I DARE you to read this

[Frédérique]

Lindbergh? Everest? Your kidding, right?

[SIZE="2"]No, I’m not kidding. You’re kidding, right?

I came across the Lindbergh quote on Wikipedia one night, and I immediately thought about the challenges of MtF crossdressing – how many males would dare to tackle the un-masculine? Our fixed, firm purpose can be seen as a heroic venture, but few would recognize it as such…

As for the Everest metaphor, men are endlessly fascinated by mountains. Some men admire them, some men paint pictures of them, some men fly over them, and some men climb them, simply because they’re THERE, and they resemble something very familiar. I will now refer you to the words “The Teton Range” and leave it at that…
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Most of my life, I have not been a risk taker.

[SIZE="2"]I’m not much of a risk-taker, either, so when I first started crossdressing this was a huge obstacle to overcome. Little by little I somehow found the courage to go out dressed, and each new CD adventure emboldened me to try more and more. I see MtF crossdressing as LESS risky these days (for me), and more like a necessary gamble – NOT challenging oneself to completely alter ordinary existence is detrimental in the extreme, and I can’t afford to sit around in drab, letting the precious moments (when I could be ALIVE) slip away…
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[Amanda22]

This is one of my all-time favorite threads. I'm sorry it took me a couple of days to read it. Cross-dressing takes so much courage. Us CDers know that. I think the act of CDing is so far "out there" in the minds of the average person that they just think we're crazy. They don't understand a bit about it and therefore wouldn't think of the courage aspect.

I'm not a daredevil, don't participate in "extreme" sports, and tend toward behaving safely in all other aspects of my life. My gender expression, however, is where I let loose! I am proud of my accomplishments and especially being true to myself. I'm not implying anyone should venture outside their front door, but for me this has been utterly life-changing for the positive. An unexpected side effect has been that I've unintentionally spread a message among dozens of local people in Chattanooga,TN that CDers are great people.

I recognize that I have a craving to push my own envelope. It isn't an obligation at all, nor a sort of peer pressure to carry the CD flag. This forum has been extremely supportive to me and I don't think I'd be where I am without the amazing virtual friends here. My motivation, though, stems from my innermost being. As I said, I must be true to myself. A great tragedy of my life would have been to suppress my dressing both in public and private and never known the indescribable liberation, rightness, and authenticity I enjoy now.

Thanks for this and all of your other well-crafted and meaningful threads, Frederique!

[Ms Mira]

Amen!

Life should not be defined by FEAR. Now I'm not saying that you should just traipse into your military base dressed. But, I do think it's always important to try and look at the reasons why you don't want to do something, and if the primary answer is FEAR you should work on getting over that hump.

For me, I want to work to live as openly as I can. That doesn't mean that I want to be Mira 24 / 7 - that's not me either. But it does mean that I don't mind, I welcome it, if people know about Mira in the context of who I am. Mira is a big part of who I am that I'm not ashamed of, and if I'm not ashamed of her, then other people can't rain on my parade. They just can't. There will always be ignoramuses, but instead of letting them affect my esteem, I feel bad for them... that they have to live life in such a closed box. I'm too busy living my life to care what they think.

I've been blessed in a situation which has somewhat allowed me to do this. I'm out to - save one or two - all of my close friends. And I live in one of the most liberal big cities in the world (TORONTO, represent!) I haven't always been like this, but I have worked on it continually and hell... Today I find myself way higher up that mountain than I ever could have imagined years ago.

[LeaP]

So ...

Ya goin' out and about in downtown Lindsborg?

[Momarie]

The grandiouse nature of this thread makes me feel uncomfortable and embarrassed for the op.

[almisami]

I'm one of those people who has a contingency plan for the contingency plan of the contingency plan for the original plan. Although I have to admit sometimes the backup plan for ''calmly educate the ignorant masses'' amounts to ''Running in heels 101'' and I've had to use ''Just make sure you hit like a girl'' a few times as well. It's amazing how messed up and unpredictable peoples' reactions can be and, in hindsight, I consider myself more foolhardy than daring.

[Beth-Lock]

Speaking as a male by birth, genetic boy, or whatever, I wish to state that (for some of us) MtF crossdressing is a very daring enterprise that requires risk taking on a scale most men cannot or will not imagine. ... I don’t HAVE to do this, rather I WANT to do it, because I can, and it makes perfect sense to me…

A man wearing a dress – this takes courage! You have to face, oppose, and defy everything that you have learned, everything you’ve been told, and everything you will come up against in your personal quest for happiness. In essence, you’re challenging yourself, in a rather masculine way, to go someplace forbidden – are you fearless enough to wear panties, wear a wig, and paint your nails? Are you bold enough to step over the un-crossable line society has placed before you?

I must have cross-dressed in strict privacy and absolute secrecy for forty years, (before doing it in public). But what your post recalled to me, was the early few years, when as a pre-teen, I stood before heaps of my mother's clothes, experiencing the sweet, magnetic essence of womanhood that they radiated, and wanting to make it a part of myself, yet prevented by the taboo from actually putting them on, even though alone, I could have done so without being caught.

I conclude from this that men have more than a fear of consequences from the outside, the real risks, but also have a barrier to hurdle, a barrier made up of ideas or instincts, in their own mind. It is also daring to get past this barrier. Since a lot of boys don't do that, one can only assume that those that do, have some sort of inner compulsion or attraction towards the feminine, that most lack. Or perhaps, it is just a perception, an ability to resonate, psychologically, to the trappings of womanhood or the feminine.

[Tess]

I relate very well to the idea of risk and dare as it applies to my dressing. Challenging yes, but risk is what elevates my day beyond the normal routine existence. Perhaps growing up in a more repressed time has set my thrill bar lower than the following generations when it comes to slipping on nylon and lace. The taboo element of crossdressing which certainly existed for over half my life and lingers today, is part of why I enjoy it.

[Krististeph]

Hi Frederique,

I like the analogy! It's a good question, and it applies to all of us, but perhaps varying degrees.

Personally, I've taken lots of chances in other aspects of my life: work, school, 'pastimes', I don't think I want much of a challenge in my CD life, just for the sake of it.

Now if that's being a little bit chicken, then yeah, I'm chicken (though not at Chic-fil-a...)

It has a bit to do with being married, my wife would not want me to transition, and I would not want to bring any undue attention to us in the neighborhood by dressing full time.

I'll still sneak out at night to do a short run wearing all female gear, or bike ride with a little more androgynous looking female stuff, do the same while on long road trip for work (but go for more obviously feminine (but not girly or inappropriate stuff at night).

It is not as 'fulfilling' (perhaps) as being able to dress whenever or wherever, but it is vastly better than not being able to dress at all.