“Cross-dressing is not synonymous with being transgender”

[Aunt Kelly]

Taylor,
If you want to consider Wikipedia as the be all and end all of authorities on the lexicon of gender identity definitions, feel free. I don't, for many reasons, Roberta's point among them.

Again, this thread has, all too predictably, devolved into an exchange of opinion, rather than having lead to a constructive attempt to reach consensus on the lexicon we use to describe ourselves. I tend to follow the guidance of those who make it their business to understand us, and to share that understanding, as professionals and academics tend to do.

[Gillian Gigs]

On the surface I'd say cross dressing is just the act of wearing the clothing of the opposite sex. It does not explain any motivation of why somebody would wear the clothes of the opposite sex. Transgender implies inner feeling. I've always taken the position a person should speak in sentences and paragraphs to describe oneself. If my interest was strictly to wear a woman's nylon panty I would not characterize myself as a cross dresser. I'd say I had a panty fetish. If I was playing a female role in an all boy school and attired as a girl I would not classify myself as a cross dresser. That is a noun. I may be cross dressing which is a verb, an action. Heck, when I found this site I thought it was exclusively for guys who wore women's clothing. Boy, was I wrong. Or, is it, girl, was I wrong. I'll read the responses when they hit more than twenty.

Well said, Stephanie47. Through all that I have read on this site, I would say that there is an evolution from one phase to another with many. Someone with a panty, or lingerie fetish could evolve to another phase through the years, as seen in the stories that show up. Just because some of us have a feminine side, or traits, doesn't mean we are TG. It might mean that we act on some of the feelings, rather than the implied inner feelings of wanting to become female. The spectrum is so wide that I don't see how anyone could not consider themselves being within the spectrum, just because they don't fit into that particular tint, or colour. The question may be,"where will the person end up when all is said and done".

[Taylor186]

Taylor,
If you want to consider Wikipedia as the be all and end all of authorities on the lexicon of gender identity definitions, feel free. I don't, for many reasons, Roberta's point among them.

Reading comprehension? I have taken no position on the accuracy of Wiki.

The OP references the Wiki entry on Cross-dressing. That is the context for my response(s) in this thread.

[Ressie]

Ressie, that's a good point and possibly an interesting side topic. Concerning Hallowe'en or the like, is it 'crossdressing' if you're simply wearing a costume for an isolated occasion? I don't think I'd consider that 'crossdressing' in the sense that folks use the word, but that's just my faulty perception of it! Naturally, I'd expect all different shades and intentions just in this minute part of the discussion.

The OP and Wiki used the word Cross-dressing which I see as a verb, the act of wearing clothes of the opposite sex. I take things like words literally myself. That doesn't mean others have to.

Now if the statement in the OP was "crossdresser is not synonymous with being transgender" I wouldn't include those that cross dressed once in an isolated occasion. I would see that statement as taking on a slightly different meaning. It's really a moot point so no worries.

[MarinaTwelve200]

Such Confusion is exactly why We called a Crossdresser who was not Homosexual or Transsexual a "Transvestite" To differentiate them from those who were crossdressing for gender or sexuality issues. The more different words we have the greater is our clarity of thinking---we think in words, Our vocabularies are indeed our "mental resolution"--As in TV screens, HD1080 is certainly clearer than 480. ----- Yes, in general, all types are known to cross-dress. But often, nowadays, A TG or Homosexual are the first things, most people think of when they hear someone termed a "crossdresser". ---- Perceived insults and confusion may abound if we neglect to be precise with our words, So it does no one a service to lump different types under a common term.-----Indeed! reducing vocabularies of a population can be used as a tool for political control (eg. 1984)---And we can see some of that even today.
We do not need the "4K HD" mental resolution of a Scientist to understand different nuances of words for speaking and thinking in more precise terms, but please, we must hold on to what we already have----Expand and maintain your vocabularies so you can be both better understood and also so you can better understand others. Don't be "PC manipulated" as not to "offend"----all to often the person being "protected" is the one being exploited and manipulated to ends that will not be for good.

[Jean 103]

They are wrong, yet they are right, But mostly they are wrong.

For them to be right you would to remove feelings/emotions from the equation.

The question is are they the same? It depends on where you stand and how much you know.

Is a crossdresser a Transgender? Yes, because there are feelings attached to the wearing of the clothes.

Is a Transgender person a crossdresser? Not necessarily.

First they may not even wear clothes of the opposite sex. They want to actually be the opposite sex, and will make physical changes to their body to make that happen.

