Male to female cross dressing is so different to female to male.

Why would you want to dress as a man its boring.

Dressing as a woman an object a femophile desires is sexy.. stockings, high heels (and how our legs look and feel), dresses makeup and a wig and we're transformed.

Oh god. I'll never visit my hair salon or have a photo taken again! And I swear I looked like this. At least I'm fair so didn't look like Charlie Chaplin (or Hitler!)

Still...traumatised!!

I love it. What a load of perverts lol

Sindy's nightmare lol.

Well I'm oddly satisfied with this answer, Katie. There's a first for everything, lol.

I think it was your wife's haircut that got me the most. You understand what I'm asking because you've lived the hell of a woman with a horror haircut. Oh lord, I have been there. It's actually quite ridiculous looking back on it, but I have also had the 'cut too short' experience and I wanted to move countries. I was devastated! My entire identity and self esteem disappeared with my hair! Like, why? And yet it happens all the time. Cancer does this to women far too often. :-( As do scissor-happy hairsdressers!

But, and this makes sense, if I had been regularly growing and then cutting off all my hair from childhood, then of course I would have no issue as an adult if I had a scissor-happy hairdresser. Women who have long hair their whole lives are traumatised when its suddenly gone. It is literally and figuratively losing a part of yourself.

You've been crossdressing forever. There is no shock or discomfort. Of course there isn't! Duh. I forgot about the childhood part. So today I actually get a question answered that needs no further discussion. It makes sense. I feel like celebrating or something.

This almost never happens! haha.

I don't think we're different we're just not restricted by gender stereo types.

How we appear to the world and ourselves are two very different things. How often have you walked down the street and think 'what the hell do they look like' when someone is dressed 'unconventionally' or poorly. By poorly I mean that the clothes just aren't appropriate for the setting.

I'll happily pop down to the local DIY store in my decorating gear - paint splattered old t shirt, jeans etc but I wouldn't dream of doing the same for a night out.

Equally I wouldn't mix 'masculine' and 'feminine' clothes. I know some people are gender fluid and will happily mix and match but I like to compartmentalise different aspects of my personality.

Your self image can be affected by a number of factors. My wife had a hair cut that she hated. She was really upset and it almost reached the stage where I was going to offer her my wig! Probably not appropriate at the time bearing in mind how she felt but her whole self esteem plummeted. No way woud she have wanted to be in a photo.

There are women who suffer with excessive facial hair. It does give you a double take at times but I guess that they have to face the world. Equally if you'd caught a picture of yourself with hairy legs (not very feminine). how would you have felt knowing other people would see it?

I think that you also need to remember that we've been crossdressing since we here young so it's not a shock to see ourselves dressed as a woman. It's normal, there are no surprises, we know what we're trying to achieve.

Your moustache was a shock to you. But you're not shocked to see yourself dressed in jeans and a t shirts. 60 years ago that would have been shocking. I don't think I ever saw my gran in anything but a dress or skirts - she'd have never worn jeans. My mum only started wearing jeans in the 80s so what was once shocking and 'masculine' is now the norm.

Some people dress to shock but others prefer to meld into the background. We're each trying to achieve our own thing and at the end of the day it's what makes us happy that counts.