Cross Dressing FAQs

Cross Dressing FAQs

What Is a Crossdresser?
What Causes Crossdressing?
Is There a Cure?
Is Crossdressing New?
What Types of People are Crossdressers?
Is Crossdressing Illegal or Immoral?
Does Crossdressing Influence Sexuality?
What About Wives?
What is it Like Being a Crossdresser?
What Should You Do If You Know a Crossdresser?

What is a Crossdresser?
Crossdresser, Transvestite or Transgendered Person are terms used to describe a person who regularly takes on the appearance of the opposite sex in order to satisfy a deep personal need.

We use and prefer the term "Crossdresser" as it is less limited and colored by common usage.

Above all, however, a Crossdresser is a real person.

What Causes Crossdressing?
What causes a person born physically male to need to dress and behave as a female (and vice-versa) in order to have peace of mind?

There is no present definitive answer. There appears to be a genetic predisposition and a prenatal hormonal basis for a person's gender identity - the mental perception an individual has about his or her gender - which, though subject to social influences, is independent of a person's physical sexual identity.

Crossdressing is simply the outward expression by such a person of this essential gender identity and Crossdressing is thus no less real or compelling for this person than the expression by the average male and female of their masculinity and femininity.

Is There a Cure?
There is no cure for Crossdressing for the simple reason that Crossdressing is not an illness but a state of being. Crossdressers are "born and not made". Think of it this way - if you always desired to have the Tagalong type of cookie and your friend always desired the Lemonade type of cookie. But something happened in society that suddenly made desiring the Tagalong type of cookie not "socially acceptable" by societal norms. Does that also suddenly stop making you desire the Tagalong type of cookie? Has desiring Tagalong cookies suddenly become an "illness" that someone else needs to "cure"? Of course not. When viewed with a broader perspective one can see that the desire to cross dress is also one's personal desire.

Is Crossdressing New?
Throughout recorded history, and in every human culture, there have always been Crossdressers. In many societies, Crossdressers have been accepted for the reality they represent and their uniqueness has been utilized by such societies for the common good. It is a culture's attitude to Crossdressing that determines whether Crossdressing is or is not a "problem" to that culture.

What Type of People are Crossdressers?
Crossdressers come from all walks of life and every strata of society. Spouses, parents, children and friends are Crossdressers. There are no distinctions.

Is Crossdressing Illegal or Immoral?
There is nothing in the act of Crossdressing that offends any law in most of the world. Most major religions do not consider the act of Crossdressing immoral.
For further information on this go to Crossdressing and the Bible on this site.

Does Crossdressing Influence Sexuality?
A person's sexual preference or sexuality is independent of their mental gender identity. Human sexual diversity exists amongst Crossdressers in the same basic proportions as it does in the general community. In fact, as Crossdressers are part of the general community, your "average" Crossdresser is likely to be heterosexual, to have married and have children.

What About Wives?
Because crossdressing is somewhat socially unacceptable (although this is rapidly changing), many crossdressers do not tell their wives about their crossdressing needs. This often results in marital disharmony. Many crossdressers are afraid that the wife will not understand and will leave upon finding out about her husbands feminine desires. Where the wife is aware of her husbands feminine side and has decided to accept and even assist her crossdressing husband in becoming more feminine the marriage has in fact been strengthened. Wives have found their crossdressing husbands more willing to do household chores and to be more loving, sympathetic, and compassionate resulting in a much stronger relationship.

What is it Like Being a Crossdresser?
Most Crossdressers discover their need to crossdress during childhood. They have no idea why they feel the way they do, yet quickly find that the expression of this part of their nature results in reprimand and alienation from parents, family and friends - the people they love and value the most. This can result in the development of unreasonable feelings of unhealthy personal shame.

So most Crossdressers become secretive about their Crossdressing and, doing their best to deny and suppress this essential part of their being, grow fulfilling themselves as human being in all the other ways they can. But being a Crossdresser doesn't "go away" any more than the essential self can ever go away. Sustained denial of the expression of this essential self can result in severe emotional disturbance.

Shame, fear and loneliness find expression in thought with such questions as - "Would my best friends, workmates, family, father / mother, wife / partner and my children still want me and love me if they knew this part of me or would they reject me with scorn or fear?".

Many Crossdressers ultimately find it impossible and intolerable to exist like this. They feel compelled to learn about themselves and to "open up" to the significant others in their lives. Rejection may occur, most often Crossdressers are surprised at the level of acceptance they receive, which so often reflects the level of their own self-acceptance. They liberate themselves to enjoy the exhilaration of the expression of this essential part of their being through Crossdressing.

On a much more positive note, most Cross Dressers are more loving, sympathetic, and compassionate. They are gentle, caring and nurturing people. They are very sensitive and have a strong desire to share their feelings and respond to the needs of others.

It is possible to be a complete and happy person and be a crossdresser!

What Should You Do If You Know a Crossdresser?
Be open minded. Be prepared to learn some sensible realities about crossdressing.

Above all, know and remind yourself that being a Crossdresser will not change the child, the partner, parent or friend you know and maybe love, into someone different. After all the only real difference is that you know!
Continue to see the individual person and allow yourself the gifts of an open heart and open mind!

Some of the information for these FAQs is provided by The Gender Centre
Web: www.gendercentre.org.au
The Gender Centre is committed to developing and providing services and activities which enhance the ability of people with gender issues to make informed choices.
The Gender Centre is also committed to educating the public and providers about the needs of people with gender issues. They offer a wide range of services to people with gender issues, their partners, families and friends in New South Wales, Australia. They also act as an education, support, training and referral / resource Centre to other Organizations and Service Providers.

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