CD vs TG? (Non-TS responses only please)

[Lauri K]

I consider myself a TG since I have been a gender non-conforming person now for so many years, but sometimes I can be a CD I suppose, but what's the difference in the grand scheme of it all.

This is the way it works when you are a member of the "way too girly" club.

FWIW, I thought I was a CD for a long time, but really I feel I am truly a TG heart and soul.

Doesn't matter to me what label you decide to use ladies, just be yourself and wear those clothes out before the moths eat them.

Sorry to go off on a rant here, but we all live in or along the spectrum here and the threads that continue to pop up trying to file us as one or another by specific category................sick of it I tell you, so knock it off with trying to put us into little boxes. I am going to live my life with no specific label or terms, but if asked I am under the TG umbrella for sure.

It is time that we as a community become unified and support each other no matter where we are as individuals along the spectrum..............because nothing remains static............

Many here will provide a whole different response down the road as they progress along the continuum of the spectrum

[Edyta_C]

I started by being dressed and presented as a girl between baby and 5 yrs old. I do have some gender dysphoria, but really can't consider moving toward transition because of health concerns. I am continually amazed at the courage some of you girls have in facing the world. So I guess I am stuck in the middle!

Edy

[VtVicky]

Let's try this: Crossdressing is what we DO if we wear the clothing of the opposite sex. WHY we crossdress has an infinite number of variables. WHO or WHAT we are also has a lot of various shades.

I believe that it is CROSSDRESSING that is the umbrella that brings us all together. For me, CD is more of a fetish than anything else. And since I have been doing it for 50 or 60 years, if I was going to move into a more transgendered arena, I think I would have noticed it by now.

As I read the writings of those who describe them selves as TG, I see a blending of gender identities and feelings. None of which applies to me. There seems to be a gender dysphoria underlying most of the TG self descriptions. As well as the self descriptions of those that describe themselves as transexual. (individuals whose use of crossdressing is in service to expressing a sexual identity issue.)

I mean no disrespect to any one on this spectrum. But, lets differentiate between BEHAVIOR and the underlying issues that drive that behavior.

If we crossdress, we are therefore crossdressers. Whether we are gender dysphoric, drag queens, or fetishists the behavior is the same. It is the motivating issues that are different. And, perhaps, that is where we should look for our definitions of self. If, indeed, we need to attach a label to ourselves or our behavior.

I would also suggest that if we try to understand ourselves by the use of these terms, we must be always cognizant of the infinite variables in our community. No one is exactly like anyone else.

[Judy-Somthing]

If I understand it correctly Cross-dressing is someone who likes wearing women's clothes from just undies/oh I mean panties to full Dress, makeup, and wig.

And transsexual is some one who feels like a women or wants to be a women?

When I was a teen I thought it would be so nice to be a women but, as I got older being a male has it's perks also. So I'm happy being Me.

I also think (live and let live)

Be happy, have fun!

And don't forget to iron your dress, No one likes wrinkles!

[flatlander_48]

Z (or is it M?):

I identify as transgender. I do not consider myself to be 100% male. There is some portion, though relatively small, that does not wish to conform (or be limited) to being male. In numbers, I would guess somewhere between 90%/10% and 75%/25%. This is not based on a medical diagnosis. It is recognition of how easy and comfortable it is for me to slip into an alternate female persona. I move back and forth without difficulty. However, I do not have the sense that this is gender fluidity. I don't wake up feeling one way or the other. If an opportunity presents itself, and I try not to miss any, I dress and enjoy that time.

Anyway, it is helpful that whatever degree of mismatch that I have is not enough to warrant transition. I seem to be pretty happy with where things are. I have spent very little time feeling shame and guilt. It hardly registers with me. I have never purged. I really don't like to speak of DeeAnn in the third person as she is me and I am her. There are not 2 personalities. There is 1 personality with different facets exhibited, or some muted and others emphasized, as a function of presentation. If it was just about the clothes, then I would probably say that I was a crossdresser. But, it is not. Being in the persona takes it out of the realm of "just about the clothes".

Also, usually when I talk about my identity as transgender, I point out that I am not planning to transition. I do that specifically to counteract the notion offered by the popular media that links transgender with transitioning.

