The term "crossdressing" -- pro and con

[FloralSkirt]

I like to wear some women's clothes. So technically, I am a cross dresser. But not in the tradition sense of the word. I do not do the entire wig, makeup, bra, etc thing. I do not attempt to look like a female. I do not go by a female name. I am always a guy in a skirt or a guy in women's jeans and [redacted].

I like to wear what I like to wear and sometimes what I like to wear is in the women's department. NOt that there is anything wrong with doing all that, its never appealed to me.

[Innskin]

In the beginning, my wife looked upon my skirt wearing as on the fringe of crossdressing. She wasn't too keen on the idea.
She would comment about how I should keep my legs together while seated or how to bend down/kneel (lady like) to pick up something.
I finally told her that I'm not trying to be or look like a woman! I'm just a man who happens to like wearing a skirt.
Since then, she has been more accepting of my skirts, except to comment when she thinks they are too short.

Innskin

[RyeOfTheDead]

Innskin, depending on the cut, I don't really agree that doing those things are "lady like" as much as they're just polite. As in, hey try not to flash people as you sit or bend over since you're wearing an open hemmed garment.

(by the way, even in pants, bending at the knees to pick stuff up is significantly kinder to your back.)

[Pythos]

Couldn't agree more Rye.

Even when not skirted I bend at the knees. Try to avoid doing it at my back. The results? A strong back, and quite strong legs. A side benefit of wearing skirts? LOL

The term lady like is a very subjective one. There are very few truly "lady like" moves, or poses. It is just what we have been brainwashed into thinking is Manly, or Lady Like. I also normally sit knees together, or crossed at the ankles, if not the knees. Never did like sitting with them wide apart, for me I found it rude. In a body language book I own it notes that kinda way of sitting as a form of crotch display.

[rick401r]

I learned the "bend with knees" habit after an incident during a game of Bocci Ball. Never bend from the waist to pick up your ball or you might get a cold beer sprayed up yer kilt.

[maninfemaleclothing]

In my humble opinion the term "crossdressing" means EXACTLY what it says....a male or female "dressing" in the style clothing usually saaociated with that particular gender. I say this because I have been a crossdresser since 4 years of age. I never thought I "was" a girl in a guys body, never wanted to "be" a girl, I never even wanted to pretend to be a girl by putting on a wig and make-up. There are other "terms" for people who think or desire those other activities or states of consciousness. I've always just simply been a fella who likes the look and feel of clothing items normally associated with the females of our species. I found it very "thrilling" to wear some items as opposed to others but the ones I did enjoy wearing all had one thing in common whether thrilling or not.....I had a true sense of FREEDOM while wearing them. I was fortunate to be raised in a solid loving family enviroment. My father was a European imigrant (Ukraine) who escaped the Soviet regeime after WWII and ended up in the states (Chicago) in 52 where he met my mother a first generation Pole. My older sister was born in 54 and I came along in 55 and two subsequent sisters in 56 & 58. So in 1959 I put on my first skirt, it was a short red sequined skirt type dress thing that a majorette wore. Granted it was big on me even though it was made out of a very stretchy elastic type material that seemed to shrink down to look like a large doll outfit when the girl who wore it took it off. Anyhow, when I put it on, I felt very strange. When my dad came into the room and saw me he picked me up with a loud iiiiieeee type of yell and carried me on his shoulders into the kitchen area where my mom and some of the other women in the appartment building we lived in were having coffee. I remember their smiles and laughter like it was yesterday. Their asking me to dance and twirl, I loved it. My mother told me to go out and play in the yard with the rest of the kids and I remember running out the screen door onto the porch, we lived on the third floor and I could hear all the kids playing in the yard way down below. I could hear the loud roar of the steel wheeled rollerskates on the concrete garbled in with the screaming and laughing of my sisters and the rest of the over two dozen kids who lived in our building. Man when they got a look at me it was like I was the king of the party. I remember wearing that outfit regularly all summer long. From that day I never had a problem playing dress up with any of the kids in the building. They and their parents all thought it was "cute" and all in fun. I've been dressing in female clothing of my liking ever since and never hid the fact that I was a guy. I was just a guy that loved the way some of their clothes looked and felt and still do today, 50 years later. I've worn dozens of skirts over the decades when I wasn't in school or at work and I've had many many fist fights over the years defending myself and my sisters. I never considered myself a tuff guy but the tuff guys learned that they didn't want to mess with me or my sisters. I had my share of girlfriends and at times they had fun either skating with me along the lakefront in Chicago with me dressed in a plain but pretty figure skating outfit, or to the drive in with me in a short skirt and knee hi socks, heck even stockings a few times. Yes, the mid late 60's thru the mid late 70's was an incredible experience for me. I eventually married on of those wonderful girls in 79 and we're still married and in love today. I may not dress as extravagantly today as I did back in my youth but a modest knee length skirt with hose and a button down shirt or sweater still makes her heart and mine jump.

[Pythos]

Inspirational story, and one I am sure many here would like.

You were blessed to say the least.

Good on you, and your wife.

[maninfemaleclothing]

Inspirational story, and one I am sure many here would like.

You were blessed to say the least.

Good on you, and your wife.

Thank you Pythos. I guess the jist of what I was trying to say is that crossdressing is just that, dressing in the clothes of the opposite sex. Once someone does make-up and hair it's possible at times not to be able to tell that that someone is crossdressed. I think where the person crosses the line and tries to actually LOOK not just dress like the opposite sex, they become an impersonator whether you're a guy impersonating a female or visa versa. I in no way could ever have been mistaken for that as I had a go-tee and sideburns by fourteen years of age.

[BBB]

It is a man thing; as females in the west have a huge choice of fashion, to such an extent that I think that it is extremely difficult for a woman to cross dress. Most shops on line and in the high street will stock a greater variety of womens' trousers than mens'.