I hope no one takes offense with this post. I noticed that quite a few posters here in the crossdressing section identify as transgender. Now I know many transgirls and they most definitely do not consider themselves to be crossdressers. I have never even been to the trans section of this site, because I am not trans. Just an observation.
Transgender is an umbrella term that identifies anyone who is not cisgender. You may be confusing it with Transsexual which is a particular kind of transgender person. So, except for those crossdressers who somehow claim they are cisgender despite the need to wear women's clothing, crossdressers come under the transgender umbrella.
I am not a woman; I don't want to be a woman; I don't want to be mistaken for a woman.
I am not a man; I don't want to be a man; I don't want to be mistaken for a man.
I am a transgender person. And I'm still figuring out what that means.
There have been lots of long, impassioned and often tedious discussions here all aimed at the terminology we use to identify ourselves. I agree with Pat that it's easiest to use Transgender as an umbrella that includes a broad spectrum. I suggest it covers everyone from those who medically transition to those who are happy with wandering next to the displays of bras in a department store wondering how it would feel to wear one. Where you stand, or sit, under that umbrella gets confusing as labels become personal.
Sarah
Being transgender isn't a lifestyle choice. How you deal with it is.
What is cisgender??
Just taking one day at a time, trying to be a better person
today than I was yesterday.
A person whose gender identity conforms with their birth sex.Originally Posted by T Gram
Oh! You Pretty Things ... Come join us for:
Paint the Town Chicago (Feb 23-26, 2023)
More info here -> https://linktr.ee/PtT2023
In some people's minds, perhaps, but not mine. I am a straight male crossdresser. I have no questions about my "gender".
I can understand and accept this definition. I have no desire to live as a woman, transition or take on any kind of male partner. I am a completely heterosexual male who very much likes to dress up as a woman from time to time and I enjoy underdressing frequently. As such, I consider myself as a male cross dresser. After much discussion about male lesbians, I am not that. I do not nor have I ever felt as if I was or am a woman. I simply like to cross dress. So, I do not consider myself transgendered at all.
Yep, Lacey. That's me, too.
I've waited so long for this time. Makeup is so frustrating. Shaking hands and I look so old. This was a mistake.
My new maid's outfit is cute. Sure fits tight.
And then I step into the bedroom and in the mirror, I see a beautiful woman looking back at me.
Smile, Honey! You look fabulous!
Although 'transgender' is currently an umbrella term, I don't think that will be the case 10 years from now. To most people (such as a random shopper at a grocery store), a transgender person is simply someone who transitions completely from male to female (or vice versa). This is what they understand to be true because they see people like Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox, and Chaz Bono in the media and they are called transgender people.
In order to change that trend, more crossdressers and non-binary people will need to come out publicly as transgender, put their lives and careers on the line (as TS individuals have), do nationally televised interviews, and so on. But I don't see that ever happening. The voices of CDs and NBs will disappear in comparison to the more public TS voices and will continue to exist only in anonymous safe spaces such as these forums. The vast majority of the general public will never see or hear anything contrary to the idea that has already been placed in their minds that transgender = full transition from male to female.
If you don't want that to happen, then you should do something about it.
The difference between crossdresser and transgender is that crossdressing is a behavior and transgender is a construct that attempts to draw many disparate groups under its "umbrella" for political purposes. Once you have been assimilated under their umbrella, the transgender borg then attempts to police how you may dress (nothing too tarty, now!) and which identities are acceptable (NO male lesbians or bi-when-dressed, for example.) This is an umbrella that blocks the light rather than the storm.
Mirya,
Whatever label I choose to use I do intend to go out there and be heard , it may not be much but if all goes well I hope to run an art group from my new home. I've already contacted the SAA ( Society of All Artists ) for assistants and to ask if they have any other TG members already doing this.
Some weeks ago I joined up with two other members of my social group to attend a pride week at Boston ( UK ) college to represent the TG community and hopefully help any students with CDing problems.We spent the day dressed obviously in the public eye . The following day a TV crew did shoot some footage for a regional news program sadly I couldn't attend through other commitments .
I do agree that the public now days are more likely to think we are TSs , I did post a thread about the label problem titled , " Who's getting it wrong ?" after watching a documentary on being transgender .
Dandizette/Stevie,
That notion seams a little screwed up to me , maybe gathering the groups together for political purposes is the feeling you get from the current situation in the US. In the UK the outward thinking is gaining some momentum , it's not all to the good because some tiny minority groups are have too much sway , I'm personally not too happy with the way schools are going .
Last edited by Teresa; 10-01-2017 at 06:58 PM.
Thanks, I should have just looked up the definition of transgender.
The removal of the vs and replacing it with anything else would be nice!
As a CD which is more like a Drag Queen I can appreciate the difference between trans and cd!
I am Totally with Majella in that this is a CD site!
Share our love Stacy!
STOP, Well I just dance the way I feel
Stop breathing imagine none of this is real
Well I just dance the way I feel
Well I just dance the way I feel
Well I just dance the way I feel "Ou Est Le Swimming Pool"
I think from what I learned in that video is for the clinical definition Transgender is one who does feel more on the female
side of the spectrum and a pure as it were crossdresser is one who will dress in the opposite gender on occasion.
