How do you identify? And can you explain why?

[Stephanie47]

I'm a guy who likes to wear women's clothing sometimes. Frankly, I don't know how a woman is suppose to think anyway. I use to think being a combat infantryman, combat helicopter pilot or a combat jet pilot was exclusively man's work. Not anymore. And, being a nurse was exclusively women's work. Not anymore. I have to chuckle a lot when I see guys puffing out their chests and acting "all manly" but when their wives show up it's a lot of "yes dear." There's entirely too much "I must conform to some role" going around. I don't believe having a desire to wear women's clothing necessarily equates to being a woman or wanting to be a woman. I am totally content being who I am. I do agree there are men and women who are "wired" in a way that is contrary to the expected norms of society.

I'm happy your mother was a strong positive role model. My mother was a total bitch. She was an example of a person I strive to not emulate.

[Angela Marie]

We all exist on a male/female spectrum to varying degrees. Most lean exclusively one way or another. I have always felt that I had more feminine characteristics than most men and thus find it easier mentally and emotionally to present myself in that manner at times. But bottom line I still am a man who is comfortable with his female persona.

[rian]

I always wanted when Im in a man mode ...to dress up as a woman and enjoy being a real woman all the time .....sometimes when Im working at the office , wild thoughts come to me imaginning myself as a woman surrounded by lovely ladies chating together and enjoying ourselves ...wearing lingeries having fun together .....so a large part of me is screaming to be a woman all the time .....Yet reality is bonding us to be who we are forced to be ....

[Jenn26]

Love love love ShelbyDawn's response It's perfect and I identify with it 100%,

I could and would never pass as a female, but I still feel in my soul that I would love to.

[ShelbyDawn]

Jenn,

We are all on this forum for a ton of reasons. Whether we admit it or not, I believe one of them is that, at some point, there is one thing we need to hear or one thing we have to say that someone needs to hear, there is one lesson that we either need to teach or be taught, there is one gift of kindness we need to give or receive and we never know what it will be, so we keep sharing.

Thank you for validating that for me.

[abbiedrake]

What Stephanie said. Especially about my mother. 😁

[Anne E]

I haven't found a label that doesn't come with some expectations that make me feel uncomfortable. Clearly I am most comfortable somewhere between the binary poles. I am just me.

Anne

[CynthiaD]

I’m a woman. I’ve cross dressed since I was 3, and always wanted to wear girly clothes and present as female. When I was in high school I decided to give up the girly stuff and learn to be like all the other boys, which I did for a while. I learned to act male, but it was always an act. It was like walking a tightrope. If I didn’t watch myself all the time, I’d start acting girly. But if I wasn’t careful I’d carry the act too far and turn everyone off. Now that I’ve finally accepted myself for who I really am, the act is much easier. It’s much easier to carry on an act when you know you’re just acting.

Now, I have a few male obligations which I acquired by spending many years pretending to be male. I occasionally dress in male clothing to meet these obligations, but I’m working toward the day when I can dress normally 24/7. I’m old, and not in the best of health, so a physical transition is not in the cards. I wish I had “woken up” much earlier. If I had, I definitely would have transitioned in my 20s. In fact, my favorite fantasy is imagining what my life would have been like as a physical female. Needless to say, I spend most of my time fully en femme, living the life I was meant to live. I love being a woman.

I don’t have the slightest idea why I feel the way I do. I just know my feelings are right for me. And I respect all of your feelings, regardless of what they may be.

[Seana Summer]

I am a man. I was born male and will be till the end.

I like to wear nylons and tights and dresses and skirts and heels and sweaters and tops and lately jewelry.......occasionally. I find that my mannerisms don't change much when I am dressed, I don't become another person. The only thing that I am aware of that changes when I am dressed is that I cross my legs more often when sitting.

I can not explain why I like to wear women's clothing, it will remain one of the great mysteries of my time

I am me.

