I'm confused about the problem with the term 'crossdressing'. We still live in a world that is mostly gender-binary, so most people do consider clothes to be gender-codifiers. Our culture associates skirts with female, we can't avoid that. So if you want to describe yourself as someone who wears clothes associated to a gender different than your own, but not as someone who identifies with the gender associated with those clothes, what term should you use?
Oh, and I also wanted to ask why is it insulting for a cis to cross-dress? If I say that I like to occasionally wear men’s clothes (pants that don’t grab my crotch!), but I don’t identify as male, why is that mocking to trans/gender queer/etc’?
I was mainly reblogging for the hilarious ‘argument’ added to it, but here’s how I see it: (Note that I am a heteronormative cisgendered person, but this is how I see it.)
I am currently wearing a button-up shirt that was marketed as a man’s shirt.
And yet, very few people would call me out as a ‘crossdresser’. Partly because this term is used mainly derogatorily, and partly because it’s become acceptable for women to wear men’s clothing. It isn’t necessarily “outside the norm”, so to speak.
I don’t tell people “Yeah, I like to wear men’s button-up shirts.”
I just like to wear button-up shirts. Who they’re “for” has no issue on it. I bought it, it’s mine. This isn’t a man’s shirt, this is my shirt.
If a heteronormative cisgendered male wants to wear a skirt, do they need a term for it?
I mean, Kilts, Sarongs, and Lava-Lavas are all seen as unisex. It’s mainly the Western world that still seems to have a problem with it.
The way I see it boil down to is that Western society feels as though you need a separate term for it, because it’s still degrading to be associated with things female (as most people one would call a ‘crossdresser’ are men dressing in traditionally feminine clothes). But who gives a fuck? I don’t. Shit, I did my friend Craig’s makeup a bit back and he was prettier than I am. He paints his toenails. Does he need a word for that? No. He just happens to paint his toenails. Just like some girls paint their toenails. Whatever.
The implication they were making towards a Cisgendered person crossdressing being insulting was when they do it specifically to mock Transgendered persons, particularly those that don’t “pass” as successfully.
Also, I have to disagree with your comment about the world being mostly bigendered.
We live in a world that is assumed to be mostly bigendered, just like we live in a world where most people are assumed to be heterosexual.The actual numbers on that sort of thing are unknown, and a lot of people don’t know enough about it to identify themselves correctly with what they feel.
Aaaand there are lots of non-binary gender identifications that have been around for a long time! See Two-Spirits, Hijira, Muxe, and the Winkte!
(Note: All of those terms are very culturally rooted. Don’t be that person who identifies as something you don’t understand if that isn’t your culture)