DeeAnn

[UNDERDRESSER]

By most definitions, most therapists or similar professionals would say I'm TG, because of my non conforming gender expression. (I wear skirts and hosiery, I like showing off my legs) My issue with that, is who defines what is masculine and feminine expression?

if someone wants to describe me that way, I don't have an issue with it, what is in my head is what matters to me.

[Jazzy Jaz]

I understand TG to be an umbrella term for us. Does that mean that every single CDer fits under this term, possibly not. Salerba makes a good case for why he doesn't. However, in my opinion I feel that in general most of us fit under this term.

[Mayo]

I consider TG to have some component of gender confusion or gender flexibility or more simply, not a black and white definition of gender.

This is what I mean when I think of myself as TG beyond the 'umbrella definition'. I currently don't identify as TG, but as 'non-binary' because I feel that I'm psychically somewhere in the 80:20 or 70:30 female range (even though I present physically as male). That is, I feel I'm something other than just 'male'. When I wear women's clothes I feel that this female portion of me is closer to the surface, or more 'conscious'.

[Secret Drawer]

VtVicky in post #28 makes sense in asking what the underlying reason for our behavior is, rather than worrying over sematics.
After reading thousands of threads over a number of years here, it seems someone claiming to be CD gains some kind of enjoyment from dressing yet feel that they are 100% male and identify that way at all times and even hold fiercely onto that identity.
Someone claiming to be TG is typically less sure what being 100% male actually means and identifies as having a real female component to their minds. This is probably the real difference. This maleness issue. I personally suffer from GD and dress to feel normal, yet I believe myself not quite TS (more like 80/20), because I have never thought that I was trapped in a male body or even expect to know what being a woman would entail... although I don't know what the requirements would be for 100% manliness either?

[suchacutie]

I was born male and didn't rock that boat for 55 years. In hindsight that boat WAS rocking, I just didn't understand it at the time.

Tina is NOT just about wearing the clothes. The trappings of femininity are a certain feedback loop for Tina to help her understand who she is. As you can already see in these words, after the process of transitioning to Tina, the male self is very much left behind in almost every way. It really is startling, no matter how many times I go through that transition, in one direction or the other.

So, to my mind that makes me transgendered (actually I usually use the term "bi-gendered"), since I dress to show myself and everyone else who Tina is. The clothes don't make Tina, but they do help her in many ways. There are two of me in one body. I enjoy both of my lives and don't want to give up either of them. It really is a bit insane when you think about it

[Alice Torn]

I can sure relate too what Sometimes Miss has posted. Sounds exactly like me. Caityn Jenner's media fame, no doubt has many thionking CG or TG is just like CJ. I consider myself to be a part time transvestite.

[CallmeAlice]

Transgender is more living the roll of the opposite gender, all the time using pro nouns and what not and not necessarily changing their sex. Sometimes TG people do decide change their sex, but not all.

While a crossdresser doesn't live the roll of a woman, not all the time anyways. While some crossdressers go out in public or maybe even work and even more crossed, most do not. CDers don't normally want to be a woman. While Cders vary from why they cross and for what reasons. They normally do not identify as a woman on their day to day life.

[Zooey]

Thanks everybody for your responses - it's been very interesting to read.

Here's a slightly modified question... For those of you who prefer to identify as CDs (rather than TG), would you also say you identify as strictly cisgender?

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Zooey, I'm a fairly normal 73year old guy that likes to dress up and look pretty I really don't
need any label hanging around my neck, It's just who I'm and it's just what I do. ~~......

[Jilmac]

In my book TG is an umbrella term that covers the entire spectrum. One of the sub terms is CD which is where I reside because I love to wear feminine clothes and present as femme, but I am a genetic male with no plans to transition.

[stacycoral]

Miss Zooey, girl i call myself a T-girl, which is different than tg or cd, because anymore in the media seems to be like being a TS because they can't use the term TS political correct it is now TG so i am more than what a CD seems but not at a TS by no means, i wish all the girls out there that is making the move the best, for me i always will be not in either group. Hope everything is gong well for you in the Bay. hugs girl

[renellecd]

CD. Im ok with that.

[OCCarly]

Hi Zooey:

I identify as transgender. I am not a cisgender male. "Being male" at this point in my life is a job, and one I do not enjoy. I have a wife I love and want to stay with. She knows I am transgender and lets me express female around the house.

