The majority of men that cross-dress do so in the privacy of their own homes, and very few would dare venture out of the house, beautifully made up, and wearing their wives or daughter's clothes.

That said, a fair number of crossdressers not only go out of the house dressed as women and wearing makeup, but they also attempt to pass themselves off as women, and when they do, it causes both pleasure and arousal.

They attempt, and often succeed at talking like women and acting like women, right down to the smallest mannerisms, and in cross-dressing circles, the act is called "trying to pass", and if a casual observer sees through their attempt, then he is said to have "read them".

There are a good number of books and magazines that explain how to pass oneself of as a woman, so it would seem safe to assume that the number of people that want to learn is therefore quite high.

The notion as to whether a person is a cross-dresser or not is to a very large extent a socially constructed one, and one only has to consider women wearing jeans and trousers to grasp the point.

There are presently societies such as Scotland where the kilt is frequently worn by men, and in Malaysia and other Pacific islands where both men and women wear sarongs, and in none of these places are the wearers considered cross-dressers or deviants.

The Bible states that women must not dress in men's clothes and in the book of Deuteronomy (22:5) cross dressing is said to be an "abomination", as is homosexuality.

But as the world shrinks, it is likely that people will be more and more accepting of dress codes that are acceptable in other countries, and neither support hose for men with bad circulation, or the wearing of bras for men with gynecomastia presently cause much more than the raising of an eyebrow.

It might be of interest to note that those are undergoing, or those that have already undergone gender reassignment therapy are not usually regarded as cross-dressers because they are transsexuals, and they would only generally only be considered to be cross dressers if they were to wear clothes normally worn by the gender that was the opposite of the one that they transitioned to.

Another somewhat intriguing tidbit of information is that some male cross-dressers indulge in what is called under-dressing which involves wearing female undergarments under their male clothes, and it's not uncommon for them to carry panties or either items made of silk or satin and their pockets, and to fondle and play with them during board meetings and the like.