Quote Originally Posted by Asche View Post
I'm not misrepresenting anything, because I'm not responding to the point you were making.

I was pointing out that that sentence included in it an assumption that people in this forum widely make, apparently without even thinking about it, that "all" the CDers here are being "girls," at least in the sense of using female names, calling one another "ladies" or "girls," and trying to achieve a feminine look or feeling. This is obviously true for most, my point was that it's not true for all.
Very, very good point. And this is something which the moderators of this site have ALWAYS come down on, when we notice it or when it gets reported. Not only is it just plain rude to those who do not identify as 'ladies' or 'girls', but it is downright offputting to especially our FTM members of the forum! There's no call for it, and it kind of blows my mind that for some people the response to a mainstream heteronormative society that whitewashes their gender expression and stifles it is to stifle that of others on a site like this. Now, I don't think this is entirely how Annabelle meant to write her post, and she didn't totally come off that way to me - when she said the word 'us' I took it to mean, 'us who are MTF crossdressers who feel female.' The point at which I get frustrated is when I see posts which are addressed, 'Hey girls,' or 'how many of you girls...'

Slightly more off-topic rant that fits in on this thought (and is ENTIRELY my own opinion, YMMV): I don't like the term 'gurl' to refer to a member of the crossdressing or transgender community. If you feel feminine, own it and call yourself a girl (or even a woman!!) In my opinion, if you don't feel like you deserve to be a woman or a girl, you probably don't deserve to be one with bad spelling, either... and the only one keeping you from deserving that is you and your own self esteem. Accept who you are, and that others are different from you and that's okay.

Janice,
I hate to say this but I sometimes feel exasperated with the 'why wouldn't women want to dress up in dresses, heels, etc.' posts. The reason why is that it doesn't always suit our lifestyles, just the same as why you wouldn't wear a full-on going out outfit all the time, either! The way that question is posted makes it seem as though that sort of outfit were the norm, and anything else is a variation from the standard when the truth is, there are so many different outfits to be had for so many purposes. I could just as easily say, 'why wouldn't anyone want to spend their full day outside hiking, listening to birds, identifying wildflowers and combating invasive species?' but I would be just as wrong to apply MY norm onto other people.