Is CDing really a hobby ?

[Teresa]

I'm going to start by apologising to any one I've offended when they have called CDing their hobby.
The first time I read it, I saw red !
I like so many have been to hell and back and not only hurt inside but also hurt others, so how could a hobby relate to that ?
If you haven't been through turmoil and your dressing started and continued in pleasant stages I can see now how it can become an enjoyable but totally consuming pastime. Perfecting the look is extending the hobby, the more you do it the better it gets, I can also see now why many say the sexual content has gone, a hobby is not about that.I have never lost that, I do enjoy dressing but my pastime is painting, combining the two is my small slice of heaven.

[Marcelle]

Hi Teresa,

No offence taken here. Is it a hobby? I suppose an argument could be made in favor of that stance but I think it would a be a personal call. I personally don't see it as a hobby for me as it is part of me. I have plenty of hobbies and they all wax and wane at different times of the year. Taking on the Isha mantel is consistent and I never loose any zeal in doing so. So for me not a hobby.

Hugs

Isha

[Kaz]

Hi Teresa,

Again, it is about definitions of 'hobby' I guess. For me 'CDing' is not something I do 'for fun'.. it is as integral to me as eating. I have never been able to give it up; it is just part of who I am. I am also a musician and play live regularly in a local rock band. I have always been a musician (well since 15) and again I do not see this as a 'hobby'. I cook and take photos and do lots of other things that people would regard as a hobby as well. But I have changed careers a few times too! I guess many people would say that anything you do that isn't your main source of income is a 'hobby'... but would include raising your kids, being married, etc.. I wouldn't see those as 'hobbies' either! So is a hobby something we can give up easily as it is not part of our main life's work? If that is the case... CDing is not a hobby for me. It is an expression of who I am and as vital to me as the air I breathe.

[Talisker]

For me yeah its a hobby, at least now having just accepted it.
We are different and for others it's perhaps more serious. For many men it's just a joke at a party once or twice in a lifetime. I have a friends who's wine expert and he gets offended by people who don't take it seriously when ordering wine at restaurant.

Teresa - only you have your experience, every other CD is not you.

[Adriana Moretti]

I guess it depends on who you ask...for some it is, for others it could be a way of life...I guess it depends on the person....for me its like a hobby, then sometimes not cause there is some internal connetion that isnt sexual but extremely femminine....It combines alot of my (hobbies) together into one..fashion,makeup,art..i guess we all define it in our own way...i will be darned if i figured it out yet....

[samanthasolo]

Just as much a hobby as breathing, eating, and thinking are! Lol!

[paulaprimo]

maybe in the sense that i collect heels, as one would collect coins and stamps...

[Kate Simmons]

For myself CDing is a hobby in the sense that I collect nice things, mostly wigs. It's an art form in the sense of expressing feelings by presentation (clothes and makeup) and it's kind of a way of life in that it's an ever present condition regardless of which mode I'm in.

[Raychel]

I don't really consider it a hobby, It is more just a part of me,
More just who I am, rather then something I just enjoy to do.
When I am dressed I feel more like me, then when dressed in drab.
the drab clothes are just all wrong for me.

[Giselle(Oshawa)]

for me it is a COMPULSION!!!

[Erica Marie]

For me a hobby is something you do in your spare time for fun and you clean up and put it away when you are done.
For me it is anything but a hobby. It is a part of who I am and I am trying, every day, to find ways to integrate it into my normal ( If I can call it normal ) life.

[Michelle V]

It combines alot of my (hobbies) together into one..fashion,makeup,art...

I really liked Adriana's point of view in the subject but like to add that most hobbies in general are accepted by society, our lifestyle...not so much. People often question our sexuality because of the wide spectrum of CDing, by that I mean we have different reason why we do it and some involve our sexual identity. To me it is more a therapy, it allows me to be who I am inside for a few hours. And isn't it so much fun?

[kimdl93]

I suppose there are aspects, that are similar to a conventional hobby, like Kate collecting wigs. And I know some hobbies can become controlling obsessions, even to the point of addictive behaviors. Perhaps for the occasional CDr, the term hobby fits. It doesn't work for me, because like so many others I feel that this is an integral part of who I am, not just something I do for recreation.

[Talisker]

For me a hobby is something you do in your spare time for fun and you clean up and put it away when you are done.

What a perfect description of CDing

[MeganDay]

More than a hobby, less than a compulsion. Of course, I'm speaking just for my own self I do definitely have a need to let this part of me out. I'm definitely in the closet for now, but one day.. you never know

[Ferl]

I think there are many different points of few for that.