I do want to transition, but I do not think I want bottom surgery, partly because it is invasive and somewhat risky for someone my age, and partly because I've grown rather attached to that part of myself over the years and so has my wife.

So, transgender.

[Katey888]

Here's a slightly modified question... For those of you who prefer to identify as CDs (rather than TG), would you also say you identify as strictly cisgender?

...and with a deft flick of her wrist, the patient angler skillfully embeds the barbed hook in the cheek of the unsuspecting trout... (From 'Fly Fishing' by J R Hartley... )

I said this would be fun...

Katey x

[Zooey]

I said this would be fun...

Who, me?

Seriously, just to be clear, I mean nothing malicious by any of this. I've found all the answers really interesting, and I'm genuinely interested in trying to understand how people here relate to their identities. I've seen a variety of responses I would not have expected.

[Saikotsu]

I identify as TG genderfluid. I make the distinction mainly because I feel that I'm not a crossdresser if I'm dressing to match my internal gender. If I'm a woman on the inside, and I wear women's clothes, I'm not really "cross dressing" am I? You could argue the definition being "a person who wears clothes associated with the opposite gender is a crossdresser," but I'd then ask which is more important in determining whether someone is male or female. Is it their internal sense of self, or their external body? I'm more of the belief internal trumps external. Not everyone would agree.

[Krisi]

Hi all - I'm TS, but I have a question for all of you.

On this forum, everybody who is not a GG is considered "transgender" (TG). I have noticed that some of you identify specifically and explicitly as 'CD, not TG". Similarly, some of you identify as "TG, not just a CD".

What I'd like to know is... Why? What difference(s) are you trying to communicate when you do that?

I would like to know what folks are trying to communicate when they say crossdressers are transgender. How someone who doesn't know me can attempt to define me.

[nikkiwindsor]

I really don't know the best way of defining myself. I guess gender fluid. I have an inner spirit and mindfulness that is both feminine and masculine and more toward the feminine side.

[heatherdress]

I consider TG to have some component of gender confusion or gender flexibility or more simply, not a black and white definition of gender. I am male. I am also a cross dresser. I never think I am female. I don't want to be female, but for some crazy reason, I like to present as a woman from time to time. Even when I am in full girl mode, I am the guy that I always have been. No confusion, no questions, no what-ifs.

Ditto for me.

[ReineD]

I would like to know what folks are trying to communicate when they say crossdressers are transgender. How someone who doesn't know me can attempt to define me.

I'll try to explain.

Every person's gender is comprised of several aspects.

A. The biological gender (your sex).
B. The gender you feel you are (your identity).
C. The gender roles you adopt (what you do, and one of these is how you present).

D. Related, is also who you are sexually attracted to, but this is not part of a person's core gender.


Someone who is NOT transgender (they are instead cisgender) experiences a match between A, B, and C. And if they are hetero, D is oriented to the opposite sex. If they are gay, D is oriented to the same sex.

Traditionally, if A & B matched but the person dressed in opposite sex clothing, we called this cross-dresser. If A & B did not match then we called this transsexual. There were variations/degrees within the realms of B & C (genderqueer, androgyne, etc) and it all fell under the "transgender" (crossing a gender boundary) umbrella.

So if anyone crosses any gender boundary (it doesn't matter which one), then they are transgender. This is not limited to how a person identifies, it can instead be what they do. So if you identify as a male yet you adopt some of the behaviors of the opposite sex (for example, dressing like them), then you are crossing a gender boundary, which is what the word "transgender" means.

Confusion arose these last few years when transsexuals and the media described folks whose "B" did not match their "A" and who were doing something about it (transitioning), as "transgender" without specifying they were of the transsexual variety. There are still some TSs who use the term "transsexual" in this forum, although they may well refer to themselves as "transgender" should they ever be interviewed. Now, a lot of crossdressers believe that adopting the "transgender" label means they do not identify male, so they choose not to.

So it all boils down to having different definitions for the same term. Unfortunately, the assignment of different definitions is why threads like these are difficult to measure. A chunk of non-TS people here will say they are not TG, another chunk will, even though both are similar in that they do not feel they are women and they will not transition.