Do you ever hear about transvestites anymore?

I have seen the initialism ‘TV” more than I have seen the spelled out term.

Then there’s this discussion on terminology here which I found edifying.

I could be wrong, but I thought trans people were in process of physically changing.

That is true. Transvestites have a sexual fetish and usually keep their activities private or secret, or experience a sexual charge public or private.

Transgender people identify with / or as one of, the other sex, whether or not they go under the knife. Some transgenders may have a fetish, but the term is best used for those whose identity with the other sex is perfectly natural to them.

sigh

I confuse cats with felines also.

How are these terms differentiated when you say trans gender and sexual identity?

It’s so refreshing to read jokes about the trans community. not

This is a helpful article: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/03/19/transsexual-transgender-transvestite-what-should-you-call-trans-people/

From the link:

A transgender person is one whose gender identity does not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transsexual is a term that has fallen out of favour among most trans people.

It used to mean transgender people who have, or want to, use medical intervention – hormones or surgery – to permanently transition from the gender assigned at birth to the one they identify as.

Many trans people reject the word, some because having that word “sex” in the middle of it may suggest that being trans is all about sexuality, rather than gender identity.

Some trans people are happy to be called “transsexual”. Some will reject the word “transgender”. But it’s best to stick to the latter unless they tell you otherwise.

Another word that has fallen out of favour. Because so-called “transvestism” was seen as a medical disorder, cross-dresser is now a much more accepted term.

A cross-dresser, or transvestite, is a person who dresses in and acts in the style of the gender opposite to the one they were assigned at birth. (Dressing as the opposite sex for a play, or to do an impression of someone, is something totally different).

Drag is historically based on cross-dressing.

Arguably the most famous drag queen on earth, RuPaul, caused controversy earlier this year when he said he would “probably not” let a trans person who had transitioned compete on the show and compared taking hormones as a queen to doping in sport.

Well, you actually did a really good job of explaining and covering it, @Jonsblond . Thanks. I actually learned something from you today.

@Yellowdog
gender and sexuality are two different things. gender is which sex you identify with. sexuality is just that….your sexuality, whether you be gay,lesbian,bi or pan.

@Yellowdog The link explained it, but thank you. I only did the research. :)

@JLeslie RuPaul identifies as a man because he is not transgender. When drag queens dress in drag they refer to each other as she, but that is the only time they refer to each other as the opposite sex. I learned this by watching RuPaul’s Drag Race with my son.

@Jonsblond I think part of the disconnect, for me, is living in areas not as accepting. Even with my friends, I dont want to ask many questions because I dont want to offend or be perceived as butting in. It seems so private to me, I ignore it and just enjoy the person. Does that make sense?
So thanks, that did clarify things better!

@KNOWITALL I get it. I was clueless until my son came out as trans and I had to differentiate all of these terms that included trans in them. It’s not that I wasn’t accepting before I educated myself, because I was. I was just clueless.

Sure have. LGBTQ.

Sorry I confused Ron Paul with RuPaul. I thought for a bit that the USA was more socially advanced than I thought, and good for him.

An important distinction needs to be recognised that cross dressing & drag are completely different things.
Although trans (across) vestite (clothes) translates (latin) as fundamentally similar, the reality is drag do it for fun, where tv seek sexual gratification.

Another example of ignorance based on placing a volatile word (trans) at the head of a term.

^Cross dressing and drag are the same. Drag queens enjoy the pleasure of cross dressing. It’s an identity to then, it’s not for shits and giggles. This is why they want to be addressed as she when they are in drag. My BIL and his husband host drag shows in Seattle. They educated me on the subject.

Since when is trans a volatile word? Only you would address it as something negative. I say this because you are often negative with your views here.

You can be a red neck and dress in drag for shits and giggles but a drag queen is a cross dresser and deserves respect.

One of my best friends is a man who enjoys dressing in women’s clothes. It has nothing to do with sexual gratification. It has everything to do with comfort. He struggles with his identity because of this and what society expect of him so he only wears dresses and skirts at home.

@Jonsblond Thanks for the information, although I’m not sure why the initial sigh was your response, or who you were aiming the sigh at. I ask the question so I know what the current information is on the topic so I can be sensitive to the community. The sigh is dismissive and condescending.

So, if I understand correctly, cross dressing is the preferred term now.

I never thought of RuPaul as transgender. I never heard him claim he identifies as a woman. Although, it’s not like I really keep up with what he’s saying honestly. I hadn’t remembered the hormone comment, but now that you say it, I vaguely remember that controversy. I don’t watch his TV show, or follow him in any way.

I also don’t think of cross dressing as a fetish or sexual (although I know sometimes it can be for some people) I just think of it as something people either enjoy or are attracted to the other gender’s fashion. I was around cross dressers a lot as a teen and I just thought of them as liking to dress up. Possibly, some of them were transgender too. As an adult I know people who were transgender and going through the hormone treatments, and sometimes surgery. One they live as the other sex I’m not even sure transgender is even a necessary term. It seems to me once transitioned they are the other sex. I’m not sure how the community feels about that. It’s like converting, or becoming a new citizen, is the old identity still something that should be, or needs to be, referenced? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Funny you should mention it.
Queen of Drags just started airing on German TV.

From the health/medical/psychological perspective, we use transvestite to describe someone who dresses in clothes of the “opposite gender” for sexual arousal. This differs from people who cross-dress or do drag IF their motivation for doing so is not sexual arousal. Traditionally, this was only heterosexual men who dressed in women’s clothes for arousal, but that requirement has fallen away with subsequent editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Another requirement for diagnosis is distress associated with the compulsive need to crossdress for sexual arousal.

This link has dashes in it, which is messing with the formatting, but you can copy and paste the whole thing into a browser:

https://www.theravive.com/therapedia/transvestic-disorder-dsm--5-302.3-(f65.1)

I have no doubt that our professional use of the term is not the same as the colloquial use or social acceptability of the term. However, cross-dressing is not necessarily a paraphilia (abnormal sexual behavior), while transvestism is (because of the distress it causes and potential inability for arousal without cross-dressing).