- ♥ Occasional crossdressing
- ♥ Full-Time crossdressing
- ♥ Full Gender reassignment
- ♥ Gender fluid
I know the last category sounds like "something else" but it's not really. It is an endpoint.
The old joke
"What's the difference between a transvestite and a transsexual?" "Five years."
can make some in or near the community say "that's funny because it's true" but I don't think it is. I think there are some (many?) transgendered people who are having problems coming to grips with the fact that their happiness depends on aligning their external appearance with what they're wearing under their clothing.
I truly do not believe that there are men who say "I love the way I look as a woman, but now it's time to go further and go the GRS route." I do believe there are men who say "I love the way I look as a woman. It feels right and the male body is... wrong," and GRS is the next step.
To rephrase, I think there are two distinct classes of transgenderism: ones who say "it's important to my happiness to present as a woman" and "it's important to my happiness to be a woman."
The fourth category, above, is "it's important to my happiness to be who I want to be. And that is subject to change from day to day."
I do see people moving from category to category. I feel like I should draw a state diagram here, but the causes of the state changes are many. For example:
- ♥ Occasional to full-time: I really don't like presenting as a male. I'm more comfortable as a woman, I'd like to get a job as a woman and live as such day-to-day.
- ♥ Full-time to reassignment: I feel like this is a lie to myself, and that has to end.
- ♥ Occasional to fluid: I want to make this more a part of my life. I don't see why I can't wear a skirt to shop if I find it more comfortable, or wear a nice blouse instead of a shirt-and-tie to work, or patent Mary Janes if they're comfortable.
- ♥ Full time to occasional: I love presenting as a woman but it's taking too much of my daily life. Maybe I should make it a weekend thing. Or a work-only thing.
- ♥ Full time to fluid: I kind of miss some of the male casual. As a woman, I can wear them but once I skip my makeup the "ma'am" becomes less reliable. But that's OK.
- ♥ Post-surgery to any of the other categories: I enjoy the freedom of presentation I now have as a woman and I don't see why I can't take advantage of that as I see fit.
