In your mind, at what point does a crossdresser become transgender?
In your mind, at what point does a crossdresser become transgender?
I erased the line. With no line to think about I just did what came naturally for me, and here I am today about 13 years after starting to crossdress from zero, a full time trans woman, a woman, just getting on with life. Try it and you may just like it! That is, try erasing that line and let nature propel you or slow you down..
Strictly my own definition, mind you. I think a crossdresser is a person who gets enjoyment from dressing up and presenting themselves as the opposite gender, at the same time being certain of their own gender. i.e. a man who dresses up like a woman for fun, but always knows he is a man and is satisfied with that. Trans gender is someone who feels they are, or should be, a gender other than their birth gender. i.e. a man who dresses up like a woman because he feels that is an accurate reflection of his gender. The enjoyment is because he is presenting his true self. I suppose I would have crossed the line when I believe I actually am a woman, not a guy pretending to be a woman.
I believe it is when you decide to dress full time. The admission, the commitment. Sure there is certainly some grey area before that, and not all the dress all the time are trans, but until you decide to commit, you are a CD'er or perhaps on the way to transgender. Can you be transgender and fully in the closet, never dress? I don't know.
In response to a pervious post, I am a man that has a desire to dress, it is more than simply for fun and enjoyment. If I don't dress for a few days I get agitated and miss it terribly. I believe I might be somewhere on the TG scale, there is something wired a bit "off" in my brain. I feel more complete dressed, but I face the realty that I will never transition, for many reasons, so I dress.
The line is within you, as it all comes down to why you crossdress.
I just love womens clothes!
can't wait for the day i can wear fishets and a skirt with stubble.
make up is fun to look pretty
That I have not yet figured out! Lots of speculation but no definitive answer.Originally Posted by Robertacd
I personally think that line falls in your mind,
If you feel that you should have been born with the opposite Gender.
Or have other issues in your mind that make you feel you definitely fit in that group
then that is where the line is.
For me, that line is a long way away. I am truly just in the crossdresser group.
I don't feel that I should have been a woman.
I like the look of myself better dresser in women's clothes.
Maybe a self esteem issue for me.
my sister's reply when I told her how I prefer to dress
"Everyone has there thing, all that matters is that you are happy, love what you do and who you do it with"
I agree with Geena 100%. Ill even add more that separates a trans person from the avg cd. The avg crossdresser I believe looks at clothes, personal grooming, overall appearance, and a few other things. A lot different then a trans person would. At least that is what I have noticed as a trans person. I get that there are cds that care about that stuff as munch as a trans woman, but I wouldn't really call them a cd. To me they really are trans.
Reading the replies to this thread so far, it strikes me that many here are still blurring the lines as to what the word "transgender" really means and are still using that term interchangeably with the term "transsexual"...not unlike the mainstream media and the confusion it often sows among the "muggles" as to what we really are.
My understanding is that the word "transgender" is a umbrella term that encompasses crossdressers, the gender fluid and similar individuals whose gender identity doesn't necessarily align with their genitals. Transsexuals form a subgroup within this category but with a significant difference...they suffer from a type of gender dysphoria that compels them to want to actually transition into the opposite sex as opposed to simply emulating them the way we crossdressers do.
Of course, there are many nuances and shades of grey here, but simply wanting to experiencing life as a woman is typically the preserve of the heterosexual crossdresser within the transgender umbrella, whereas it is the transsexual who actually wants to (usually physically) become a woman. In short, the transsexual takes the concept of "transgender" to the next level while the average transgender individual is content with the status quo once they get beyond the self-hate and accept their status as gender non-conforming.
For me...... I'm not interested in being full time female, so I keep away from the transgender label
See all my photos, read many stories of my outings and my early days at
http://rachelsauckland.blogspot.co.nz
I'll take this from a different angle...
How do *others* possibly see you/relate to you?
Do they view/treat you as just "one of the guys"?
Or, as gay and/or femmy? (I have personally run into this pretty much my entire life, probably for a myriad of reasons, for better or worse.)
Regardless of how you may be presenting at the time, of course.
I'm talking about more of a vibe/personality thing, than anything.
GG's are more apt to relate to "regular" guys in a much different way, when compared to those of the TG persuasion.
For the latter, many may naturally tend to view you more as one of their own. Perhaps not totally, as they would with another GG -- but more as an "honorary sister," at the very least. Those who have experienced this will know what I'm talking about.
And to take it one step further?
Looking at it as honestly & objectively as possible... How do *you* relate to men, versus GG's?
Is there a legit comradery between you & the men -- or you & the GG's? Who do you feel more comfortable with? Whose company do you enjoy more? Who do you feel more at home with?
Personally, I can do both. I like both... Yet at the same time, I realize that there's negative & ugly aspects unique to *both* camps that I really don't care for & want no part of.
