Quote Originally Posted by annecwesley View Post
Well said. I also disagree with the idea that crossdressing is part of a spectrum. I think Gender Dysphoria and Transvestism are distinctly different neurological/psychological anomalies even though they express themselves in similar ways. The "transgender spectrum" is a modern social construct, gender is not.
One reason I have trouble with this transgender spectrum idea comes from my own experiences. Back in the 70's I was in a vocational rehabilitation program in Baltimore. It was basically a trade school to give job skills to people with mental or physical handicaps. I was taking machine shop/welding. All of the biological males in the Cosmetology program were either very feminine gays or started-out-gay transsexuals many of whom were involved in a program for transition at nearby Johns Hopkins U. In those days, Cosmetology was one of the few professions these folks could do without a lot of discrimination. They were trying to get some job skills so they wouldn't have to live by prostitution. These were the people I hung out with during my time at the school. Even tho I did some CDing at the time, I never felt that my CDing was in any way related to the issues these people faced. For one thing, they really were feminine to the point that you would forget they were bio males even when they were dressed in male clothing. There was nothing particularly feminine or gay about me other than my sexual fantasies. I never bothered them about that since they would have thought I was crazy (which I was!) Our common bond was in being misfits who had been through the mental health sausage grinder, not transgender stuff. Although I still didn't understand my sexuality, the experience cured me of any delusions that I was either gay or trans. There was no path from where I was to where they were and therefor no spectrum. I sympathized with their plight but it wasn't really my world.