"This is NOT a HOBBY to me"

[Wildaboutheels]

IF you are someone in this camp, you are likely to agree with the below quote??? [pulled from the bottom of paragraph one in the link that Zylia provided [in another thread] to someone who says he "quit CDing". Unsure how to repost that link.

"This issue surely has caused most of us great pain, anguish, and frustration in our private, public, and spiritual lives."

IF you don't have any trouble whatsoever with the word Hobby, you likely consider the statement mostly or completely false?

If someone cares to repost the link, it MIGHT be helpful for those who would like to quit? Or at least provide food for thought?

[Stephanie Julianna]

I agree, even though I have used that word once in awhile. It's as much of a hobby as my being of Polish and Irish decent. I have had hobbies that have come and gone due to a decline in interest or that I collected all that I wanted, etc. My dressing is a part of who I am. Hobbies don not always define you even though in my case most people would say, "Oh, The car guy." If they only knew all of me.

[PaulaQ]

Yeah, this isn't a hobby to me. It's simply who I am - I'm a woman. I used to have hobbies - now I just have transition. I have no time for hobbies anymore. This forum is the closest thing I have to a hobby at this point.

[carhill2mn]

CDing is not a "hobby" for me either. I have quit many hobbies (bowling, golf, for example) without any real issues. Sure, I miss being able to do them and also many of the people. But, I am not compeled to do them at what may be a great costs as I have been with CDing.

[Daphne Renee]

Completely agree.. its not a hobby. its just part of who I am.

[Ressie]

I was hoping that it's your occupation since it's not a hobby. If we could only make a living being crossdressers… For me it's an addiction I think. There would be withdrawl symptons if I went cold turkey.

[Zylia]

Just because it didn't start as a hobby doesn't mean I can't treat it as a hobby. What's a hobby anyway if not something you simply enjoy doing?

[Wildaboutheels]

Ummmmmmmmmmm... sorry ladies. The actual Question would not fit in the Q box... so I put it below the box. What IS in the box is the crux of the matter though, IMO.

[BeckyAnderson]

I find the word "hobby" to be degrading as far as expressing my feminine side. Hobby infers that one would be able to quit at any time. I've tried for the whole first half of my life to quit (and I'm 66 years old)...ain't happening!!!! Those who use the word hobby, quite probably, have not been able to fully come to terms with who they are and feel using that word will allow them (in their own minds) to fluff off their feminine side. Guys like to think they have everything under control at all times. Sorry....but your feminine side is controlling you, not the other way around. It's as much a part of you as your arms and legs!! I'm sure my views will attract some ire but, oh well, deal with it and your feminine side. Hugs, Becky

[Roli F]

THis is the one "Hobby" that I can never give up I have had many hobbys that have come and gone but CD has been with me since about age 14, I am now 53
been out and bought another gorgeous sparkly jumper and a small white handbag see !

[Melissa in SE Tn]

It certainly is NOT a hobby. It is a curse that I simultaneously love & loathe.

[dana digs sweaters]

Hobby? Most definitely not.
Dressing up in girl's clothes was just for a fun goof with my sisters.
I knew at 7 that dressing up completely for a Halloween "costume" was not just a game anymore.
I made the effort to enjoy more of it.
A hobby is an interest to share with family, friends, neighbors & coworkers etc ......................
My crossdressing is not something that I loathe.
I enjoy, therefore I dress.
It will always be a part of me, even if situations curtail my opportunities.

[Ilsa]

Crossdressing for me is just another dimension of my persona and I could try to describe in a few words how it makes me feel, but I can't do that because there are just so many emotions that I feel when I'm dressed and it is hard to explain. If I had to state why I do it the simplest and most direct answer would be – Because I like it! I'm sure there are many on this board who have different reasons or answers for why they do it, whether it be a hobby or an obsession and I know each has a different way of expressing themselves, but we also have different interpretations of what the other person says or does. That's why boards like this are welcome. It gives myself and others like me, or for that matter not like me, the chance to express how they really feel and deal with the practice of Crossdressing. What I can definitely say is that I love this board and the people on it who share the same desires.

[franlee]

I must admitt it is more than a Hobby. And with that said the term has been used many times and will be right on and on. I is in fact very close to a hobby in several ways and I will not even start the comparisons because each of us that read this can do their own word associations. But this is again one of those terms that are just a simple means to convey an action with out going into depth but still giving shbstance for the most part of a group to relate to. I again don't have any problem with the term because I do understand who I am and what the user is trying to convay without any extra thought. By the way the really big simularity between my hobbies and my CDing is MONEY, I spend to much on any thing I get heavily involved in. That's enough for me to understand when others use the term.

[lovetobedani]

This is who and what I am. A hobby no, Danielle is just as much a part of me and my life if not more as is my male side.

