skirtcafe.org

The problem that I have with that story is that in the pictures he looks like a woman. The hairstyle, makeup, clothes are all intended to impersonate female. So, unlike many others on this site Jeff being a prime example, he isn't appearing as a man wearing women's clothes but he's impersonating a woman. At least that's the impression I get.

The author made some salient points, however,
I received the same impression as you did Dennis.
Just look at Her/His name Ciara / Colin Cremin

Author Dr. Ciara Cremin
Twitter link @colincremin

I believe we're smelling a dead fish with this one

Uncle Al

I think this heavily blurs the line in many ways between us on this forum and those that label themselves as crossdressers.

On this board, we identify as men and don't seek to pretend in any way to be women (whereas, I think, many crossdressers do). This person identifies as a man, doesn't try to pretend to be a woman, yet pretty much goes the whole hog in clothing and appearance in looking as female as possible (even taking on a female name by the looks of it).

I understand that many here would say, "if it looks like a dog, barks like a dog, then it is a dog'. I find this man somewhat intriguing as far as just how you can take this idea to its extremes, yet still claim to want what we claim we want.

Anyway, good on him, I'd probably not do it to that level, but he has every right to look that way and still feel masculine (whatever this means nowadays!)

My first reaction to the article as I started to read it was "this is bollox; he's clearly a cross-dresser/tv as 'she' goes by the name of Ciara when dressed and that therefore doesn't relate to us". Then I started reading further and researching - a terrible habit of mine - and finally ended up downloading a sample section of Dr Cremin's book on cross-dressing. Reading through this I note that Dr Cremin's perspective on society appears to relate very closely to that of my own. When it comes to 'female clothing' - I refer to this as clothing predominantly worn by women, thereby removing any implicit association with gender/femininity - he puts it thus: "When I say ‘women’s’ or feminine things, I refer to those items, accoutrements, affects and so forth that are emblematic of what people identify with (a westernised form of) femininity, endlessly referenced and reproduced in the imagery of the beauty and fashion industry." and goes on to say " Women do of course dress in many different ways and ‘femininity’ is not intrinsically female or necessarily what is represented as femininity in popular culture." [Cremin, Ciara (2017-08-19T23:58:59). Man-Made Woman: The Dialectics of Cross-Dressing (Kindle Locations 137-140). Pluto Press. Kindle Edition.]

When wearing a skirt (I won't refer to kilts as these are generally wholly accepted by Western society) is it possibly to do so whilst retaining the concept of masculinity and femininity and not wishing to be seen as feminine? Are we not in some way in danger of deluding ourselves? I think it is fair to say the each of us probably has a line, consciously or otherwise, that says "this is ok to wear; this is too feminine". More than that though, for every person it is different, and with time it sometimes changes. My line has moved considerably over the years, facilitated in part by a growing confidence that now permits me to wear out things that I would only every have worn at home. As far as I can tell my line's movement is slowing to where I think will be its final destination, however, I also recognise, that as with the case of Dr Cremin, I can no longer see why a man should not wear dresses, full makeup etc. and still be wanted to be viewed as a man. The view I believe is similarly expressed in the telegraph article: "When dresses and lipstick no longer denote woman, when a handbag is just a bag, when ‘men in tights’ no longer elicit laughter and they are simply different expressions of style, then we can speak of gender neutral clothing: the notion of gendered clothing is rendered meaningless."

I will end with another exert from Man-Made woman that struck a chord with me, and perhaps may for others, Cremin describing how it was like before and after 'coming out':
"When sequestered in the home, cross-dressing was like having a hobby one felt embarrassed about. Imagine being an adult into Lego. You buy a bucket of Lego on the pretext it is for someone else, a child; back home, when nobody’s around, you pour the Lego out of the box in which you store your collection onto the carpet to play with. Once done, you guiltily scoop it hurriedly back into the box and, having double- and even triple-checked nothing’s left lying around, hide it all under the bed. Occasionally, when the guilt really gets the better of you, you throw the box and all its contents into a bin far away from home knowing that you’ll probably be buying more again later. Now that I dress outside of the home, there’s nothing to hide, nor anything to feel guilty about. So I dress in women’s clothes as often as possible, to the extent that colleagues are surprised to see me in men’s clothes. The balance appears to have shifted. Now it feels like I’m cross-dressing when presenting as a man" [Cremin, Ciara (2017-08-19T23:58:59). Man-Made Woman: The Dialectics of Cross-Dressing (Kindle Locations 106-113). Pluto Press. Kindle Edition]

To me, this is the opposite of what we are about. Dr Cremin uses skirts as a signifier of the feminine, thus reinforcing the exclusively feminine nature of the garment and moving it away from being accessible as a male garment.

If he gains fulfilment, pleasure or whatever in presenting as a woman, then good luck to him. It's an odd but harmless activity and he should go for it. We, however, aren't taking that road - we are going in a very different direction in attempting to change the connotations of skirts from the feminine to the extent that they are accessible for both sexes.

Sinned wrote:The problem that I have with that story is that in the pictures he looks like a woman. The hairstyle, makeup, clothes are all intended to impersonate female. So, unlike many others on this site Jeff being a prime example, he isn't appearing as a man wearing women's clothes but he's impersonating a woman. At least that's the impression I get.

That is definitely the impression I get as well. He appears to be a classic Tranny.

Stu wrote:To me, this is the opposite of what we are about. Dr Cremin uses skirts as a signifier of the feminine, thus reinforcing the exclusively feminine nature of the garment and moving it away from being accessible as a male garment.

I concur with this assessment of the situation. Dr. Cremin, to my mind, fits the classic definition of the orthodox cross-dresser. Now, that's entirely OK if he's happy with the results, but it doesn't do a lick to help with what we're after.

If I dress to pass as a woman in appearance I am still a male, go by the name John, speak in my natural masculine voice, and prefer masculine pronouns. But with this individual using a feminine name along with feminine pronouns we have a classic crossdresser.

However if I am ma'amed I am not offended. It does not matter if I am ma'amed or sir'ed as long as I am not called "Maggot". The only way I would ever consider myself a woman would be to submit to SRS (sexual revision surgery). The thought of it makes me shudder.

John