Information For and About Transgender Individuals

Most of the transsexual people Ive encountered online do not consider crossdressers as belonging under the trans umbrella nor do they believe they should be, as these individuals usually tend to be heterosexual but enjoy dressing as the opposite gender for fun or a sexual thrill, altho I dont know just how accurate that assumption or statement on other people's part that that is. Cetainly films like Silence Of The Lambs (the Buffalo Bill character was a crossdresser) dont help the image of crossdresser, & when you fator in the confusion of society btwn transsexual people & crossdressers, it further serves to hinder understanding of trans people.

As far as suicide stats go, Ive seen stats as high as 50% of all trans people attempting suicide but it probably depends on the source, not to mention the fact that the reason for committiing suicide as being trans may be underreported or difficult to determine due to many trans people refusing to come out & admit that is the reason.

As for mods, yep I know that we have a couple of trans mods & Im so happy to have them on here for us all! I do still think that a mod who has actually transitioned tho, be they FTM or MTF, would be of benefit to all of us. As I said before, I do understand the challenges there are in finding someone to take on that responsibility. If I wasnt so busy with college, looking for a part time job & transitioning myself, Id certainly try to volunteer myself a bit to that task! Im hopeful tho that EC will come thru as it always does tho!

 

I am not sure if this is allowed, but 2 years ago, I believed that I was transgendered, and for the six months I was very happy with all the wonderful support at a certain site that helped me from becoming a statistic in the suicide rate.

The place is called laura's playground.
Laura's Playground: Transsexual, Crossdressing, Transgender, Gender Dysphoria, Transgendered Chat. Transexual, Crossdressers, Transvestite

I hope it's ok to post this. It is a really safe place to go for help.

It saved my life.

 

I think so, only if your user name is not the same as here. It's against the code of conduct to link publicly to other social networking as that makes it possible for people without full membership status to see.

 

This thread deserves more discussion in my opinion. I also look forward to an update on this thread as far as what the Empty Closets staff thinks about stickied threads to combat prejudice that is sometimes displayed here against less privileged members of the queer community.

As cisgender people, we have a whole lot to benefit from perspectives like this.

 

I'm seconding this. I'm cisgender but it's important for everyone to read this to help understand. That's the least we could do.

 

This thread was very informative for me! I had always been curious about the terms genderfluid and cisgender and now I know! Although I can't imagine the difficulties that come with being Trans I hope to be more and more informed as time goes on so I can better associate with others in my community. Thank you.

 

The Genderbread man picture would be useful, some people are better with visual learning than written.

 

Great job creating this thread.

As a crossdresser, I think this is a very difficult question to answer. Part of the problem to me is, that the term 'crossdresser' primarily describes behavior (or gender expression), while not really dealing with sexual identity nor gender identity. But what is the underlying cause of crossdressing?

From my perspective it seems evident, that some crossdresser are primarily in it for a sexual purpose, whereas some crossdresser are clearly transgendered to some degree. So I see the term crossdresser as describing something different than the "transgender" term, but the terms clearly overlap.

In contrast I would say - again as a crossdresser - that lack of understanding and acceptance of trans people in general, has been stumbling block in my own understanding and acceptance of my sexuality and gender.

Luckily, I have this thread and this forum (among other things) to educate myself.

---------- Post added 27th Nov 2012 at 11:07 PM ----------

+1

I liked the gender bread a lot (although it is not perfect)

 

From all that I've read the impression I've got is that it's not uncommon for MTF crossdressers to start out young doing it for sexual reasons but over time that aspect diminishes and may disappear completely, and they may go out en femme and present themselves as women and so are indistinguishable from people who would less controversially be included under the trans* umbrella.

Also the perception that most crossdressers are heterosexual I'd question, in fact I've even heard it said that heterosexuality is part of what defines a crossdresser. If that's true then I'm not one as I'm definitely not straight. Again, this is based on what I've read again but it seems like a lot of crossdressers are to some degree of bisexual.

I think it just has to be accepted that a lot of people don't fit neatly into rigid categories, there's so much variety within and overlap, even if some broad groups can be distinguished. The best analogy I can come up with is that it's an ocean in which everybody's drifting around like plankton, water currents carry people with similar feelings together but the water masses can become mixed up regularly and people are free to move around. I don't know if that analogy is overly torturous and incomprehensible. Gender soup, perhaps?

 

I forget that not everyone is studying this all the time like I am, so I really appreciate the post.