I'm really not trying to label either as I've said before I don't like it, but in my case as I come out to my coworkers I'm saying I'm transgender.
Yes we are all crossdressers some here like myself are more
Rachael Leigh
Was never one for labels. I think I'll just stick to being me for now
I think we would do better to go back to posting about our neighbor seeing us dressed, sharing clothes with our wives or where to buy realistic breast forms and hip pads. It's a crossdressing forum, we are all crossdressers so let's leave it at that.
For you perhaps, comfortable that you are a straight crossdresser with no issues about your gender identity, then topics which you listed are the extent to which you receive any value from this forum.
As for others, crossdressing is a gateway activity which may develop into something inherently more internal. When gender dysphoria is involved, this may lead to those who become gender non-binary or to the end of the spectrum transition to the other sex.
As to the eye rolls, yes this subject has been brought up a lot. A lot ! Why, my theories (and they are just that), is that there is much rollover of new people, and yes to many people, myself included, label are damned important to me. I need to know what I am and what I am not, so that I can research the daylights as to like people and what they experienced. Plus what I thought I was a year ago is not what I think I am today. Look at this post for example, this may be the 56th post on terms and labels, but even among us, we still can't totally agree - how can we expect a newbie to grasp these concepts.
We also know darn well that this is not only a cross dressing site ( do you all consider those who post in the TS site to be cross dressing still?). There is no need to change the site name, because CD.com is the least common denominator to all of the aspects under the umbrella.
I do agree that that not all cross dressers are TG, but most TG's who have not transitioned cross dress. Then to Pat's point holds true, anyone who is not Cisgender is a TG (or a TS).
Krisi,
I don't understand why you read some threads when you make these comments , if you feel they don't apply to you fine but many of us have issues going round in our heads that need resolving, it may have been discussed umpteen times but new members can make a contribution.
Neighbours seeing me is something I'm going to have to deal with, buying the various dressing items is superficial to many of us with TG and other issues .
I just saw a video on this very subject and the diffence is one who crossdresses has no problem using this as an escape
and they don't need it to be themselves.
Someone is considered transgender if just dressing once in while is not enough and must present themselves in their perfered gender most of the time.
This hit home with me as I belive that I'm transgender and now am slowly coming out at work and with others
I think the problem with trying to figure out cross dresser vs transgender is with the ill informed general public. I consider myself a cross dresser. I feel very comfortable wearing women's clothing on occasion. I also feel very comfortable wearing men's clothing too. When I "dress Up" as a woman it's dresses, heels and hosiery, all the proper undergarments. When I "dress up" as a guy it's a dress shirt with a tie, slacks and shined shoes. Depending on the occasion both modes make me feel great. At first when lurking on this site I did not comprehend the word transgender. I always assumed transgender = transsexual. Now everything seems to be getting very complicated. Currently Washington State is taking comments on the issue of allowing people to change the defined sex on their birth certificates to an "X" for being neither male or female. I wonder if a cross dresser, who feels and emulates a woman on occasion, would fall within the "X."
The problem is not just with, as you call it, "the ill informed general public." We here at CD.com can't seem to agree either.
Last edited by Taylor186; 09-24-2017 at 12:18 PM.
Sure, if you like. I have a personal policy of not telling people who they are or what they feel. But I also have a huge commitment to keeping the language clear -- don't take a clear, simple word and overlay it with a bunch of unstated assumptions. That's why I always jump in when folks are trying to redefine transgender (or non-binary) to carry some personal meaning that only makes discussion harder.
My understanding of the proposed law is that "X" would translate to "gender unstated" which is not exactly the same as "not male or female." A cisgender person who thinks it's none of your business what they are is equally welcome to choose X for a gender marker. Again, words have to have clear meanings if communication is to occur. "Unstated" means only that. Personally, I'd love to see a "T" marker that unequivocally means transgender but chances of that happening are slim. Many folks feel the *best* answer is to remove the gender markers from official documents.
I am not a woman; I don't want to be a woman; I don't want to be mistaken for a woman.
I am not a man; I don't want to be a man; I don't want to be mistaken for a man.
I am a transgender person. And I'm still figuring out what that means.
We here r all a little different and a lot the same. So, the problems here don't stem from people trying to define themselves.
They come up when people try to use their terms to define the rest of us!
U can't keep doing the same things over and over and expect to enjoy life to the max. When u try new things, even if they r out of your comfort zone, u may experience new excitement and growth that u never expected.
Challenge yourself and pursue your passions! When your life clock runs out, you'll have few or NO REGRETS!
OH crap here we go again.
Why do people keep beating the dead horse?
I love when people try to define things because you know an argument will be coming soon and the thread will get closed.
Last edited by Tracii G; 09-24-2017 at 12:38 PM.
I didn't mean to cause a fuss, it's just that the name of this forum is Crossdressers.com, maybe it should be changed to Transgender.com.
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