By: Katie

Subject: Dressing to impress

Who do we dress to impress?

To quote Davina 'If it was the norm that we could dress how we liked and no one thought it was weird .. not so sure as how I dress I try to look attractive and as convincing as possible so even if it was accepted would men be attracted to me as Davina.. I dont want that!!

I wonder how many crossdressers actually dress to attract men and how many actually only it do it for themselves? The majority I would think.

I think the misconception is that if a man dresses as a woman he does it to attract me.

I know I don't dress to impress anyone but myself.

Should peoples motives to dress as they feel be always judged as a way to attract a mate?

There's the old fashioned view of female rape victims who wear short skirts and low cut tops are 'asking for it'.

Why is it that it is predominately men who think that women always dress to attract them? We've already discussed that women will quite often make a special effort when they go out with their girlfriends. Whether they are married, single or in a relationship dressing up does't mean they're trying to attract a mate.

I think the confusion lies in that wanting to look attractive doesn't mean you want to attract the unwanted attention.

I can understand why women would want to dress down to avoid this unwanted attention which is a real shame. To a degree it denies women (and crossdressers) the right to look attractive or sexy or however you want to phrase it because men only see it as a come on sign.

I do think that this is the main reason for the stigma around crossdressing. Because men see an attractive (sexy) 'woman' the first thought is that she's 'up for it'. If they find out she's a man then all hell breaks loose.

Generally I think women are far more accepting of a crossdressing man, 'you've got good legs' or 'that style really suits you'. They seem to be genuinely interested with no aggression or ridicule (teenage girls excepted).

Maybe this is because they can appreciate the desire to dress up for themselves which the non-crossdressing man can't.