how many of us are CDs?

[Krististeph]

I'm sure this has been brought up before, but how many, or what proportion of men are what we would call crossdressers.

I know there is ample room for definition of a 'crossdresser', and i know that there are few actual studies, but I would like to know, how many men do you think out of the regular US population are crossdressers?

If you want to give the proportion of a particular state or city, that is fine too. Or even the planet!

What do you think, and or what have your heard? This is an open question- NO WRONG ANSWERS (except anti-CD drivel).

I had read years ago that based on a threat of possible blackmail, TG/CD might be a form of security risk due to blackmail, (this was a CIA, FBI, or SS reply) there was a 'best guess of 1 in 80 or 1 in 100 ratio.

This is way more than I expected, I had figured about 1 in 1000, but I cannot cite nt references as to why that ration should be valid.

Okay dolls- what do YOU say? And why, and any other reasonable comments, please.

[biggirlsarah]

Here in The United Kingdom, I have heard it mentioned that around 5% or 1 in 20 men cross dress to some degree , I don't mean fully, I mean across the whole spectrum that is everything from just wearing underwear , to the full makeover, and everything in between.

[GaleWarning]

I've heard a figure as high as 36%. Perhaps that includes all men who have tried it at least once.

[Kaz]

I would love to know, but it is one of those stats that is unknowable. If a survey of the general population was done you can pretty much guarantee the responses wouldn't be accurate. My gut feel is that it is higher than most of us imagine... but that would include all those who don't anyone to know... even pollsters!

[ColleenA]

Just like Sarah, I've heard a figure of about 5%, which I can readily accept. I expect that many of them are like me - very closeted and out to fewer than, oh, about 10 people.

And that reminds me of a short story I read years ago. Three casual friends in middle school hang out together before, during and at the end of the school day. Midafternoon, though, each heads home, only to pull out his secret stash of panties, bras, and skirts to have some dress up time before Mom and Dad get home. The story closes with each of them sad that they have to hide this part of themselves from everyone - after all, who could accept that they like wearing girl's clothes?

[Traceyjo]

If you consider a crossdresser as being someone who does have a strong desire to dress and does so when the opportunity arises, I can't believe the figure is more than 1 in 100, probably considerably fewer. We have a website based in Autralia similar to this one but is specifically for Australian CDs . I can imagine any serious crossdresser in Australia would have found the site and be inclined to join yet the membership is only 700 odd. That works out at about 1 in 10000 of the adult male population. This site has only 20000 members but has a worldwide appeal and I'm sure is just about the most frequented CD site in the world. Of course there is a huge number of CDs that don't join these groups but I do think those membership numbers do indicate we are a very small percentage of the population.
I always feel sorry for all those guys who miss out on the pleasure and fun we enjoy

[AmyGaleRT]

I've heard anywhere from 2.5% to 10% of all men crossdress. I think the 10% figure is probably wishful thinking, but 5% might be realistic.

This has led me to some interesting thought experiments...the place I work has about 400 employees. Assume half of them are men, this makes 200. Now apply that "low-end" figure of 2.5%, and you get five of them who are CDs. So now I wonder: Who are the other four?

- Amy

[Beverley Sims]

I agree with the UK having abut a 5 percent participation rate overall and I think the US is about 2 percent.
Thailand and Singapore have done surveys of their outgoing population that returned near 10 percent.
I think 5 percent seems more realistic.
To Traceyjo, what is the website that you mention in OZ I was trying to steer a Sydney girl in the right direction the other night and could really only suggest Kings Cross as a place to start. I did advise not the best start tho, similar to Castro in San Francisco. Castro is a lot more friendly.

[deebra]

The ratio/percentage at my address is 100%, that's me of course, wonder what's wrong with the rest of the males. Why are we drawn to CDing and the other males aren't????????????????????????

[Kate Simmons]

In high profile security occupations such as those you mention, CD and or TG tendencies are only considered security risks if you feel you need to hide them. For instance, I know that the NSA(National Security Agency) has a TG group (or at least used to) that meets every month to discuss and address specific issues. All of these folks are open and still have their positions. It is what it is.

[Rogina B]

With the secrecy of some,how is it possible to ever get a number? Like so many things closeted,many would never fess up to their desires in order to be counted.