[ChubbyLeahCD]

So it took me a long time to figure out how I identify but with my counselor I was able to figure it out.
First of all, it’s believed that crossdressers are in the trans spectrum, so I’m trans though I have no desire to ever become a woman.
I am a man, with manly desires and manly likes. I have a very strong feminine side who is more sensitive, creative kind of and who loves feeling cute.
I can feel feminine even when I’m not dressed like a girl. My counselor has noticed that I’m more in touch with my feelings as a girl than as a man. Probably because I’m closeted and am afraid of showing my sensitive side because it could out me.
So I consider myself gender fluid. I’m a bisexual gender fluid crossdresser

[Keira Bea]

Male..at least for now. I assumed crossdressing was part of the transgender umbrella but now I’m not so sure. It is a gender transition of sorts I suppose hence the conflict. But I have so many deep psychological issues and past traumas that I feel that I just want to escape from it all by being someone else entirely now, someone hopefully more likeable like a fresh start. I know that may not sound like a very good reason to physically transition properly if I ever decide to. Dressing to look like a female only at least gives me some escape route though.

Friends, family and colleagues finally know I CD, and often go out dressed, although mainly in jeggings for now until people feel comfy enough around me. I feel a new found sense of freedom, and I love it.

I haven’t ruled out HRT in the future though yet may not have the full surgery (likely not), and if I decide even just HRT then only then I will consider me as transgender female, although I like women. I really am still figuring me out. Well I accept now that I was always a little screwed up since I was little.

So I feel I am getting to a point of acceptance of my screwy life, where I am now becoming more bold and fearless to an extreme after living in fear and lonely depressing misery for too long. I feel that I am becoming more confident for it. But for now I am CD, which I am becoming more and more full time with.

[sarah_hillcrest]

When the term transgender started going mainstream it was a big revelation to me, and even more when I started thinking of gender more as a spectrum and less as a binary. I'd always assumed that sex and gender wore pretty much the same thing.

My biological sex is male. I'm heterosexual.

My gender is probably most accurately described as GF or Gender Fluid, but I sometimes get this confused with Sissy.

Why gender fluid? When I was a kid I was happy to play with my trucks, I wanted boy toys, I watched GI-Joe. I secretly wanted a cabbage patch kid, I wanted to play with dress up paper dolls, I wanted a carebear and I wanted to watch rainbow brite, but I didn't do any of these things because I knew that they were wrong. As I got a little older and started having younger cousins I wanted to rock them to sleep and change their diapers, but instead I pretended like i was way to much of a boy for that. When the girls at church formed a clogging group and wore big frilly dresses with petticoats and danced I wanted to join them.

All the while I was happy to be who I was, I just wished I could be a girl too.

I often think if I had the opportunity to express myself openly as more feminine I would probably start identifying more as a transgender woman.

[Becky Blue]

Interesting thread, I am genetically a male, father and husband BUT inside I am mostly female. I greatly enjoy presenting as female whenever possible but I do not need to, to be her...

Interesting to note how many posters say straight male - for those of you who may wonder sexual attraction has nothing to do with gender.. specially around this forum you don't have to worry, none of us think you are gay because you crossdress.

[Micki_Finn]

Turns out I am a Drag Queen! Sure the dressing is fun in and of itself, but for me it’s really about the fashion, the spectacle, the performance, soft sculpture, drama, and being seen.

[Kaylin]

Very interesting thread. I never fully understood the difference in alot of things surrounding terms, of what Crossdressing or Trans meant until maybe this last year. After chatting and reading on here. I finally understood alot more. Even though I been crossdressing since I was a child. I am a straight and married. I identify myself as a crossdresser, or a sissy I guess you could call it. Have no desire to become a women, just really enjoy dressing up.

[GeorgeA]

I am a man. I was born male and will be till the end.

I like to wear nylons and tights and dresses and skirts and heels and sweaters and tops and lately jewelry.......occasionally. I find that my mannerisms don't change much when I am dressed, I don't become another person. The only thing that I am aware of that changes when I am dressed is that I cross my legs more often when sitting.

I can not explain why I like to wear women's clothing, it will remain one of the great mysteries of my time

I am me.

I am like that too. Except for heels & jewellery: I don't care for either.
I am a man who likes to wear nylons, lingerie, skirts but I have no feminine feelings or behaviour. I am all man, except for the clothes I wear.

[HelpMe,Rhonda]

I am a man. I was born male and will be till the end.

I like to wear nylons and tights and dresses and skirts and heels and sweaters and tops and lately jewelry.......occasionally. I find that my mannerisms don't change much when I am dressed, I don't become another person. The only thing that I am aware of that changes when I am dressed is that I cross my legs more often when sitting.

I can not explain why I like to wear women's clothing, it will remain one of the great mysteries of my time

I am me.

This is me, except I've always crossed my legs in a female way and wonder if that's a tell. And wonder how much of my personality traits came along for the ride.