Quote Originally Posted by Asche View Post
However, "men wouldn't want to feel pretty" is equally false, for the same reason.

Some men do want to feel pretty, despite the social conditioning against it -- just look around Crossdressers.Com. It's hard to imagine that there wouldn't be more of them if there weren't all that social conditioning and stigma against it. How many? Nobody knows.
Of course CDers want to feel pretty! This is the point of CDing for the vast majority!

As to your question about what I mean by "non-transgender" men. I am talking about men who do not wish to cross any gender boundaries, and I am not talking about men who have mild panty fetishes: there are men, such as my prior example, who do put on panties, thigh highs, heels, or something similar during sex only, but who otherwise have no desire or inclination to present feminine in any way, shape, or form. The act of putting on said panties does not make them feel "pretty", but rather brings them emotionally closer to the woman who owns the panties. This is not crossing a gender boundary in my book, it is only engaging in a fetish. The article of clothing could be angora, feathers, or latex, and it would produce the same results.

Quote Originally Posted by Asche View Post
(After all, a large segment of the female population isn't interested in looking pretty, either, despite the social pressure on them to meet those beauty standards.)
We disagree here. There are many women who do not feel they need the fashion and makeup trappings in order to be feminine. I know there is a "high" standard universally upheld by the CDing community, but in reality, it is a woman's basic nature and her inner sense of self that makes her a woman and feel like one. Not the adornments.

Quote Originally Posted by Asche View Post
For instance, I've had people in the CD community insist that I was "really female" because I like to wear skirts and dresses.
I understand your frustration with people who have difficulty imagining that anyone is different than they are. Was it a TS who said such things?

So let me ask: what type of CDing do you do exactly? When do you CD, how do you present yourself, and what do you get out of it?