Have you ever felt misunderstood?
Sadly, there’s a lot of ignorance out there! That’s why in this blog post, I want to debunk common myths about crossdressers and transgender women.
Let’s start with one of the biggest misconceptions that’s unfortunately still hanging around:
Myth: Transgender women, crossdressers, and drag queens are all the same.
While all these are valid ways of expressing one’s gender, they represent distinct groups, and it’s important not to use these terms interchangeably.
To clarify, here’s how the GLAAD Media Reference Guide defines some common transgender terms:
- Transgender women – People who were assigned male at birth but who identify as women. Many transgender women are prescribed hormones or undergo surgery, but transgender identity is not dependent upon medical procedures.
- Crossdressers – Men, typically heterosexual men, who occasionally wear clothes, makeup, and accessories associated with women. This activity is a form of gender expression and is not done for entertainment purposes. Crossdressers do not wish to permanently change their sex or live full-time as women.
- Drag queens – Men, typically gay men, who dress like women for the purpose of entertainment.
- Gender non-conforming – A term used to describe some people whose gender expression is different from conventional expectations of masculinity and femininity. The term is not a synonym for transgender or transsexual and should only be used if someone self-identifies as gender non-conforming.
- Non-binary and/or genderqueer – Terms used by some people who experience their gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the categories of male and female. The term is not a synonym for transgender and should only be used if someone self-identifies as non-binary and/or genderqueer.
Now that the record has been set straight, let’s look at some of the most common myths about crossdressers and transgender women.
7 Myths About Transgender Women
- Being transgender is a choice.
- Transgender people are gay.
- Transgender women aren’t “real” women.
- Your sex is defined by your chromosomes and/or hormones.
- You have to have surgery to be a “real” transgender person.
- You aren’t transgender until you start hormone therapy.
- Kids and teens are too young to know if they’re really transgender.
7 Myths About Crossdressers
- Crossdressers are gay.
- Crossdressers are perverts.
- Crossdressing is a psychological problem.
- Crossdressing can be cured.
- Crossdressers want to change their sex.
- Crossdressing is a destructive addiction.
- Crossdressers can’t be good husbands or fathers.
Have you heard any of these myths before? They’re frustrating and hurtful, aren’t they? It’s time for the world to wake up and realize this truth:
Your gender is who you are on the inside. There are countless ways to express your gender, and all are completely valid!
To help spread this truth, check out these excellent resources from GLAAD below. They’re a great way to increase awareness about transgender issues.
Recommended Resources from GLAAD
Now let’s hear from you…
What’s the truth that YOU’D like to set straight? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments below!
Love,
Lucille
Thank you for putting up such a good blog post, Lucille.
For me, personally the biggest and most damaging myth is that transgenderism is “a lifestyle choice,” that if I get my head put on straight, spend time with a good woman, or get “saved” that this scourge will be eliminated and I will become “normal.”
In my jobs I’ve also heard the argument that gender is in the chromosomes (“You are what your chromosomes say you are.”) and people are entitled to their own opinion.
I like me the way I am, though.
I like you the way you are also.
After suppressing for many years (since below the age of ten) my tendency to dress in female lingerie, putting on heels, loving female perfume and imagining myself as girl as just a passing fantasy, I had to really reflect and do some introspection on why these tendencies persisted through all the years. My dad would never have tolerated a son with female tendencies or expressions. Yet I could not cut off these female expressions and tendencies. Many times I even wished I could. So many years have past but the female in me grew stronger with a need and desire to express herself fully. I finally realised that I am transgender and that this was no passing fantasy. I accepted and embraced my female self and how liberating it is. I love being a woman!
For those who think they can construct some simple reason out of this and come up with these myths, you don’t have a clue what it is like to battle with your inner self and finally embrace what has been pulsating within to break free and realise the woman you are.
Bravo Raquel, very well said.
I crossdress because I like the feel of the cloths and I feel more relaxed waring them. I don’t think I would like to compete with the women of today.
Thanks for putting this wonderful post on the site. I’m transgender, but deep in the closet and at my age (early 60s) have decided it best to remain where I am in my life (which truthfully isn’t all that bad even with the obvious discomfort) which kind of puzzles and frustrates my therapists. Anyway, enough about me. The myths surrounding the transgender spectrum are so wrongheaded they sicken me. I so respect everyone who has made the difficult decision to express their authentic selves and those who have made the difficult decision to maintain a lower profile. Dispelling the myths surrounding the transgender spectrum can only help not only those on the spectrum live more full and honest lives, but help society reap the gifts transgender people have to offer.
What frustrates me is that on this third rock from the sun, there are 3+ billion people and you would be hard pressed to find any two that look alike (save twins). The same DNA, genes etc., that make up our physical appearance also controls our internal “expressions.” We are all different, internally as well as externally. Why “the great unwashed” can not accept that does frustrate me!
We, in this universe, also need to understand that as has been expressed earlier, are a virtual rainbow of expressions! Ain’t it great!?
Finally, I have a theory. We are the next phase in human evolution!
I totally agree with you Virginia, great wisdom.
I have thought of that myself over the last several years. I have wondered if we were the next phase in Human Evolution. Then I have read that, People like us have been around for Ages..? So life will go on….
I like how these are summarized. I can see that they are especially aimed toward cis folk to help them understand what is going-on in “sound bite” form (because unless they know a CD or TG person personally, it’s likely they will only remember the *snippets* of what we are about. We who are trans, usually spend years working all this out with great intensity, but cis people, unless they are close, don’t have any skin in our game.)
It’s also worth remembering that this article does not attempt to explain the whole transgender umbrella. CDs and TG/TS folks tend towards the poles of the gender spectrum, and there are LOTS of people who are spread through points between (and beyond!).
Blessings & Joy Everyone!!
Renee (a married woman of transsexual experience)
Great points Renee. Thank you.
I have had the argument of what it means to be a transgendered woman, crossdresser, and drag queen. A gay man kept referring me as a drag queen simply out of anger but then I realized he didn’t know any better. He said any man that dressed as a woman was a drag queen and was really messed up in the head. Now I understood that he was angry at the time of our discussion and that she was trying to cause hurt but I was really trying to educate him on the labels that are out there and that he should not misuse them. There are so many other words he could use that are designed to search people but calling a crossdresser a drag queen or simply childish for a 50 year old man.even though these myths I just that it holds a lot of us back from being who we really want to be and doing whatever you want to do.
It has taken years for me to find a comfort level, but I am there now and as someone else posted, I cannot change or influence the opinions of most people in my life, but I refuse to stereotype myself. I think that quite possibly, I suffer from a multiple identity disorder (and years of counselling supports that conclusion), but I am most happy as a female, and miserable when forced to assume my male identity. Fortunately, over the years, my feminine personality has flourished and taken control of my mental and emotional processes and I have learned to endure the “drab” periods. The hormones help, but allowing myself to accept my true feminine self has been the most important step to living a happy life.