Originally Posted by
GretchenM
Sabrina, nobody knows what causes this behavior, but it is known that it is not just one thing. It is a complex assemblage of genetic, environmental, and learned influences within a neurological matrix in the brain. It is known that genetically gender identity is perhaps one of the most complex characteristics of humans - it appears that about 1/7 of our entire genome is involved in some way with these behaviors that are so critical to our super developed social lives. So, for starters, it probably begins in the womb as a result of variations in hormone influences on the fetus, errors in development timing, and a pile of other mind boggling processes that follow individual pathways in each person.
After we are born, environment kicks in as well as the vast array of influences from other people. But through it all our brain manages it to produce the behaviors that exhibit what best fit its configuration and if the current configuration is not suitable the brain changes its configuration through brain plasticity to make sense of it all. But sexual influences on gender development are not particularly significant. There is an overlap, but exactly how it works has not been figured out yet.
So, your thinking it is a "predisposition" has some substance to it. But exactly what has not been identified. That predisposition, if it is there, is perhaps a consequence of genetics. But in some of us, predisposition appears to be very faint; in others it appears very strong.
Learned responses definitely play into the exact gender behaviors that men and women adopt and exhibit, but the gender reversal that many of us exhibit to some extent seems to precede the learning influence. That is we react in terms of gender behaviors that we observe and copy BECAUSE there is a fundamental receptiveness to that kind of behavior which puts back into the neighborhood of predisposition.
Personally, I don't dress nearly as much as many here and I do not feel a strong need for that. I used to, but at some point that aspect faded for some reason. Internally, though, I have strong female-like emotions and thinking patterns that are definitely not typical of a male.
So, I get what you say about "mentally a crossdresser." I don't call it that though. I call it an "internalized transgenderism" that creates an internal drive to behave in accordance with many of the behavioral traits and characteristics associated with fairly "standard" female behavior. Things like a very strong sense of sensitivity, empathy, compassion plus a pile of other female-like behaviors. But I also have male-like behaviors that are part of the entire equation.
Thus, I identify myself with some form of non-binary gender as I reject, personally, the concept of pure female and pure male genders. Most people tend to be a blend of behaviors that are associated with males and females and I believe everybody has their own unique mix that, due to brain plasticity and its ability to adapt to new influences, is constantly changing in tiny ways as we go through life. In terms of gender, everybody is unique. That said, the tiny changes eventually add up to create some very noticeable changes that produce a need to cross-dress in many, but others follow another pathway to produce the positive feedback to the brain and thus our personal sense of identity we each have.