Becky.
I don't know, I go away for a week and all hell breaks out! Going back past the brilliant replies from Tracy Irving, Charlotte, Phili, Sophie and Cassandra (amongst others, you said it for me, thank you) to your original post, what we don't need is another term. What we need is less terms. MIAD? Let this be the LAST time I use that term. What's the point of it? We are all crossdressers in one way or another. In fact, those that 'pass' are not (in the eyes of the viewing public) even really crossdressing at all as all anyone sees is another woman. I was out on the fells recently and one day I wore a 'trekking skirt' over my leggings. I was an ordinary middle aged bloke who happened to have a skirt on. I was, technically, crossdressing (a bit) and in an obvious way. I did not need labeling with a term that no-one else understands. In fact, all the terms used exclusively by the 'community' are pretty pointless if you ask me. If the general public don't know what it means then what is the point? Anyone seeing me on the fell wouldn't have said "did you see that crossdresser/transvestite/MIAD (delete as appropriate) they would have said "did you see that bloke had a skirt on?" or "is that a bloke in that skirt?".
And to the proud MIADs amongst you, stop using that term, you are crossdressers, people wearing the clothes of the opposite sex. By using the term MIAD you legitimise it and this encourages its use to describe a crossdresser trying but failing to pass, and using it that way is disrespectful. If you don't pass and don't want to pass then you are the visual representation of a crossdresser, no other term needed.
Respect is all that is needed. If we can't respect each other here, we can not expect it in the real world.
