What made You who you are ?

[Nick2Nikki]

No, Rianna is right. For some of us it might be a choice, but for some of us it isn't. Female brains in male bodies and vice versa do exist. To say otherwise (without evidence to back you up) is to put down a large membership of our transgendered community. It's not that hard to avoid putting down the transexuals among us, just avoid saying things along the lines of "You could be a {man|woman} if you wanted to." Rianna wasn't born a man that later decided to become a woman, she was born a woman trapped in a man's body until she got it fixed.

Just because you feel that you are controlling your actions when it comes to crossdressing doesn't mean that others go beyond a simple desire to dress in women's clothing.

In your own words, you have a "birth defect," and aren't merely playing around with clothing.

...What!? First of all, those are not her own words. They're yours. Plus, are you seriously calling transexualism a "birth defect!?" To be clear, she said nothing about it being a birth defect. She said that studies have shown that transexualism is caused by physiological processes originating in the womb. That does not mean birth defect any more than being born with a Y chromosome rather than another X is a defect. Her post didn't say that transexualism is a defect. You did.

Although, judging by your comments here:

Well, 'scuse me all to pieces, but I don't consider my penchant for shopping the wrong side of the department store to be a flaw in my genetics -- or my character.

it's hard to tell whether your argument is (1) against transexualism being genetic, (2) about Rianna saying it's a defect, or (3) against Rianna posting in the MTF crossdressing forum. If it's (1), then you're plain wrong. If it's (2), then you read Rianna's post incorrectly. If it's (3), then your point is more understandable, but still presumptuous. Plus, transsexuals post in this forum all the time, and this is the first time I've seen anyone complain about it.

Think about growing some thicker skin, because I find your attitude offensive. Didn't walk a mile in the other man's shoes, did you?

This is exactly the kind of comment that some simple consideration would correct. "...the other man's shoes,...." You might not have noticed, but Rianna isn't a man. I normally would bat an eye at this, but you did just finish a rather insulting post with what could easily be read as a very insulting comment. Plus, these forums are all about gender issues, so one might want to be a little more careful when addressing someone. (And while you didn't directly call Riana a man, the phrase "the other man" implies that that Riana (the implied subject), is also a man.)

So, in conclusion, people thinking that everyone else is in the same boat as them, fine, you have your opinion. But guess what? As much as you would be offended by me insisting that you crossdress because you were molested as a child, just because that's what causes my crossdressing (no, it isn't really), others will be offended when you insist that you know what drives their crossdressing better than they do.

Also, some of these problems are just miscommunication. So, read a person's post in its entirety before making angry comments about it, and read your post before posting it to make sure that it says what you mean, so that there's less of a chance of it being misinterpreted.