In the eyes of transsexuals it is almost much more than only a hobby, because when they do cd-ing they can feel the "correct" gender. They then are in the "correct life". I can understand that for these people, it is hard to understand that others say it is a hobby, because it is much more for them. And i apologise now for the next lines by them...

But i do it as a hobby. When i have time and i like to, i dress me up. But it is only the feeling of high heels and womens clothes which makes it interesting for me. If i have enough of this feeling, i put away the things and everything is "normal" again. For me there is not the transsexual "thinking" behind cd-ing...
But as i mentioned before, i can understand people thinking different to me. I have contact by mail and chat to some transsexuals. We are talking about heels and clothes we like and so on. For them cd-ing is much more than a hobby.

So please don't throw stones at me, when i write that it is a hobby for me, because from my point of few "hobby" is the most fitting word for cd-ing...

[Chari]

According to "Webster", a hobby is "something that a person likes to do, a favorite pastime or avocation". For me CDing is a major part of who I am and at times does control my actions and needs. Enjoy.

[Nadine Spirit]

For me saying that cross dressing is a hobby would be equal to saying that me being heterosexual is a hobby.

[Lynn Marie]

Back when I was hindered from dressing and passionately embraced every opportunity I got, CDing was a very real compulsion. Now I'm free to dress whenever and wherever I like and I have. It's not such a big deal now. It's very much like my other hobbies.

[GaleWarning]

For me, it is just a hobby.

[Tamara Segunda]

No offense, but I suspect that many CDers describe it as "just a hobby" to defuse the emotional impact when telling their SO. If it's *just* a hobby, like collecting stamps or restoring old motorcycles, the wife doesn't need to worry that you're gay, or in line for SRS, or just some kind of low-grade perv. To paraphrase a 50-year old presidential campaign slogan, "in your hearts you know" its something more -- something fundamental.
. . . . . Tamara Segunda

[devida]

One aspect of transgender folk is their incredible diversity. I wonder if transgender people aren't more diverse than the rest of the LGBT spectrum. I'll bang on about transgender being a useful term because it includes both being and expressing a gender identity other than the one assigned to you at birth without requiring a transgender person to do both. It includes people who think of their dressing in clothes not usually considered their gender as a hobby, as performance, as art and it includes people in physical transition from one gender to another. It also includes people like me who are not in transition, do not identify as their gender at birth, do not identify as the opposite gender, do not want ever to pass as the opposite gender but mostly wear the clothes of the opposite gender and have much of the presentation. It is certainly no hobby for me but I do not get to tell you how you define your gender identity or your gender presentation. You own that. You get to define yourself and your presentation in exactly the way that makes you comfortable.

I do think this is the most useful thing that transgender people have to teach the rest of society. Each of us owns the way we describe ourselves. None of us have the right to define another person's identity. I guess we do, as social creatures, get to pass judgements on the actions of other people if they are harmful. But presenting as another gender is so innocuous, so not harmful that the rage, condemnation and frequently violence that it elicits just blows my mind. It may be human to want to define ourselves by the fact we don't present ourselves like that weirdo cross dresser over there but I do think people can be taught doing this does not actually help you become happy with your own identity. Happiness, as they say, is an inside job.

I suppose I could get upset that someone else appears to devalue my identity by saying what they do, which is much like what I do, is a hobby, but I just cannot see how my getting upset will make me any happier with who I am. I do see how my getting upset continues a very long and very troubled history of human beings believing that the way others think of themselves is anybody's business but their own. So if you think cross dressing is a hobby, go for it and I will continue to think it is an essential part of my identity. We can, as they say, live and let live.

[Beverley Sims]

I apologise to all before I start.

I have found it a great past time.

The hobby aspect comes from making clothes jewellery and creating personnas.

So there!

[Amy Pond]

What an intriguing question! I would not have thought about CD in that way, but I can see the picture. I have my share of hobbies, and I can see how it could be considered a hobby depending on what your end goal is (i.e. where do you want to take the CD activity as a part time (hobby) or full time activity (compulsion)). Hobbies I have involve some sort of competition, to do something better, to collect things, to win things and so on. Part of my CD activity is collecting items, and learning to utilize them and testing the effort in a public forum.

For me, I am still sorting this out, and if my collection of clothes, shoes, make-up, etc are the parts of a hobby activity, so be it. This has certainly got me thinking.....

[Babbs]

For me a hobby is something you do in your spare time for fun and you clean up and put it away when you are done.

I wasn't gonna say it was a hobby until I read this. Today I had some spare time, I dressed, it was fun and I cleaned up and put my clothes away (actualy I stressed about hiding them haha). I guess it is kind of a hobby.