I think it's a fetish.

They like the feel of the fine clothing made for women. Men's clothing isn't as confortable. Yeah, well that's part of the answer. I guess it's just the way they are made.

I'm not gay, nor am I a crossdresser, but I've tried it out with friends out of curisosity. I just think it's just what they like doing. :)

It's not just about percentages, whp do these guys expect to attract in women's clothing? Certainly not women! So if they attract men while in women's clothing, particularly gay men, wouldn't that logically lead one to assume he is gay?

I like to wear my husband's basketball shorts. I'm not gay. Why would it HAVE to be gay for a man to wear a dress? or makeup? or pantyhose?

Ach, Mr. Blob, are you sinkink of tryink your vife's fine lingerie? I'm sure the silkly softness vould be qvite nice. Ve whall dizcuss it soon.

Just think about Rocky Horror. Not everyone who dresses in bad lingerie is gay at Rocky. :D

Many heterosexual cross-dressers never come out of the closet, not even to their wives. Others tell their wives after ten or twenty or thirty years of marriage, sometimes because they've been caught wearing their wives' clothes, sometimes because the clothes have been discovered. the revelation that a man himself is the "other woman" is a staple of cross dresser histories.) Heterosexual cross-dressers often spend their whole adult lives ordering size 20 cocktail dresses from catalogues and dressing in secret, with only the mirror for company. But lots of these men, driven by loneliness, by unmet narcissistic needs (all dressed up and nowhere to go), by risk-taking impulses (it's not hard to grasp that a forty-five-year-old 240-pound former Marine strolling through the Mall of America in full drag is consciously courting risk), want to cross-dress outside their bedrooms. Engineers, accountants, truck drivers and computer programmers, disproportionately represented among the retired military, predominately Christian and conservative (far more moderate Republicans than liberal Democrats), these men go to get-togethers in Kansas City, in Pittsburgh, in Seattle, all over America. They make forays into malls in pairs, and they go to tolerant gay bars in small groups. They browse in the Belladonna Plus Size Shop of Beverly, Massachusetts, and they hang out at Cross/Cross Consultants, of Houston, which offers special package rates for shopping, a makeover, and dinner at a restaurant; To weekly or monthly meetings, of six or ten or twenty guys, in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Trenton, New Jersey, in Springfield, Missouri, and Water Mill, New York, and throughout the Bible Belt. Arizona has enough cross-dressers to support chapters in both Phoenix and Tucson. A man who cross dresses and needs to be seen can go to conferences like Fantasia Fair and Fall Harvest, or take trips on any number of cruise lines that happily host groups of cross-dressers and their spouses amid a thousand other guests sailing to Catalina and other destinations.

Why is it assumed men who dress in women-specific clothing are out to "attract" someone? Could it be they appreciate the fabric, the feeling on their skin, the way they appear in a mirror? Perhaps then, it would be no surprise at how many "men" have womens garments on under their power suits. Gender is fluid and circular, don't get stuck in Binary thinking and judgement.

First off, the majority, if not all, of gay men are entirely secure in their masculinity, thus, eliminating the need for them to feel like a woman. Now that thats covered, there are two main reasons that men cross dress. The first is that they have a fetish. The second is that they just like to feel pretty, and are more comfortable in female clothes than male clothes. While we're at it, there is also a huge different between cross dressers and trans-gendered people. Cross dressers don't want to change their sex. Trans-people need to have their sex changed in order to live a happy life, because we are born with the wrong body. I'm not sure if you didn't know that, but I figured since it was on topic, I would clarify, seeing as no one really knows the distinction.

Because short skirts, pantyhose, and high heels are incredible. Why should I be denied the feeling and the look I love simply because of my plumbing, which I'm totally happy with? Why should the fact that I prefer skirts and heels to pants and boring shoes and socks make me gay any more than liking mushrooms make other people gay (which is to say, not at all)?

I'm in suits and bow ties for work daily. If one of my lady colleagues were to come to work in a business suit, pants or skirt, with a buttoned-up blouse and a bow tie, she'd be just regarded as making a fashion statement, if anything would be thought of it at all. If, however, I showed up in a dress - different story altogether!

Yeah, that too!

Women's clothing is more comfortable? Why, then, are there certain crossdressers who go to the extent of wearing fullblown bridal gowns, with the crinoline and all the accoutrements, veil, makeup, wig, etc? I wouldn't imagine it's altogether comfy.

i've made out with one before. its just another weird fetish. doesn't mean they're gay, just like all lesbians arent butch and dress in menswear.

if they aim to attract men, then they are gay. The questions is: are men who like cross-dressers gay?

No, most crossdressers are not gay. They do it because they apprecite women and want to emulate them. And when they do it in a real woman's presence they are said to have a softer personality, like they get along better with their female friends and are more sensitive to their needs. So then how could it be wrong? I enjoy wearing the wardrobe of clothes I have built a collection of over the years, and it hurts nobody. To get maximum time in them when not out in the real world, I sleep in them and also I've taken baths or showers in them as well (yes dress, lingerie, heels or boots and all!) Good clean fun and it's easily dried in the machine.

The Methodist Church did a 5 year study on homosexuality and published a book on their findings. The following was reported in the book as facts. A crossdresser or transvestite is someone who enjoys wearing the clothing of the opposite sex. (nothing more, nothing less) Most crossdressers are: 1-Happily married 2-Heterosexual 3-Dress in the privacy of their home. The book went on to say that most peoples knowledge of crossdressers is based on what they have seen on tv in the parades in New York but in fact most of the ones dressed in the parade aren't crossdressers but are making fun of the gay,lesbian,bi-sexual & transgender (GLBT)community.

