Reasons for Crossdressing ~ I have had some thoughts on the various reasons why we dress, which I'd originally posted in reply to the SO of a TS who is transitioning and who was -- understandably -- upset and puzzled that it took her husband until his 30s to realize he was a TS rather than a CD. I think it's more useful to think in terms of motivations rather than labels, although I think the type and strength of each person's motivations leads them to a different place along the transgender spectrum. It's unfortunate the terms have gotten muddied, not that I want labels to put people into little boxes, but rather as a way to understand our differences as well as our commonalities...

An Evening in the Life ~ I ran across a good (and lengthy) article by a reporter for a gay magazine who went out en femme with a local t-girl group. If you're wondering why we CDs like to go out and what some of the emotional satisfaction of cross-dressing are, this gives a good sense of things. The reporter gives a blow-by-blow account of the steps needed to look femme (the guy was even willing to shave his goatee, arms and legs) and gets help with a makeover -- although the poor dear did lay on the blush and eye shadow a bit heavy. Not that any of us have done that our first times...

Enying What's Taken for Granted? ~ In "My Husband Betty" Helen Boyd makes an astute observation that cross-dressers often are envious of things genetic women take for granted: "They envy the easy friendship between women, the casual way women touch each other when they talk. Imagine a man gently brushing another man's hair out of his eyes while they're chatting! But women do that kind of thing all the time, even ones who aren't especially feminine." It does seem like there's a big difference to the way two newly-introduced women interact compared to two guys...

We Are Our Own Worst Enemies ~ Good news and bad news.... The good news is that a would-be novelist joined one of the online forums I belong to in order to do researching on cross-dressing for a novel where the protagonist happens to be a crossdresser -- someone who was fired when he was outed, but who has the huevos to stay in town and carry on with his life....