Interdressing

By: Deird Duncan, April 2000

Brief intro: I'm a 31 year old (29/06/68) intergendered person and crossdresser (MtF).

I understand that the word crossdressing covers a wide range, which probably includes the way I dress. But somehow I feel it doesn't completely suit me...

See, I'm intergendered. Neither man or woman. Right in between or something like that. I just can't name or seperate the female and male features in me, and I don't want to!

Anyway, in a mailinglist I'm involved in there was a discussion about crossdressing. Someone wrote that crossdressing doesn't really apply to androgynous or intergendered people. I agreed and "invented" the word interdressing. It's simply how intergendered people dress. And indeed, there may be a considerable overlap with crossdressing.

Just to fend off some possible critisism: I do respect every TG/TV/TS/CD and all other gender queers, and the way everyone dresses. It's absolutely not my intention to create confusion or whatever. I only truly feel the need for another word that I really feel comfortable with. Other people may share my feelings. Some may disagree.

So there it is: interdressing.

What does it mean to me myself?

Well, personally I don't feel the need to pass as someone of the opposite sex, simply because none of the two standard sexes suits me. My dressing is an expression of my intergendered indentity. I just love soft fabrics, lovely designs etc. The clothes I buy nowadays happen to be from the ladies' racks. That's where I love to browse. And it goes very well with my long hair :-)

On special occasions I might like to go completely en femme, and I mean completely! But that would mean a lot of effort. I'm not even sure whether I could pass, you know? But as I wrote above, passing isn't really important to me.

Nevertheless I've been addressed as "she" in a liquor store recently (in my interdressed outfit). And only last week an acquantance of mine saw me from a distance in the gallery I work in and xe thought xe saw a woman sitting at the reception. Well, it was only me, half in drab and half in drag ;-)

To keep things simple: interdressing means the way intergendered people (cross)dress. For myself I would add the phrase: "without the intention to pass", that's only my own context which doesn't apply to other people. But not intending to pass is an important feature in my interdressing.

Well, consider the word "interdressing" launched on 10-04-2000 at 0:45 G.M.T. :-)



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