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..
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.
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