How do you know if you are transgendered or just CD?

[gagirl1]

i've been avoiding this thread b/c i was worried i might discover i'm not transgender (life is full of doubts), but now that i am sure of myself, and comfortable with saying i long to be a woman, i want to offer a simple piece of information about being trans vs. crossdressing:

being transgender has nothing to do with the clothes you wear.

through and through, being trans is about wanting to be a woman or man, not on a temporary basis while dressed as whichever sex. i went through most of your list of criteria, and found a common thread: clothes/appearance. i feel the breast question mostly mirrors your want to fill out a bra, and feel comfortable while in female form, but it sounds to me like you want to be able to go back to your male side. transgender people rarely want to go back (mostly never, except for monetary reasons). i'd say to anyone questioning his or her gender, if you start to get dysphoric (you'll know when) on a regular basis, and the clothes really don't make the difference, then you might have some more exploring to do.

these thoughts are quite common when gender bending. it's a wonderful discovery of oneself (trans or cd), but also painful and confusing.

to give some perspective on where i stand, i hate it when people ask "how often do you dress," inferring i'm only female by the clothes i wear. i'm female 24 hours of every day, but don't feel the need to prove that all day. this is where i think i differ from many crossdressers. i'm not changing my clothes, i'm changing my body, and that's the difference.

oh, and on a side note, you don't have to put yourself into any gender binary. many genderqueer people express themselves as all genders (not just the 2, mind you), and that is who they are: not male, not female, but just happy with themselves. might be something worth looking into.

oh, one more thing: "born in the wrong body," and "trapped in a ______'s body" are the worst descriptions of being trans i can think of. it's an extreme oversimplification, perpetuated by the media. i have not met one trans person who feels those two quotes describe them implicitly. just doesn't cover everything.