Debunking: "I like women's clothes"

[Ambergold43]

Frankly, and I know this probably won't make many friends on this forum, I reject the notion of expressing an "inner-female" or whatever when justifying or explaining Crossdressing. I don't know of any and can't think of any Crossdressers that would actually like to deal with the real burdens women face on a day-to-day basis. Women are under-paid, have their sexual lives and choices politicized, they are often not taken seriously by their professional colleagues, and are subjected to sexual assault, harassment, and objectification, just to name a few... and that's only here in the US. Unfortunately, there is no true "gender equality" and I would go so far as to say that we as a society are only working towards an "equality of the sexes." Which is to say that its becoming OK for females to occupy the social and gender roles traditionally ascribed to males (having a career, engaging in politics, etc.), but not visa versa.

So to the point of all this: The best justification I can come up with outside of a notion of "just liking the clothes" (and for the record: women's clothing IS way more fun than men's clothes) is that Crossdressing is all about power.

I don't think we as men often think about it in such terms, but playing the masculine social-role can be extremely stressful, unexciting, and drab, among many other things. Men are limited in many ways by their appearance, social behaviors, and career expectations. BUT, we do occupy and control the top of the "social hierarchy" if you want to think of it that way, and sometimes the head that wears the crown gets heavy. It makes more sense to me that Crossdressing is about shirking, briefly or long-term, the responsibilities of "man-ness" or masculinity to occupy and play a role different from that of "just a man." In other words, I believe Crossdressing is about divesting oneself of the power, privilege, and responsibility (and the stress that comes along with it) that masculinity provides and demands.

I believe this is why people often "retreat" into crossdressing during times of stress... and why some men find their "female" selves to be more exciting or freeing than their "male" selves - because when they are playing the role of a woman, they DON'T have those same worries and stresses. I could write all day on this topic, I have about a million and one theories, but I'll suffice it to say I believe at the core it's all about power - either taking on or rejecting it.