Why do people think that crossdressing makes you just transgendered?

[Ribbons]

I get the "You sound transgendered" or "Sure you aren't transgendered?" comment from a lot of people online whenever I mention it.

I technically cross-dress, though I don't really think of it as so. Aside from me being pre-transition and thus having to wear girls clothes most of the time, I'm the sort of person who sees clothes as clothes. If I like it, I'll wear it no matter what gender its for.

I am very much a boy though, no gender confusion there. I'd rather be seen as a crossdresser then a girl.     

Transsexual is arguably a category within transgendered, right? But I'm still transsexual so..

[Janet_Girl]

If you cross dress, you are technically transgendered, by definition.  But if you are transsexual, you are also transgendered.

the Gen--Pop is beginning to equate transgendered as transsexual.  But they are mistaken.

You are how you define yourself.  Me?  I am a woman.  Period.

[K8]

A lot of people use the word transgendered to mean transsexual.  I do, too, sometimes just because it has a softer sound and not as in-your-face as the word transsexual.  But I am a transsexual because I am a woman who was born with a male body.  Transsexual is one of many ways one can be transgendered.

I was a cross-dresser for much of my life because I didn't think I could transition.  Now that I've transitioned I'm not a cross-dresser anymore.  I used cross-dressing as a coping mechanism.  I stayed in the closet because I didn't think I could ever be seen by others as a woman, regardless of what I wore.  I didn't dress as a woman on Halloween because I didn't think I could pull it off - it was too serious an issue for me to have fun with.  Some people are happy being cross-dressers, while others use cross-dressing as a bridge to transition.  It all depends on your needs.

If you are a female-bodied boy, it makes sense that you would be happier to be seen as a cross-dresser because then you are seen as a guy.

- Kate