Hold on there Ms. Kim. Tommy Smothers a suspected cross dresser? I have never heard of that in any way, shape or form, and Google produces nothing. What is your basis for saying so?
"I fell in a vat of chocolate..."
Hold on there Ms. Kim. Tommy Smothers a suspected cross dresser? I have never heard of that in any way, shape or form, and Google produces nothing. What is your basis for saying so?
"I fell in a vat of chocolate..."
Behavioral geneticists are hot on the trail of such things as transgender, but no firm conclusions yet. As all psychological behavior has some of its foundation in genetics, clearly genetics is involved. But nurture is also important as that provides the fine tuning of the foundation established by DNA.
In the last 2 or 3 years with the advent of genome wide analysis it has been found that the cumulative effect of lots and lots of tiny mutations, each of which is of essentially no identifiable consequence, can produce variations in the ideal, non-mutated genetic configuration. One paper found that our gender identity, traits and characteristics involve a bit more than 3,500 genes working together in a complex network. They also found that 48 genes seemed to be involved in producing various amounts of transgender behavior by modifying the cisgender genomic combination. Thus, in a sense, transgender would be a modification of cisgender produced by accumulated effects from a number of tiny mutations. Environment (nurture) is a strong modifier, but does not appear to be the source of the behavior.
This might also explain why many trans people continue to show certain degrees of cisgender behavior patterns mixed with the traits and characteristics that show some degree of gender reversal. Nothing conclusive or even close, but genetically these studies are being quite fruitful in explaining us or at least a large part of us. However because the whole thing is a complex and dynamic network between thousands of genes it can exhibit almost limitless variety that makes firmly tying down any conclusions next to impossible. Thus it quickly becomes probabilistic. In other words, it may create a complex spectrum with regard to the population as a whole and a highly dynamic spectrum for the individual. Sound familiar? That is what I feel most of the time. Hmmm.
I have my own somewhat less than scientific theory that cross dressing is a combination of both nature and nurture. I think that the species is naturally given the urge to mate. And even with a small child, there is a curiosity about the opposite sex. We soon learn that clothing and especially underwear, panties, bras, slips , etc not only represent the “opposite” sex but those items are closest to those wonderful intimate body parts that we are most curious about. As a result, examining and ultimately putting on things like bra and panties was most likely very sexually exciting. I’ll bet that a substantial number of members on this site masturbated wearing panties in their early teens. And once we experienced that pleasure, we repeated it to the point where it became a learned response like Pavlov’s dog. Cross dressing became a substitute for being intimate with a woman. But here is the question. Most of us eventually wind up finding a wife or girlfriend and enter in to a long term relationship. So why do we continue our cross dressing? Theoretically, we would no longer need to use women’s clothing as a substitute for being intimate with an actual female. This is where the nature thing comes in to play and I don’t know what it is. I don’t know whether it is a gene that causes a predilection to cross dressing or if it is simply a gene that causes people to engage in addictive behavior, drinking, smoking, gambling or even cross dressing. Without some greater research which will probably never happen, we may never know for sure.
Ditto, although as of today I'm only 63.Originally Posted by docrobbysherry
Now, at 75 I don't remember how ignorant and naive I used to be!
Nature gave it to me when I was aged four, and ever since I have happily nurtured it.
Nature for me!
I had a similar experience with seeing my sister's underwear at age 4 or 5- not having the y front was a huge breakthrough and I grabbed them.
I did then put them on and got an erection and that seemed perfect to me. I finally realized I have a feminine sexuality, but at that early age all I understood was that being able to extend my penis was not the important fact.
In this view clothes and such are all forms of nurture- nurture of our nature!
We are all beautiful...!
Busted! Total fabrication on my part! Of course that doesn’t eliminate the possibility that tommy smothers might be a cross dresser!
Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Completely totally nature, I had a very normal childhood in terms of how my parents brought me up, they had zero influence on me deciding at age 5 to play pretend i was a girl games. They neither encouraged nor discouraged me, i was just left alone to play. I think I outgrew the game by age 7 or 8. But it was certainly a sign of things to come later.
A.K.A Rebecca & Bec
Cross dressing never occurred to me until I started watching the Smothers Brothers show.
No, I think for me it's a combination of nature and nurture. Maybe the nurture part just confirms what nature had come up with? At 4 years old my mother had me wear my sister's coat on Halloween because I had no costume. Was there something about my personality that contributed to that decision?
I'm the youngest sibling. Brother, 5 years older was quite the bully toward me. Sister, 3 years older had nice clothes! There are other childhood memories I have that make it clear why I turned out the way I am. I was quite the sissy as a child - because I was the youngest influenced by my siblings/parents or just born this way? Both are factors.
"You're the only one to see the changes you take yourself through", Stevie Wonder
The nature of our soul or the nurture of some society?
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 believe a combination
There are some here who suggest that if a man wears women's clothes he is a crossdresser. (Though, I don't set the bar that low.)
For those who do I offer Exhibit A: Tommy Smothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxLMnRajBI
tommy smothers.jpg
Definitely a little bit of both to make the mixture right.
Work on your elegance,
and beauty will follow.
The popular answer will always be nature, because no one wants to admit that they are responsible in any way for crossdressing. The information that you can find in my bio says that for me, it was all nurture. However, everyone is entitles to their opinion. All I know for sure, is that there are many things that can lead up to the feelings which induce the behavior. There are perhaps a hundred threads about this, so the information is out there to read.
Last edited by sometimes_miss; 01-11-2019 at 04:35 AM.
Some causes of crossdressing you've probably never even considered: My TG biography at:http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/...=1#post1490560
There's an addendum at post # 82 on that thread, too. It's about a ten minute read.
Why don't we understand our desire to dress, behave and feel like a girl? Because from childhood, boys are told that the worst possible thing we can be, is a sissy. This feeling is so ingrained into our psyche, that we will suppress any thoughts that connect us to being or wanting to be feminine, even to the point of creating separate personalities to assign those female feelings into.
Its possible I was born this way but my mother sending me to school at age ten with a pair of her pantyhose under my pants triggered it all
Nature, nurture, or not exactly sure what...
I'd say that's where I am!
I'm in the the what ever column...
What's a label anyway?
All I know is that I feel a certain way from the time I wake up, to my daily on-goings, till I go to bed.
Changes all the time...
And I don't always feel better one way versus another.
If I have to "categorize", I'd say, I'm ME!
All messed up, crazy, and "normal" at the same time.
I'm happy to figure out that I don't have to fit ONE classifications at all all times.
Hoping all are happy and wishing all a good night!!!
Born this way. I can not remember a time not existing. I do remember having to modify my behavior to make my father and grandfather happy. Nothing drastic mind you. And I never felt forced to do it. But I have always felt more like a girl pretending to be a boy...and a rather successful one at that!
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