Though I am a bit confused about the definition of crossdresser. I recently figured that it was a term I could apply to myself, but now I'm not so sure. For me crossdressing doesn't fulfill a sexual kink or a rush. It is more important for me to appear as the opposite sex to others, even if I feel mostly comfortable with my own body and physical sex while I'm alone (though I never have the desire privately or publicly to dress overtly like my birth sex).
Of course I do not know what this means or how it fits into the umbrella, or relates to other people's gender identities. Heck, I have no idea if I qualify as trans* at all. It's all still pretty confusing if I try to get labels involved.

But I thank you and any cis person who takes the time to read and respect trans* individuals.

 

Literally the term crossdresser just refers to someone who wears clothes that are usually exclusive to the opposite gender to themselves. It's usually used to distinguish between people who only temporarily wish to change their gender presentation and those who feel like their body doesn't match up with their self perception. That's a bit of a simplification but broadly true, feel free to correct me. There's no requirement for it to be in any way sexualized so if it isn't for you but you still wish to wear female clothes you're still a crossdresser and included under the trans * umbrella from my perspective.

 

Therein lies the exact problem of using crossdressing as label. Being a crossdresser doesn't really tell you anything about the motivation for crossdressing (f.ex. gender identity), just that they wear clothes of the opposite sex. This could be for sexual reasons, gender identity reasons or even to pass as the other sex in order to gain access to some privilege.

I have also used the term crossdresser about myself, but I am getting more and more wary about using this term for the reasons mentioned above. I now think that I am at least bigendered to some degree. In any case, I am more interested in my motivation for crossdressing than the label.

(I don't hope people feel we are hijacking the thread with all out talk about crossdressing ).

 

There is actually a label to distinguish between wearing different clothing for sexual gratification and gender expression.

If you wear clothes of the "opposite-gender" simply because you like them and you feel comfortable in them, then you would be a crossdresser. It gets more fussy when you try to apply it to genderqueer people or agender people.

If you wear clothes of the "opposite-gender" for sexual gratification, then its called transvetism. These are usually straight men who will never go public about their behavior. You will usually never know they are into it since they only do it in the privacy of their own home. Usually, if you see someone in public crossdressing, then they are just crossdressers and not into it for sexual pleasure.

There is also genderfucking and that's when someone consciously dresses as ambiguious as they can in order to mess with people. Not very common, but its one of my favorites so I'm just throwing it out there

 

Maybe I may seem like splitting hairs here - yes, I do that sometimes :bang: But the more I think about it, the more I think that crossdressing is not a very useful term to describe people that have a certain sexual orientation (mostly heterosexual), with a certain gender identity (male or female) who has a certain practice (dressing the clothes of the opposite sex). What if your are a bisexual or even gay crossdresser?

Crossdressing to me is a verb, and it is something you do. It simply means: "Dress in the clothes of the other sex" which can happen for whatever reason.

Finally - and this is just my personal experience - the boundary between "just dressing for sexual gratification" and for other purposes is more than a little thin. in my case, I think my crossdressing "fetish" was just an outlet for some deeper gender issues.

(there is clearly a difference between a crossdresser and a transsexual, though)

Am I going on off a tangent? I am just trying to understand....

 

Since crossdressing is an action, is it also an identity? Or is it behavior only? I'm also confused about classification here, even though I've been reading definitions and examples for half a year now.

I've chosen crossdressing as a label for myself because at this point in time it's the only thing i'm sure of. My gender identity is still confusing to me and using crossdressing has helped me avoid stress that builds up when I present as my birth sex in public. Honestly it's gotten to the point that wearing my more overtly 'straight' clothing feels like crossdressing, while my cross clothing feels and looks more correct.
But, like I mentioned before, when I am alone or naked I am comfortable (to varying degrees) with my body, and I don't mind my birth sex when I'm around certain people. When I have sexual fantasies or dreams, my body is mine, not changed.

I'm not sure I really want to jump into labeling myself transgender because I still don't completely understand it or myself. Is it truly a need to transition, or are there things I need to work out in my own head about society's ideas of gender, and ways that I have been incorrectly prejudiced? Until I work things out, crossdressing is the one thing I can measure and say, "Yes, this is something I do, so this label applies to me".

 

i feel like if i dressed in any girl clothing THAT would be cross dressing...as strange as it may sound, I often saw a man in drag before I came out. So when I tried wearing all male clothing I felt normal and maybe more moral as I was told as a kid men in dresses are gay and can hurt you. So in my subconscious mind, I always felt a need to be male and wanted mens things ( and boys when a kid), so as a guy in wrong body, is "cross dresser" a correct label for me wearing normal guy clothing? I am sure many on the street could say that...but they don't know who I am. I think I am just getting dressed. I have no desire to cross dress again...even though my clothing must miss me.

 

I'm not a cross dresser, I'm usually in quite a good mood when I'm getting dressed.