Is dressing up a sexual thing or a sensual thing for you?

[lingerieLiz]

I started young and before the concept of sex had hit me. I think it has always been choice of attire for me until I was in my early teens. Getting dressed with my sisters I suddenly felt sensual. The mood, the lingerie, the clothes and expectations of the evening. It reminded me of being among my aunts as they preened getting ready for their nights out in their slips. From that time on I think the getting dressed was an exciting and sensual thing. I spent a lot of thought and time figuring out what I would wear and making sure it was perfect. Checking the seams on my hose to getting the right length of slip to show just enough at the right moment.

[IleneD]

Yes........

[Nikkilovesdresses]

I certainly don't think you are perverted.

Getting in touch with your feminine side can be both liberating and confusing. Many here describe CDing as a comforting thing; an expression of becoming more whole. But plenty experience feelings of shame, normally because they were raised by people who disapproved of anything out of the norm.

Many of us started out associating CDing with arousal, but have found over the years that those feelings have lessened or disappeared; for some it will always be a turn on. You're somewhere on that spectrum, and you may find the feelings changing with time.

Bear in mind too that left to your own devices you would sometimes masturbate, regardless of how you're dressed- and would you feel ashamed of doing that? - I'm guessing not.

Go easy on yourself. CDing is not illegal, though it can have social or marital repercussions...

[Whinlatter]

Both for me, having said that I've not been dressing long.
I'm learning that even when doing some standard jobs around the house then to be dressed just feels fab, but I won't be dressed the whole 9 yards.
However, if dressing to spoil myself then there is definitely a sensual turning into a sexual side as it is likely that I'm choosing something more sexy to wear, and I love what I see in the mirror.

Stacey

[Fiona123]

Mostly an identity thing. It's also sensual.

[Viggy]

Both for me too, but at the beginning there was an overhang to sexual, this changes more and more to sensual.

[Kate Simmons]

These I don't think it's either one for myself really just a "me" thing. This is one way I express the feelings I have inside and it makes me feel satisfied in the process.

[wanda66]

In the beginning it always ended with sex ,as time went on it became less . Today there is a inter stratification that can only be achieved by releasing my inter self

[CarlaWestin]

Yes........

I was trying to figure out the best answer to this.

Thank you, Ilene.

[Angie G]

I'd like to say just Sensual but sometimes Fantasize of being with some one But that's not happening.
Angie

[Tracy Ann]

When I started it was sexual. I used to have dreams when I was asleep of being with someone and my wife catching us. Never would happen in reality. Now it's only sensual.

[kimberly c]

Its both for me, love everything about being feminine

[Julia Welch]

Both for me ... It's a guaranteed erection whenever I dress, I love the feel of the lingerie, the skirt/dress swooshing as I walk and the click-clack of heels ... I still can't walk near a mirror without lifting my skirt

[CONSUELO]

I began dressing, mostly in lingerie, well before I was 10 years old. My early sexual exploration was via dressing up and I did it a lot. Later in life the comfort aspect began to be important and just the pleasure of transforming oneself into a different and feminine-looking person. When dressed I feel very sensual and as the Doc says, sensuality begets sexual feelings.

[Robertacd]

I started dressing around age 10. When I was in my teens it was definitely a sexual thing. But I grew out of that in my 20's.

I remember there was a time after it quit "turning me on" that I wanted it to be a fettish so bad I would force myself to make it sexual, but I have long since come to terms with the woman inside.

[Alice B]

Both, but becoming more sensual than sexual

[Tahoegurl]

I think that it is just me...the sexual or sensual or both, is situational. When I am with my wife and she wants to be in control and I am dressed...it's sexual. When we are just hanging out it is sensual...I feel like we are trying to put ourselves in to a box.

[Stacy Darling]

I Guess that it is a personal thing!

Being a Sensual one, dressing is quite pleasurable!

Now, Sexually?

[Shely]

I'ts BOTH it starts out strictly sensual and when i see me in the mirror it turns sexual. I can't get over the sexual being in the mirror. I do really love the feel of the clothing though, when i get a full head of steamy nylons and sandes on though. It has got to be a combination of BOTH for me.

[LilSissyStevie]

There is a lot of shame associated with being sexually aroused by crossdressing or more generally "sexual arousal by the thought or image of oneself as a woman" AKA autogynephila (AGP). It's so shameful we will often go to any lengths to rationalize it as being something else. For instance, I started crossdressing when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I can rationalize that since I didn't know anything about sex that it was not sexual. But when I was the same age, I knew that I "liked" girls and that the feeling I got from girls was different from the feeling I got from boys. The nice fuzzy good feeling I got from girls was also similar to the feeling I got from dressing like and pretending I was a girl myself. The seeds of my future sexual orientation were already there. The argument that I was too young for it to be sexual doesn't hold water.

Now, I'm in my sixties and my libido has fallen of a cliff. The plumbing doesn't work too good anymore even if I am aroused mentally. If my wife and I would rather go out to dinner or a concert than rut all night like we used to, it doesn't mean that our relationship is no longer sexual. It is still rooted in sexual attraction even if we were to stop having sex altogether. Similarly, AGP is still the basis of my CDing even if I don't feel the need to spank the monkey and immediately rip the cloths off afterwards in shame and disgust like I did when I was younger. I can just bask in the glow of the nice fuzzy good feeling, instead. I don't have to rationalize about an inner woman or gender identity anymore. I just accept it for what it is: a sexual orientation that is a little bit unusual. Although, I have to admit that it was a lot more arousing when I believed my own BS about it.

The only sexual practices we need to worry about as perversions are those not between consenting adults. If you can only get sexually aroused when you're wearing scuba flippers, it's a little weird but it doesn't harm anybody. The only harm that comes from AGP or transvestic fetishism is due to denial, ignorance and misunderstanding, not the practice itself.

[Ressie]

Six of one, half a dozen of the other

[Dana44]

According to a retirement book I have, men need to get off 21 times a month to keep your sex organ good. OH boy, dressing does not turn me on anymore but it is sensual.

[Donna St. Marten]

I would have to say sensual, as I find the sensation of wearing women's clothes more soothing than arousing. I just feels so right.

[Confucius]

As a teenager it used to be more sexual...
Now I'd say that it is sexual, but not just sexual.
It is sensual, but not just sensual.
I would definitely still crossdress even without the sexual and sensual.

I believe my brain is hardwired to release feel-good neurotransmitters (serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, etc.) when I crossdress. It makes me feel happy. I love the feminine, and I enjoy identifying with it. I suppose that when I crossdress I am being authentic with how I feel, and how I want to be.

[ginapoodle]

Both for me, definitely...and evolved into Identity and balancing and wholeness...