Well said Birdie.
I've mentioned spending time on a crossdressing website, the one whose link I share above. I never felt fully comfortable there and despite the fact I'd indulged in rather narrowly focused crossdressing at times in my life, I felt some judgment about these men who were thrilled by high heels, wigs and breast plates. The irony is that these men are grappling with gender confusion in ways not dissimilar from what happens here at times. They've embraced gender expression through attempting to appear as women while men here have resisted the call of estrogen, some believing that cutting off the breasts nature gives them will solve the problem. It seems for all of us that self-acceptance is the key to finding peace in our lives. Granted, accepting our reality does little to solve larger questions in our lives. Men on that site often have wives who can't accept their needs in the same way some of the men here have partners who aren't on board with breasts and brassieres in the family that don't belong to them. And then there is the wider community of friends, family, co-workers who really don't want to know about our struggles. It is too easy to label anyone pursuing a non-conventional path as defective or perverted. Yes, it is a great relief to find kindred spirits who share what is often a very challenging journey.
There are 561 people, most likely men, viewing the Male to Female Crossdressing forum and 107 viewing the Transsexual forum AT THIS MOMENT. We're a rather tiny cohort on this website in comparison. I mentioned before the conversation that asked how many police officers present wear panties to work and there were 10 who reported on the thread. (I doubt we've EVER had ten men posting on this website at the same time.) These are kindred spirits who simply have come to this exploration through a different mindset. They may not have had to deal with growing breasts as teens but may have done what I did when I put on my neighbor's lingerie and found it so exciting that I wanted to do it again and again. They haven't understood the nature of the journey they were on, often collecting lingerie only to purge when the shame became too great. I thought I was the only person who did that. I read about that behavior at the same time I was reading here about men who enjoyed wearing a brassiere that held their very real breasts. I learned to take pleasure in wearing a brassiere through my involvement here and learned it was okay to keep the brassieres I'd bought through listening to those men.
I've no interest in wearing a skirt and won't likely wear panties. I certainly won't be wearing high heals nor will I buy a wig. But the more I wear a brassiere the more I come to realize just how voluptuous I am. I'm loving these beautiful breasts. I've no intention of flaunting them and certainly will not inflict my enjoyment of them on people in my life. This is my passion... not theirs. But I'll no longer shame myself because I enjoy wearing a brassiere and love the presentation of my breasts. That is cause for celebration!