If they wear clothes of the opposite sex then yes they are, like me.

I see them as the same. It’s a spectrum, path, or just the life of a Transgender person.

In this corner we have the Baby looking up at the adult saying” that’s not me”.

In the other corner is the adult looking down and saying “kid you don’t know anything”.

[Aunt Kelly]

Reading comprehension? I have taken no position on the accuracy of Wiki.

The OP references the Wiki entry on Cross-dressing. That is the context for my response(s) in this thread.

And yet you cite it in defense of your position... Logic comprehension?

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A TG or Homosexual are the first things, most people think of when they hear someone termed a "crossdresser". ---- Perceived insults and confusion may abound if we neglect to be precise with our words

I agree that "most people" are ignorant of, or at least confused by the various manifestations of gender non-conformity and terminology used to describe it, but I do not agree that the umbrella term adds to that confusion. To some people, anything that swims in the sea is a fish. It's ignorance that we need to fight, not words.

[Taylor186]

And yet you cite it in defense of your position... Logic comprehension?

You seem to have a problem with reading comprehension and making a logical argument, and after reading your original post, knowing the difference between fact and opinion. The OP asks for thoughts on the Wiki article conclusion that crossdressing is not synonymous with being transgender. Logic suggests you start with a premise--the Wiki article--and a conclusion--not synonymous--and question, does one logically follow the other? Your or my personal opinion regarding the veracity of the premise is irrelevant to this logical argument.

[char GG]

Please stop with the back and forth bickering (you know who I mean).

[Kelly DeWinter]

We have to keep in mind that terms can and do change meaning over time. Cross Dresser pre-dates Transgender just as Transvestite pre-dates Cross Dresser and Transgender

In our community there are no absolutes however its safe to say that people who identify as Transgender, Cross Dress and not all people who Cross Dress identify as Transgender, therefore Cross Dress IS synonymous to being Transgender.

That being said is there anyone who has transitioned who then considers themselves a crossdresser after transitioning ?

[suzanne]

I believe transgenderism is not a black or white, on or off binary, but a continuum best described in fuzzy logic terms. A genetic male can exhibit characteristics normally attributable to females in any proportions from 1.000 M 0.0 F to 0.0M 1.000 F. Nobody is on the 100% end of either scale; everyone is some kind of a mixture. I myself feel as though I fit in the 0.65 F region of such a continuum, and the amount of time I spend wearing a skirt or dress suggests that is the case.

A genetic male who feels they have a significant amount of "feminine" tendencies will act in a way that reflects their feelings. If they are near the 100%F mode, they may declare that they are a woman trapped in a man's body and feel that being a male is so intolerable they live full time as a woman or even seek gender reassignment. For those who feel their femininity less often or less strongly, it may be sufficient to occasionally wear women's clothes.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that can only accept a binary "fits/doesn't fit" categorization. It even seems that in groups that should know better, like the LGBTQ community, there can be a tendency to try to say "so and so doesn't belong here". I find this very perplexing, becsuse many LGBTQ people have been told all their lives they don't belong and should know how damaging those words are, and the importance of having an accepting community. Why the further divisions?

[Shayla]

Seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about transgenderism. It is a catch-all term, of which transsexualism (the desire to be another gender) is a part of the TG spectrum. It does not seem that many of us dress just for the sake of dressing (something inside us is pushing us to do it) so we are nearly all to some degree exhibiting transgender (across gender)behaviors. Crossdressing does not make us transexual, but it does put us on the TG spectrum.

[Devi SM]

I'm a trasgender. I'm on hormones almost a year now.
I post a thread in transexual section ti.e ago titled "trasgender meaning" there was all kind of opinions but with I stated that to start hormones changed my life.
I believe now I was born a trasgender woman but I didn't know it. Thanks to gender therapy, primary doctor and over everything this web I learn my real identity.
For so long it was a crossdressing thing but with the time that wasn't enough to cure the dysphoria.
Now it's not a dressing thing. I can be in male like 50% if the time, no out to everybody yet but what I dress is not the priority like before.
I know some people can enjoy dressing and live without it, crossdresser. But if for you is something that produces an strange feeling of peace and fulfill that inner need of identity, you will stop being a crossdresser because you're not one, you're trans....
If you want a more detailed explanation, please read in the mentioned thread my analogy about leaving my country to live at the states....
Thanks for this thread.
I'm not into arguing about who's wrong or right because this a complicated issue, some people don't like labels and are happy, others as me are really rational and want to understand everything. I haven't yet but now I accept myself and know this is not a hobby, fetish, sexual thing it my life, I'm not longer a man...