Cross-dressing is something that happens to a male or female at a young age. In my case, i tried on a pair of pantyhose when i was seven. They did not fit -I could not wait to wear them though. I was always theiving nylons off of someone in my house. I wore a lot of panythose when i was younger. Especially in my early teens. I got caught when i was fifteen - and quit for a few years after that. One day, when I was about twenty three or so, I went to wal mart and just decided to buy a pair of hose again. I have been addicted again ever since. I started wearing heels shortly after, skirts, and bought a bra and stuffed it with old pantyhose. I only fully dress up on occasion. That is me. However, I do wear pantyhose almost every day. They are very comfortable to sleep in. Cross dressers are generally not gay. Over 95% of them are straight. Most cross dressers are good people with good family values and good jobs. That above paragraph came right out of one of my sociology books.

My friend who's a cross-dresser isn't gay.

Because we like to be pretty!

There is a fraternity of cross dressing straight men called Phi Epsilon Mu or "FEM" they have a monthly get together/dance in a hotel ballroom. Most men bring their wives. They don't allow bi or gay men to attend. I don't know what makes me do it. I just know that I get off on it. I remember that when I first stared doing it that I got really aroused. I started doing it just for Halloween for years and then finally got the guts to do it at other times. It is like any other fetish. I have never felt like I was a macho man. I am not into sports at all and I have never hit anyone. I am turned on by women and I want to look like one and feel like one. I also enjoy the attention.

We have nicer clothes. >P

88% of crossdressers are not gay, I am a lifelong crossdresser and feel totally natural when fully dressed as woman, I go out in public about twice a week completely presenting myself as a woman. If I had my choice I would never wear mens clothing again.

MY FIANCE IS A CROSS DRESSER ASND HE SURE ISNT GAY

I am not GAY, but have bi-tendencies. I love to be dressed up from head to heel so to speak, I dress fully with my wigs, makeup, matching bras and panties or sexy lingerie, with pantyhose or stockings and a sexy pair of high heels, while wearing sexy executive skirt outfits or dressing as a sexy secretary. I dogo out in public and I feel so free being "gawked" at and having nice things said to me.. the funny thing is, is that a ton of ladies ask me about makeup tips and how i get to look like i do.. Kisses,, Deanna

been crossdressing for years love it just do and no not gay

Why crossdress if you're not gay? Because women get the pretty clothes! It's similar to the reason I shop in the guy's section sometimes. The great t-shirts with the funny sayings on them are all in the men's department (sparkly pink things that proclaim that I'm a "princess" on them so do not count. Blech.), which is totally unjust and so are pants with actual, decent sized pockets. (Why does no one suggest that I must be trans/a lesbian/whatever if I wear those?) Past the basics of providing covering for the body, male and female clothes are designed to fulfill different roles. So if a guy wants a look or feel from his clothes that simply isn't covered by the men's department, the logical thing to do is go look in the women's department. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation and everything to do with the effect of the clothing.

I notice that in this discussion, everyone is putting crossdressers into two camps - gay or straight. Now, there is another camp - bisexual. Someone who feels very at ease being intimate with men or women. Crossdressing, althought a lot are straight, is another avenue for a bi-sexual to express themselves and enjoy a sexual relationship with someone. Enjoying the look, feeling of clothing and just expressing themselves in makeup gives a person the opportunity to enjoy themselves with the same sex. If your bisexual, your not gay or straight totally - just exploring all sides of your personality.

1 out of 100 men are some type of crossdressers. I am the crossdresser that is trying to become a female. There are those that dress up in public as a female just for the feeling. It does feel alwsome to dress like one. I read a story of a crossdresser who walked out in public and a group of guys flirted with him not knowing he was a guy. The crossdresser wrote that it felt good. He never considered to be with a guy. Now, the word gay means you consider to be with one gender. I would say around 90% of crossdressers are not gay, but bisexual. They like both genders.

Gender expression and sexuality are not linked whatsoever.

Not gay. I don't think any crossdressers are gay. Ever see a guy crossdressed at a gay bar or at least pictures of it. Almost never, I think crossdressers do so because they like women, they want to resemble them a bit. Not trying to be female, just feel female if that makes sense.

I don't have stats available to you, but it's not that strange for someone to cross-dress and not be gay. Clothing is only gendered because of social conditioning and labeling. In itself, a skirt isn't inherently femininine. In some Indian and African cultures, men wear skirts for comfort. If a man thinks women's clothing is comfortable and attractive, there's no harm in that. If he's straight, maybe he likes it because it makes him feel close to women in some way (which was film director Ed Wood's rationale for cross dressing).

the percentage of crossdressers that are gay is very low, contrary to popular opinion. about 14% are gay. Some of us are just born with a stronger feminine side that we express by presenting as a woman.

i have seen several publications that say roughly 80% of crossdressers are straight and not gay. i have loved to wear womens clothing since at around 12 or so. i have done it in varying degrees and have joined a few clubs where i could go dressed and accepted. why do i do it? i really have no idea. i have tried to stop several times but the urge is strong. i am not gay nor am i even bi, but i do get emotional and sexual satisfaction in dressing up pretty.

+5 I am transsexual and have not had my operation yet. I have friends who are crossdressers and they only do it because it is a sexual turn on for them. For me wearing a dress is just making the outside matching the inside and there is no sexual satisfaction in wearing a dress. I love it because I feel like the right gender. Hope that helps

Ive been wearing womens clothing for a couple years. I started by wearing pantyhose as a request from my girlfriend. That halloween she bought me a skirt and a pair of heels and i wore them that halloween. I love how i felt in my skirt and tight and have since started wearing skirt and tights/pantyhose to work. I work in am office and wear a business suit, usually a skirt and not pants because i feel more comfortable. I usually just wear skirts, but i have worn gowns in more formal situations with my girlfriend. My girlfriend gets so turned on when im out in my womens clothing.