sense. People have much more trouble understanding the motivation of a non-transgendered crossdresser and start assuming the person is insane, a pervert, or gay.

Even if I didn't identify as TS, crossdresser just doesn't quite sit right with me. And given the public appeal of Eddie Izzard -- a self-identified transvestite who is an intelligent and funny guy who likes women, I'd actually kinda prefer it to crossdresser. Although I still think many times transvestite has more of a "pervert" connotation than crossdresser.

[tanya1976]

Hi Tanya,
I much prefer Crossdresser. It just has a nicer sound to it and is less intimidating.
Mandy,

Yeah but do you think it accurately describes what you are? Or is that asking too much of any one word?! Although I probably should have foreseen it I didn't expect this thread to get bogged down in linguistics, semantics, semiotics whichever you prefer :) I actually don't care whatever label other people may choose to apply to themselves or me. But personally speaking I don't feel the term crossdresser adequately covers who I am, I mean technically speaking a guy putting on a pair of panties is a crossdresser or I suppose a woman wearing a pair of boxer shorts, and seems quite prosaic. Although I suppose it works if your trying to de-mystify the process, especially for the uninitiated. Anyway, as always, to each their own I guess..:hugs:

[tanya1976]

[QUOTE=Annemarie;1520475]What's the difference between a transvestite and a transexual ? Two years.

MY definitions,

Transvestite : a bisexual or gay male who strives to dress, act and think like a woman and therefore logically will have sex with men in the female role.

Ha, ha. Good joke. But on your second point I would beg to disagree...

[Lanore]

To me, transvestite sounds like an insect, maybe because I farm. Crossdresser is a nice word which would indicate a persons need to wear the other genders cloths, bringing either their female or male side out a bit. I kind of like the term different. I'm just different.

Lanore

[Samantha B L]

When I first realized I was a CD back in the seventies and the eighties I don't beleive the lexicon of CD terms and the accompanying slang all of us in the forum use with one another had been developed quite yet. I first heard the term "crossdresser" in about 1980. This term is more polite and better useful for social and political reasons such as things like housing and job discrimination reasons and other political issues.

But about that slang and lexicon, I remember that a "dressing auntie" was the same thing as a "gg". In the general time frame of 25 years ago anybody who dressed in "ladies things" was a "TV" or a "Transvestite". As for me I dress for pleasure and excitement and I think the idea of being a "Transvestite" sounds more exciting than a "crossdresser"

In fact,it sounds like a real blast! But it does,let's face it,sound a little depraved. "Crossdresser" works much better on the national political front and I know that lots of CD's don't nescesarily think of themselves as "TVs". The entire glossary of terms used in this forum serves it's purpose well. Such as "CD',"GG',"enfem","outed". All this from a survivor of the era of the "letters to Ann Landers"

[cindym5_04]

Here's my take on it and by the way, I don't really feel as though any of the terms are derogatory- or I don't take them as being that way.

This is all looking at it from the male-to-female terminology:

Crossdresser- likes to dress up in women's clothes. Likes the feel, etc, but is not desiring to pass.

Transvestite- has a touch more sexual in nature and has more of a desire to pass, go out, etc. and be perceived as a woman.

Transsexual- On hormones or is starting down that path. May have had "enhancement" surgery.

Transgendered- The umbrella term to classify all of the above.

[battybattybats]

Maybe if us English speakers would stop interchanging and diluting the definitions of words (especially Americans) and be a little less lazy with our language, we probably wouldn't be in these predicaments....

As a close family member is a linguist I can guarantee you that there is no possibility whatsoever that language will not constantly change. It's not laziness, it's a complex set of mechanisms involving cultural distinctions, geographical and geopolitical usages, the fact that no two people ever have exactly the same inner understanding of the meaning of any two words, not even 'An' or 'That' or 'The' or 'A' no mater how standardised the dictionaries are any words meaning is essentially whatever most people use it as at any given time, subject to constant change and shift.


Sex (noun) - either the male or female division of a species, esp. as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions.

Sex is a really good example because 90% of the time when the word is used people mean 'coitus' or 'copulation' whcih because of peoples constant shifting euphamisms gained the term 'sex-act' which has now become 'sex'.



...My understanding of the terms has always been the following. I'm sure I'll be wrong in some peoples' eyes, but by using these definitions I don't have any problems differentiating the little eccentricities of the broader scope of transgenderism.

But as no two people ever use the same language precisely all communication is a rough attempt at passing precise information through vague and nebuolous assumptions of understood generalities.

Transgender: Any person who's thoughts andor behavior diverge from current social gender roles. Every following definition lies underneath this umbrella.


Transvestite: A person with the fetish that involves wearing the garments of the opposite sex for the purpose of sexual arousal and/or release.

As I mentioned this meaning is culturally-specific and understanding that this is so is essential for cross-cultural communications which are everyday occurances on the net.


Crossdresser: Someone who regularly wears or desires to wear the garments of the opposite sex, often because of an ultimately insuppressible urge to do so. While all transvestites are crossdressers, the opposite is not necessarily true. Be wary of attaching personal emotion to this definition, as it does not reach beyond the desire to engage in this behavior. I say this because people of like-minded emotional and sexual responses to crossdressing try to identify themselves as crossdressers to the exclusion of the other definitions.

All crossdressers are transvestites if you want an unshifting language, in which case it's better to fight for reclaiming the original meaning of the word and in fact drop the much more recent 'crossdresser'.


Transexual: A crossdresser who's gender does not match his/her sex, causing gender dysphoria. Transexuals don't feel a sexual or emotional compulsion to wear the garments of the opposite sex. They feel they are the opposite sex and thus crossdress to at least partially satisfy the instinct to be who they are.

If they 'are' the self-identified sex then is it truly crossdressing? Personally these days my definition of transexual is someone who makes permanant alterations to their body to make it closer to the self-identified sex to any degree at all.


Drag queen: A man who dresses in womens' clothes in the context of performance and entertainment.

But many self-identified Drag Kings/Queens do so not for performance or entertainment too.


Language is not just a series of fads and hip catch-phrases, people!...etc

I realise you feel strongly about the sbject, fair enough. But please do start to learn about the field of Linguistics, it is fascinating and you passion for words may make it very enjoyable for you. You will be astounded how much English has changed every single generation, where many phrases and words and grammatical structures have come from.

And really important to this discussion is the deliberate attempts to modify language and it's meanings. Check out psycholinguistics and Neuro Linguistic Programing as well as the many works on the political uses of language.

Not all words meanings change because of general usage but because of deliberate 'demonisation' of words for political purposes.

Cult used to mean Religion, nothing more till it became a great way to differentiate between established religions like the Catholic Cult and the Lutheran Cult by only using it for emergant religious groups and deliberatly associating it with specific dangerous and unethical practices of a small minority of these.

[Louise C]

I've always thought they were one and the same,

I hate the word Transvestite, though - just like that derogatory term; " he's a tranny." Yeuck!:sad:

ME? I'm a LAYDEE, you know. I do things that LAYDEES do, Hee Hee.:D

[cindym5_04]

I guess I'm just not one that gets offended very easy about terminology. I grew up in a primarily african-american neighborhood and heard that one word WAY too much. That's about the only word that gets offensive- and I'm white!

I think the word "gurl" is just annoying though.