Crossdressing, Transvestism and other...

There is a lot of disagreement as to why men crossdress and that is because men crossdress for lots of different reasons. Some simply get a kick out of wearing women's clothes much like drag queens, others see it as a way of challenging society and it's perhaps interesting to note that in most western societies, it's not seen as strange for women to wear men's clothes.

Some cross-dressers get a real sexual thrill from wearing lingerie, makeup and pretty dresses, but are not at all unhappy about being men.

Another group of cross dressers wish that they were women, and spend much of their time passing themselves off as women, but they harbor no thoughts of having their penises lopped off.

The last group see their penises and their lack of boobs as one of nature's mistakes, and they will go to extreme lengths to correct the situation.

After his first cross-dressing experience, a typical cross-dresser will more often than not, progress into one of three will known and well studied groups.

He will simply continue to experiment with women's clothes and makeup and crossdressing will never become anything more than a fetishism.
The second route would be spending extended periods of time dressed as a woman without wanting to be one, and it would never go beyond being a sort of mind game, and he wouldn't ever dream of surrendering his male persona.

The third route will lead him to the edge of trans-sexuality, in that he's want to live and to pass himself of as a woman for long periods of time, and the only real difference between these so-called "secondary" transsexuals, and the full blown kind is that the "secondary" kind have no strong desire to actually become a woman, and certainly wouldn't have their penises removed.

Transvestism is another term for cross-dressing, and this and trans-sexuality and the association of both with homosexuality are often confused, even by some practicing cross-dressers.

A typical transvestite is a man who appears quite normal, except for the when he cross-dresses, and he's unlikely to be homosexual, he will more often than not prefer women as his sex partners and will most certainly not want to lose his penis. For many transvestites, cross-dressing provides them with a powerful sexual experience and most of them have their first cross-dressing experience around puberty or in adolescence.

In contrast, a typical male transsexual will not identify in any way with his physically normal male body and will most likely believe that he is a woman that is trapped in a man's body, and he will suffer terribly, and believe that his penis is one of nature's mistakes and will want to get rid of it.

Psychiatrists are in broad disagreement as to when the urge to cross dress kicks in, with many of them suggesting that although the need may come earlier, it's not normally manifested until puberty, which clearly shows how little they know about the subject since many male offspring race around the house in their mother's or sister's clothes, and it's further complicated by the fact that some grow up to be cross-dressers, some don't, and some grow up to be homosexuals and some don't.

Crossdressers are said to comprise around 15% of the male population which would seem to be a highly exaggerated figure, but most are 'normal', healthy, heterosexual men with only the urge to sometimes wear women's clothes which sets them apart from the rest of 'normal' society, and it seems to simply give them a sensation of well-being, pleasure, sexual-gratification and perhaps self-identity.