I want to better understand the differences between what is at first blush two distinct sets of psychology. One says that "I am a man who can wear what he wants and behave as I choose". The other questions the concept of man or male altogether and hence core identity itself. Both are sometimes represented on the same internet sites.
When we first started using the term transgender it was meant to describe people who felt an identity incongruence with birth sex but unlike transsexuals did not opt for full medical transition. As time went on it was broadened to include expression with increasingly less questioning of core identity.
No matter the definition however, we are still left with how much expression and identity are blended into each person and what are the motivations for any kind of gender variance they exhibit.
The other day a video popped up on my feed where two people who, at age 40, still identify as "crossdressers" were speaking about their histories. Interestingly one had cross gender feelings by the age of 5 while the other began more stereotypically around the age of puberty. They called themselves the same thing but their stories did not always align perfectly and why would they. Humans are complicated
One of the reasons I stick to gender variance it's because after a while old definitions tend to get weighed down with the dead wood and stigma of the era in which they were adopted and cannot then be easily scrubbed of it.
They become increasingly meaningless.
