Crossdresser or Transgener?

[Sarah77]

Hi,
I've been posting on the transgender board as I felt that best described me.
However, I'm married and have not taken any hormone treatment..los of therapy only.

My wife would call me a crossdresser

How do you personally  define the difference between the labels? Is it that crossdressers definitely don't want to change gender fulltime?

Thanks

[MeTony]

As I see it, if you have a feeling deep inside that your body does not match your image in your mind, you are trans gender. It's like an itch. If you can't do anything about it it grows worse.

I am trans gender. I'm not sure how cross dressers feel. Maybe they are happy being both genders depending on the situation?

[rmaddy]

Hi,
I've been posting on the transgender board as I felt that best described me.
However, I'm married and have not taken any hormone treatment..los of therapy only.

My wife would call me a crossdresser

How do you personally  define the difference between the labels? Is it that crossdressers definitely don't want to change gender fulltime?

Thanks

Crossdressers are on the transgender spectrum.  The latter is the more inclusive term.  Crossdressers are transgender but not all transgender people are crossdressers.

Only you can decide where you are on the spectrum and what medical treatment, if any, is necessary.  I am happy to hear that you are in therapy, and I suggest that you talk to your therapist specifically and openly about this.

Welcome to Susan's!

[KathyLauren]

A crossdresser is a transgender person who has not (yet) felt the need to transition.  Some never do.  Most trans people who do transition began as crossdressers and found that it wasn't enough.

[Dena]

We have standard terms used on the site than may help. In the greeting links, the various transgender terms are described here. Our WIKI also contains a more detail set of descriptions. You do come under the transgender umbrella as transgender is somebody who's not CIS. You may find as time goes on that where you fit in the picture changes. Many members started with the crossdresser label and moved over time however that's not true of everybody.

[Tammy Jade]

Labels are best defined by yourself.

Only you know how you truly feel.

The descriptions in the greeting links are very useful to help you define yourself but at the end of the day only you can truly know who you are.

Your gender therapist can probably help, something that someone told me when I first joined the site may apply as well.

I was worried that I wasn't Trans enough and I was told: "cis people don't generally question there gender, it's not something they even think about.. If you are questioning your gender there is a good chance you are Trans because if you weren't Trans you wouldn't be asking questions"

The person who told me maybe worded it a little better but you get the idea.

As someone else said being transgender is a spectrum and only you can decide where in that spectrum you are most comfortable.

-Mara


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[Janes Groove]

According to "Official Gender Theory" if you are a crossdresser then you are defacto transgender.

But I think if someone feels that they are cisgender but just enjoys crossdressing then that is a perfectly valid gender identity.

[amandam]

You can be more than a crossdresser. You can have transgender feelings also. You may not have "enough" of these feelings to require transition.

[SueNZ]

Hi,
I've been posting on the transgender board as I felt that best described me.
However, I'm married and have not taken any hormone treatment..los of therapy only.

My wife would call me a crossdresser

How do you personally  define the difference between the labels? Is it that crossdressers definitely don't want to change gender fulltime?

Thanks

Hi Sarah,
I define myself as TG but under the crossdresser label.
Labels to me are something that helps define yourself as a the person you want to be or where you are.
I don't put any emphasis on labels, I just follow, help & offer where I feel the need on the day.
If I had the chance I maybe could have considered changing my life's direction but I am happy to accept where I am at.
If my world around me would accept my desire to be Sue then I would dress only to fulfil my needs.
The infinite levels of what an individual needs to feel happy measured against their current situation to me make the answer very difficult to define.
Post where you feel comfortable and offer help where needed and above all else enjoy the wonderful site Susan has created.

Cheers
Sue

[Karrie]

Now that im older and more educated I've come to the conclusion that yes I'm transgender.
I've been crossdressing since I was a child. I've wanted to be a girl since those days also.
But along with others life rambled on and I was and for the most part still am fairly content to continue dressing.
However now I just keep Karrie happy wearing panties 24/7 , bras , nities to bed , paint my toes , and use strictly female products for hygiene.
If I was able to flip a switch and become female without hurting my family I would. But I've found a happy medium , at least for now.
So being transgender or crossdresser really makes no difference to me as far as a label is concerned. 
I know what I am and happily content with that.

Karrie

[Lyric]

It seems to me that people here tend to most commonly use the term "crossdresser" to describe a genetic male who in some way decorates himself in a feminine manner for some degree of sexual stimulation (there are genetic female crossdressers as well, though that seems to be less commonly spoken of). The term "transgender" has become a blanket term for describing a range of conditions, including the above, transsexuals, non-binary and many others.

In my own usage, I think of "crossdressing" as merely a description of a physical action and an inadequate way of describing one's gender or sexual inclinations. In my opinion you should be welcome to participate in most any thread on this site of which you have something to contribute (unless it has some unusual specification). After I log into Susan's I usually click "Show unread posts since last visit" to scan threads regardless of category, though I always consider the thread's category before commenting.

[Karrie]

Lyric many crossdressers find no sexual stimulation in dressing girly.  Dressing and exploring my female side is when I'm most happy and comfortable with myself.
Yes there are some CDs that dress only for sexual enjoyment but many many dont.
Some days I'm all male except for my panties , others I'm female.
I'm happiest on my girly days and content on my male days.

Karrie

[Laurie]

  I considered myself a crossdresser for over 50 years yet there was always a desire that I wanted more, that dressing itself was not enough though I had convinced myself that it was. I've wished that I could have been born a girl since early childhood. One day surfing the net looking for things of a gender bender nature I came across the term Gender dysphoria and as I looked into it I keep seeing myself. Lo and behold a transgender woman was born. It took me less than a moth to start taking hormones to change my body into who I always should have been. My whole attitude on dressing and outlook on life changed that day..

Hugs,
  Laurie

[amandam]

Crossdressers don't want to change genders if they KNOW that's all they are. Some crossdressers are really transsexuals, i.e., need to transition and/or get SRS. In fact, there are stories of crossdressers who have falsely convinced themselves they are TS by falling into an extreme case of the "pink fog". Some figure this out while taking hormones. A few, regrettably, fool themselves into getting surgery and have lifelong regrets.

This is a journey of discovery. I have considered myself to be a crossdresser because of my high sex dreive, but I have also been dogged by dsyphoria. Only by therapy, inner reflection, and time, will I be able to discover truths about myself. I urge you to do the same.

[Lyric]

Lyric many crossdressers find no sexual stimulation in dressing girly.

You apparently didn't pay very close attention to my words. While I am well aware that not all "crossdressers" do so for sexual stimulation (as I indicated in the second paragraph), I indicated that Susan's members often tend do use the term to describe sexual crossdressers. And, by the way, I certainly would not mean to belittle either type of person. I see sexual crossdressers as another of many sexual subcategories and are more appropriately categorized with gays, lesbians and bisexuals than transsexuals are. While the other conditions describe sexual desires, transsexualism only describes identity.