[eluuzion]

I am pretty sure that…

7 out of every 4 humans are TG and…
6 out of every 3 TG humans have trouble with math.

But I could be wrong…

Ok, so it is not an exact science! Sue me...

Estimates often intertwine TS/TG “figures” to where you can never really figure out “who’s on First?”

Anyway, here is just one of MANY places on the internet that are willing to give it their best shot at estimating prevalence…

http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conw...revalence.html
(TG stats further down page)

Have fun trying to come up with a realistic figure. It is like trying to figure out how many potential serial killers live in your neighborhood.

[Nicola2876]

I once heard 10% of men have tried it to some degree but in recent surveys it was found that 87.265% of statistics are made up!

[Tina B.]

Great question, I love questions that can't be proven either way, it leaves plenty of room for speculations. I like the 10% number, I don't believe it, I just think it's a nice simple number to remember.

[kimdl93]

I have no way of knowing - the 5% figure sounds reasonable, but then I guess I like the idea that we have company.

[EllieOPKS]

I think 0 percent. If you cross dress you are the only one.

[Gillian Gigs]

When I was in college, my sociology Prof used to say this about statistics.

Statistics has proved that pickles will kill you. All people who lived between 1850 and 1860 who ate pickles are now dead. So, based on statistics, if you eat pickles, you will die!

If you count every man who has at one point or another worn a female garment, then the percentage would be quite high. For the sake of the point at hand, I would think about 2.5 to 5 % who regularly wear something that is traditionally considered feminine. Even in our own community some think that an underdresser is not really a CD'er. Then there are some that might say if you don't go the whole nine yards then you aren't either. The important thing to remember is this, panties will kill you, every woman who has ever worn panties will eventually die, so statistically it is a fact that panties kill! LOL

[docrobbysherry]

I put this question rite up there with the other imponderables. Like; How many angels fit in the head of a pin?

[Karren H]

If it were as high as everyone thinks..... you would think that over the last decade I personally would have run into at least one other guy shopping for womens clothing.... which I haven't..... so I'm thinking that its a lot lower... and that the higher numbers (5 to 36%) is more wishful thinking and hoping there are more of us than there really are.... imho..... or maybe the high number counts men wearing womens jeans? lol

[TeresaL]

I must have missed these surveys, because I have never been asked or included.

So which of you have participated in them?

[Karren H]

I must have missed these surveys, because I have never been asked or included.

So which of you have participated in them?

It was on the back side of the census..... at the bottom.... very small print next to the 100% recycled paper logo!

[Foxglove]

How many angels fit in the head of a pin?

Sorry, Sherry, but this is, like, a really dumb question. I mean, it all depends on the size of pinhead, right? On the one I was using the other night, I counted 147,313 of them. But other people would be using different size pins.

As regards how many of us there are, we can speculate all we like. In my town of about 4000 people, you'd think there'd have to be somebody besides me, but who knows? It's one thing I'm curious about: now that I'm out and about the town, and everybody knows about it, will it encourage any of my brothers/sisters in crime to come out and join me?

Annabelle

[aprilgirl]

I'll wager .08% of the male population has done it more than once and truly felt good about it. I appreciate being in select company.

[AllyCDTV]

First of all, you have to determine what qualifies someone to be considered a crossdresser - good luck with that. LOL

I have heard studies indicate that 10% of the males have admitted to trying on women's clothes. Does that make all of them crossdresser?

About all you will get out of any study is the percentage of participants who will admit to crossdressing. That doesn't mean much. People can lie one way or the other. The study might only reach a certain segment of the population.

Direct observation, though might be a way to get a good reading on this. We could dart a percentage of the male population and fit them with some sort of device that detects when they are wearing women's clothes. After a time we could then determine how many of them crossdress.

But then there is still that sticky problem of defining what qualifies as a crossdresser. Maybe the first thing we need to do is set up a standards committee to define crossdressing. Oh and we'd also have to invent a device that detects when they crossdress. And it has to be something that is undetectable by the wearer. Damn these details.

All I know for sure is that, largely thanks to this site, there are some besides me and that's about all I really need to know.

[windycissy]

Fascinating...taking the 5% estimate as reasonable, that comes to 7,750,000 guys in the USA alone, which equates to the entire male population of most states and many countries. It's also more than the number of guys who ride motorcycles, for example...the women's fashion industry is missing a huge market!