Two camps

There seems to be two camps within the group of people who feel comfortable using the term "crossdressing" for what they engage in. One group could be described more as a hobbyist who uses it as relief valve for their need for feminine expression. They want to "let the inner girl out" once in a while but  there is no serious questioning of core identity with the leading of a typical male existence being their desired baseline.

The second group are people who might have wanted to advance into another state were they not constrained by life circumstances in some way. They may have had some early childhood ambiguity about their gender but put it aside and got on with life only later settling for some arrangement that helped them deal with what could be mild dysphoria which was at least somewhat manageable through properly timed episodes of cross gender expression. Their arrangement is less than perfect but it would have to do if they were to avoid upsetting other aspects of their lives.

The reason I don't favor the term is because not only does it leave out female gender variance but it also does little to properly define someone. Plus it is saddled down with historical and often derogatory and derisive opinion regarding what life was like for some gender variant people at least a couple of decades ago. In other words, it is becoming an increasingly outdated label for what we now term gender non-conformance.

But how it differs from the gender variance I see with youth today is that it is largely done in secret with both camps wanting an immersive experience into womanhood (however temporary) and to regale in it until the desire is satiated for the moment. Everything is then put away again to return to a normal life which is, to varying degrees, deemed acceptable if imperfect.