[Brandy9]

Getting ready to leave for a few days to a weekend getaway, as my SO and I have done many times. She hears me getting some things from my Brandy room to take with me and accuses that I am obsessed with this. I guess I am. Although I've tried many times to tell her that this is a side of me that I've had for as long as I can remember and I don't imagine will ever go away. She doesn't get it

[suchacutie]

I always saw the use of the word hobby as an inside joke among us, said with a wink. We all know what we do is not a hobby.

[Anna H]

I always saw the use of the word hobby as an inside joke among us, said with a wink. We all know what we do is not a hobby.

I'd agree with this. But, if I *had* to try to explain myself to someone...
depending on who/what/where/why....I might very well use the "hobby"
excuse if I thought it were to my benefit.

Basically meaning, to put a quick end to any explanation that someone
wasn't likely to comprehend to begin with....or make them more accepting
or comfortable with it in some way.

I haven't ever had to do that, but I've run a zillion scenarios over in my mind
for as long as I've been this way...(since I was little)

[Ellie52]

Suchacutie - I totally disagree. A hobby to me is something I do that I get enjoyment out of, but doesn't consume me 24/7 (Or should that be costume me 24/7).

One of my hobbies is making furniture, and I can go into my workshop and spend 2 or 3 hours framing up a chest of drawers then put everything away back on the rack and tidy up. This is exactly how I live with Ellie. My wife might say one Saturday night - I want to watch Seinfeld so do you want to ask Ellie over? And I might say "yeah great idea, so Ill go upstairs and get changed and sit with my wife for an hour or two and have a glass of wine. Then Ill say something like "Ellie's tired now shes going to take a shower" and Ill go up and get a shower and change then maybe come back for another glass of wine.

This is my HOBBY it is not a desire to be a woman. I have no urge to live my life as a woman unlike some on this forum.

It is not a lifestyle as such, or if it is its one where I am male 95% of the time and occasionally like to wear a dress. It is not a consuming passion.

If I planned to be Ellie one night and then Samantha and Steve phone up and say do we want to go over to theirs for drinks I don't get all sulky and say "I don't want to go because I want to be Ellie" we just go and have a good time. Ellie sits in the background till next time.

If I could get away with wearing a skirt all the time I would, that would be all I require to satisfy my xdressing needs. In fact lately I have taken to wearing a silk sarong my wife made me and I wear that a lot around the house even with my son and his friends over and I don't get bored. It is just the whole transformation thing that gets boring.

So everyone is different and each to their own but (Beckyanderson) please don't say that HOBBY is a degrading word as that's all it is 'a label' a word to describe something you enjoy doing....Ellie

[AnnaBMarie]

When I first disclosed to my SO many years ago that I would like to crossdress, I did tell her that I thought of it as a hobby. I think this was a way of diffusing the potential emotional impact to her and maybe subconsciously to me as well. It seemed to be something that I could do once in a while, enjoy it, and then go on with my regular life. Later when I wanted to become Anna more often, it created some real problems between us.

Characterizing it as a hobby may be accurate for some of us, but few hobbies have the personal and societal weight that crossdressing brings. I had to give up golf a few years ago and it didn't bother me. To give up Anna would be psychologically devastating.

[Anna H]

My wife thought of it as a hobby at first. But in time realized
it's an actual part of someone's being. It's not a thing that I've
ever been able to rid myself of. i.e....get bored with and move
on to another "hobby". Which I have with all other hobbies I've had.

I don't have a "character mode" or want/try to be a female...it's
not going to work with me, but I do have this unexplainable side
of myself that's always been here, and at this point in time, is clear
it always will be.

I do have a sense of humor about most things, so I hope that
also comes across in my posting here. I like to have fun with it.
(...CD'ing is a Good Thing!)


Kate

[flatlander_48]

I think the statement, as presented, may be true regardless of how you view crossdressing. The problem is that we all live in the real world alongside many other people. In most cases, the concept of crossdressing does not fit very well in that real world and it is often the source of great frustration and anguish.

By my definition, a hobby is an acquired taste. You try something, or you see someone else do it, and it becomes something in which you are interested. However, crossdressing isn't something that is acquired. It is there all the time, waiting to be discovered.

[Karren H]

Personally I treat everything in life as a hobby.... hobbies are enjoyable..... hobbies are interesting.... hobbies are fun..... ya don't see me YELLING when you want to CALL it what ever the hell you want to call it? lol

[CynthiaD]

No, crossdressing is not a hobby. Collecting stamps is a hobby. Crossdressing is something else entirely. Unless, of course, the only time you crossdress is when you're working on your stamp collection ...

[Marcelle]

I agree in principle it is not a hobby as it is something I need to do. However, I do (as I am sure most here also do) enjoy it. So it is easy to see why people might refer to it as a hobby. The definition of hobby is "an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure" So when someone calls what I do a hobby I don't begrudge them that if it is sincere after all, it is something I do regularly for pleasure. Sure I can't just turn it off like golf, scuba or stamps but unless the person is being sarcastic, I just smile and say "and what a wonderful hobby it is"

Hugs

Isha