Is “”Dressing Up” hereditary?

[Caty Ryan]

Hi girls,

My dear and much loved Mum loved to have a laugh and in turn have people laugh along with her. She was very good at sewing etc and although she never “crossdressed “as such, she did get herself into all manner of outfits designed to make people laugh and if she won a prize as a result… well and good….

So if part of or all of the above rubbed off on me, (but with the obvious exception of me getting into her things from an early age), then I guess that may explain a thing or two .

She was an avid “cruiser” especially around our South Pacific region. She would enter the fancy dress comps with her bra and pants stuck on her head and call herself, The “Undiestaker”. That won a prize or three. Another that comes to mind was a high school girls school uniform from a charity shop, plus a few other bibs and bobs, eg fishnet tights and a garter on one leg.

Of course there were many other times and outfits, but these two will suffice as examples.

Happy dressing

Caty.

[Cassie Jayson]

Caty, sounds like your mother was a lot of fun. I’ll bet she is missed by many.
. Cassie

[Alice Underwire]

Hi Caty,

Thanks for the great story about your mum.  I’m sure you miss her very much.

Alice

[Araminta Purdy]

If a predisposition to femininity is genetic I would think that we inherit the relative genes from our mothers but reinforced by similar genes inherited by our fathers from their mothers.

Araminta.

[Angela Booth]

I do not believe that dressing up is hereditary but something that is a consequence of development, influence and mind set.

My mother enjoyed the stage when she was younger and encouraged us to play act and had us in many outfits for fancy dress. I had this proclivity to want to dress in girls clothes. My first fancy dress was when mum dressed me as a woman and I won the competition at the age of four. I enjoyed it and in play I could dress up in girls clothes without any fear of chastisement. In a school play she made me a wonderful fairy outfit. It was fun and gave me the feeling that it wasn’t a bad thing but as I grew the realisation was that all was not so accepting in the real world. Up to my teenage years I did have opportunities to dress for fun events that my mother and, in later years, my sisters would happily help in. My last event at thirteen was being fully dressed for a beauty competition, winning it and taking the prize money. Behind all that I was dressing in secret.

So I was always of the mind I wanted to dress as a girl. After coming out in later years it was discussed if there was any knowledge of crossdressers in the family tree and there wasn’t although it may not have been discussed due to the laws and society. We do know of a gay relative who would of been imprisoned if it were known in the wider society so, in our family, it was known and tolerated. As I was allowed to dress up there were no hang ups in my family and subsequent acceptance proves this.

So the mind, influence and development made a smoother path to where I am today.

 

 

 

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