How much has the internet helped?

[scarletcd]

In short. The web is one of the most important parts of my Trans life.
Apart from just being able to buy clothing etc its enabled me to interact and meet with so many amazing people. I've been able to listen to other stories and share my own. There's been some negatives sure, I've had information about my life taken and used against me blah blah blah but I won't let these experiences overshadow the positives.

[NicoleScott]

It's the best thing that ever happened to Crossdressers.

I agree. But the digital camera ranks way up there, too.

[Sarah Doepner]

I'd forgotten about Geocities and the Transgender WebRing. It was in West Hollywood where I found most of the crossdresser pages and it opened up a world of acceptance and good information to me for the first time. Once you found the WebRing, you could explore. I had been struggling with my crossdressing for years before the Internet became available and it helped me in so many ways, from learning makeup, to building forms, to actually making contact with others for the first time and actually seeing images of crossdressers that were not solely focused on sexuality. My first discussions and opportunity to actually meet with someone face to face, guy-mode in a neutral environment all came through the internet. It was at least 8 to 10 years after I'd begun exploring the web that I finally met with people in my own community.

It is a great source of information and support where I was able to become part of a community. That last item, being part of something bigger than oneself, is so valuable and has probably helped save lives. There is hope out there when you are no longer totally on your own. This medium has shown so many of us that we have value both as individuals and part of a larger world.

There is an on-going effort to make the GeoCities archive stable and available. A link to the Transgender Web Ring can be found at http://hub.politicsnissues.org/hub/tr This brings back a lot of memories from the mid 1990's for me. Wow.

[scarletcd]

I agree. But the digital camera ranks way up there, too.

I honestly don't know where I'd be without my DSLR <3

[flatlander_48]

I have 2 sets of experiences. I sorted out my sexuality pre-internet, but started crossdressing post-internet.

Going back about 24 years, I did a lot of book and magazine reading. Whenever I traveled for work, I always sought out the gay bookstores in the area. I probably had a dozen books and several magazines that I kept locked in an old attache case. Basically that was how I learned about gay and bisexual men and the gay movement in general.

As an adult, my crossdressing started about 12 years ago. The difference was that now I could do research on the internet. This made the process a lot easier. It also led to finding this forum and a couple of others. Shopping was also facilitated as it made going to other towns unnecessary.

All totaled, the experiences were very different thanks to the internet.

[grace7777]

The internet has been great for learning about trans issues and finding great trans resources. Even though I started dressing en femme in late 2007 and started going out in early 2011, I hardly ever went to this website until the summer of 2013, and joined in December 2013. Now I am on this site all the time, and do not know how I ever got along with out it. You ladies have provided me with a lot of great information.

Without this site, I am not sure if I would have flown petty. Readings others tales on flying pretty gave me the courage to do it myself.

This site has caused my tg journey to accelerate greatly and now I am actually considering the idea of transitioning.

[IngeInCO]

Well we wouldn't have this would we?