[Michala]

For me the statement is definitely true. I very much enjoy dressing to look as womanly as possible at times. Yet Have absolutely no interest or desire to become female or even live full time as a female. There may be others who differ from me, perhaps not may but most definitely, but that doesn't make either of us wrong.

[ShelbyDawn]

I would offer that, while they can be, they do not have to be synonymous. Just as the Transgender spectrum is very broad, so to is the variety of REASONS each of us feels compelled to cross-dress.
The non-synonymous example that most readily comes to mind, is a sexual fetish dresser, someone that dresses just to get off and has no interest, or need otherwise.

Of course, there are no hard and fast rules and for every rule we can come up with, we will need at least two exceptions...

Bottom line is that what makes us Transgender is the reason not the act.


And now to see how many of you have already said this and how many have already disagreed...

[Lacey New]

I would have to agree with the premise that cross dressing is not synonymous with being transgender. However, cross dressing is part of being transgender. To me, a transgender person has desires to either be or to emulate their opposite sex. When I cross dress, I have no desire to be or to emulate a female. At one point in my life, it was si,ply a sexual stimulus. That has passed for the most part and is simply a level of comfort. And while I may engage in what is clearly a transgender behavior, I do not identify as being such.

[Jessica S]

I agree with the statement. I don't feel like I am a women trapped in a mans body. I just like to dress in the clothes and be a little feminine.

[Bea_]

For me, there's no feeling of being transgendered. I really have no desire to look like a woman. I am jealous of the options women have and enjoy them for myself, but I like my plumbing and other male traits wrapped in a more indulgent, more personal package.

[BrendaPDX]

Following the rules; like you I am not sure it is as black and white, at least for me. I enjoy cross-dressing but when I do I do have emotional shifts as well. Now I can't wait to read what others have said. And then post again

[Princess Chantal]

Just as the Transgender spectrum is very broad, so to is the variety of REASONS each of us feels compelled to cross-dress)

Awesome post Shelby Dawn, especially the quoted sentence!

[Ressie]

Can one cross dress without their gender identity being the opposite of their biological birth? Some have implied that the answer is yes in their case.

What I see is that some of us identify as a woman only when cross dressed, some identify as a woman whether cross dressed or not, and some never do no matter what they are wearing.

[Devi SM]

Honestly I didn't read all and each of the posts but there are some agreement, there's an umbrella, yes includes to everybody but the name of that umbrella is not transgender but LGBTQ. Why? Because many here like just to dress from time to time, can stop for long periods and come back again but can keep their lives as men without disturbances. Others have to do it in a greater frequency because feel some "need to do it, don't know why but feel comfortable doing but can retake their normal lives as a man.There are anothers that like to dress and have sex with other men.
Some reach a point where need to Express as women in the daily life without even relating it with sex, for me this is a mark point towards being trasgender. Why they do it, they don't know but if they don't do it some feelings come that forces them to do it again and again achieving some peace, that's called dysphoria and but it has so many degrees as human beings are so many can keep living as male, but they are trasgender.
One interesting point that for many transgenders after get in hormones to dress lose some relevance because we experience changes in our bodies that validate our identity as women.
To go further I. The process of transition could take it far to SRS and other femizating surgeries, that for me is being transexual.
In my own case I think had walked most of this stages but six with men loose so much relevance as well to dress because to dress is just a normal part of my life as a trasgender woman.
So see where you are in this transition or evolution, that will tell you if you're a crossdresser or a trasgender, as Lana Mae mention, dysphoria makes the difference.

[Roxanne Lanyon]

This is an extremely complicated issue. I choose to desire to be feminine, and whether my love is male or female is , does not matter. If he/she feels "right" to me, that is what I need.
Roxanne Lanyon

[Swottie]

(First reply without reading any other posts)

I agree that crossdressing isn't synonymous to TG. Take GG wearing male clothes for example, that is by definition crossdessing, but I suspect most who girls who occasionally wear boys clothes are not transgender. Therefore the two are not synonymous, since that would have mean one equals the other all of the time, which it clearly is not.

[Micki_Finn]

Start with the principle that Trans women ARE women. What do you call a woman wearing women’s clothes? That’s right, a woman! Therefor cross dressing is necessarily differentiated from transgenderism, unless possibly the trans woman were to be presenting as a man, in which case she would be “wearing the clothes of the opposite gender”