I do, however, typically tend to value & enjoy platonic relationships with cool GG's who are somewhat older than me. I feel a sense of them being an older sister or cousin... Or for those with a larger age-gap? Possibly a young aunt. All kinda showing me the ropes, with their vast insights & experience with the GG way of life.
They totally rock!
But bringing this back to the OP?
How you answer from this angle, may help determine where that line for you may be.
Ellbee,
So much of your reply resonates with me , You appear to have reached that point as I have where life is comfortable , people both male and female are OK with how I appear so I've slotted back into life as Teresa , what label they chose to use is up to them . We could question what line are we talking about ?
That's pretty much what I was thinking as well.
Krisi
Well put Geena. I love getting made up, dressed and feeling pretty. I also love being a man. Kinda like the commercial says. Sometimes you feel like a nut sometimes you don?t.
Like Cassie SaidBut...
There are definitely times I can see me doing the same things I enjoy as a man, as a woman...
Circumstances keep me where I am, as a man, but were the choice mine... I guess that means I have crossed that line, maybe just a little.
...Damsel in distress.
Not exactly natural, Stunning none the less...
(As Girls Go by Suzanne Vega)
In my mind I don't need a label to dress.
I like this reply and I have thought about this a lot recently: most of who I am as "a man" could easily be lived and enjoyed as a a woman. I suppose the perks of being a man would be hard to give up, but then again there a re perks to being a woman too. But none of that is what I care about as much as I care that I'm learning to be less macho and more empathic, and less stereotypical male and more myself. I could see myself, then, living full time as a woman without changing much else of who I am already. Which probably means I've crossed that line too.
I cant add much to what has already been said in this thread other then for me my reality is on one side of the line and my heart is on the other side. I do not know if I can ever be more then a cross dresser, but I long to be a woman.
Rachel
Leslie, I would tend to think that the ones closer to experience life as a woman would also be more the transsexuals than the crossdressers. It really depends on what you put behind this "experiencing life as a woman" expression. I think a crossdresser is only experiencing what he projects to a supposed woman experience, and I would hardly say life experience, more hand-picked bits of the experience. As for me, putting females clothes on "does not a girl make me experience".
And to answer Gwen's question, I think every crossdresser is transgender as we blur some lines between masculinity and femininity.
-- EDIT -- But since my wife educated me about gender studies, I don't believe much anymore in the transgender concept, since we are all on a continuum between male and female. Crossing genders means there are genders to begin with, and they are a social thing, not Nature's rules (Nature doesn't care much if we wear trousers or skirts).
Last edited by DianeT; 11-30-2020 at 05:11 AM.
Gwen.
To me the outer layer shows the RW how I feel inside , I can't go round telling everyone I'm TG so my appearance says it all . I would also add that I feel that CDing isn't the right label when I go out full time because it's established my identity as Teresa .
Leslie,
You have a point , dealing with dysphoria is more to do with transition but as you say there are grey areas so i just stick to saying I'm TG if anyone asks , lets face it this question is only asked on the forum , it's a long time since I told anyone I'm TG because they don't ask .
I wish I could point to a date; but for me it was, and is, an evolving situation. I do know a this point I am transgendered. Given my familial circumstances and age, 66, transition is not possible. I guess one way to look at it is if you feel like a woman even when not dressed that is a pretty good indication.
I don't think one simply "becomes" Transgender, just as one does not simply walk into Mordor (except for Frodo). Being a Trans Woman or Trans Man is who you are, just like being Gay or Lesbian or Bi is who you are. It is not something you become. To me, if someone wears the clothes of the opposite gender than their sex assigned at birth but their gender identity is congruent with sex assigned at birth then they are not a Trans Woman or Trans Man (or to use the old terminology Transsexual), they are a cross dresser. If that person later realizes that he/she does identify as the opposite gender or no gender at all, or somewhere in between, they have not 'become' anything. It is a realization of their 'true' self for lack of a better term. And yes, there are Trans Women/Men that can live their entire life without transitioning for whatever reasons, just as there are Gay/Lesbian people who can suppress their sexual identity, with varying degrees of success. For a lot of people this works. When a person transitions or identifies as the opposite gender but does not transition, they are not becoming 'Transgender'. They are accepting who they have always been and doing what works for them to live their life.
In the simplest of terms, for me at least, a person is Transgender(Transsexual) or they aren't. Simple as that. I didn't become a Trans Woman. It's not something I especially wanted to be or even want to be now. It's just a (not so) simple fact that it is who I have always been and For me I have to take the steps to live as that person and bring my secondary sex characteristics as close as possible to reflect my true gender.
You are speaking my language.
Close . I dont think miads present as women but miads wear female clothes and are therefore are cross dressers. Just think about our very own celebrity miad.
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