I know the following is familiar ground, but just wanted to outline my assumptions. It’s pretty well established there among “early transitioning” transexuals, male-bodied and female-bodied transexuals are relatively mirror images of each other—early conviction that one was born the wrong sex, consistent childhood gender behavior that’s inconsistent
with their birth sex, etc. My assumption is that transgenderism, much like most other human behaviors, is based on some mix of nature/socialization and that it falls along a spectrum.

Running with that assumption, I’m guessing that “late” transitioners have a gender discomfort that’s no less real, but a bit weaker than the “earlys,” which is why they’re able to deny it for some period of time. Moving further along the spectrum, are those who may want to present mostly/full-time as the opposite sex but without HRT or GRS, to those
(like myself) who are happy being part-time crossdresser. (I’ve accepted my crossdressing and go out regularly, so it’s not shame that regulates my desire, but rather reaching a satiation point.) And while gender and sexual preferences are independent, it is notable that most MTF crossdressers are hetrosexual-ish. Obviously correlation doesn’t equal
causation, but it does seem foolish to ignore correlations where they’re observed.

So the question is where are the female-to-male crossdressers? The obvious (and standard) answer is that the greater clothing flexibility afforded to women makes FTM crossdressers a moot point. The other standard answer is that females don’t have sexual fetishes the way males do. The latter point I think is a bit dubious. As for the former point, maybe it’s correct, but it still seems worth investigating rather than taking it on face value.
Especially, since cross-dressing does seem present in the lesbian community from butches of various stripes to the more recent “boi” phenomenon.

So the question is where are the heterosexual female-to-male crossdressers? Raven Kaldera essays mentioned knowing some female crossdressers (of unspecified orientation), so I’d be greatly appreciative of any insights you might
have.

(BTW To digress for a second, it does seem like there are some parallels between MTF crossdressing and female dressing behavior among “typical” females. For example, there’s the MTF phenomenon of “under dressing” that in a sense isn’t that different than females choosing to wear “femme” undergarments under more “masculine” work attire. If I
remember correctly Victoria’s Secret has made this a theme—being “womanly” underneath.)

My thoughts are as follows. I was struck that there is a period in female’s lives that does bear a striking similarity to MTF crossing: tomboyism. In reviewing the literature it does seem like there’s two types of tomboyism. The first and fairly common, is an “expansive”
type, exploring a broader range of behaviors (i.e. playing with dolls and trucks). Whereas the second type, which is far less common, is “rejectionist,” explicitly rejecting girlish appearance and behavior. This latter group shows some strong correlation with later-life lesbianism, bisexuality and/or androgynism. The pressure of adolescence typically put an end to tomboy behavior, but seems likely to me that those whose tomboyism is driven at least partly by some level of gender discomfort don’t lose that driver any more than MTF crossdressers/transgenders do. And certainly we all know heterosexual
females with boy-cuts who wear very little make-up and wear dresses only when they have to—and who aren’t behaving this way due to feminist politics, etc.

But it seems like it’s probably true that these women don’t overtly think of themselves as cross-dressing, in part because of womens’ wardrobe flexibility, but also FTM presentation is more “subtractive” while MTF presentation is “additive.” That’s to say, with the obvious
exception of packing, a female presenting a male mostly involves removing “feminine” characteristics—such as longer, more decorative hairstyles, make-up, more decorative clothes and shoes (and binding for those who are consciously FTM crossdressing)—whereas with MTF crossdressing one must add them. So for a male—particularly since MTF presentation lacks a “middle ground” in society—doing so involves a conscious overt act.
It’s the intent that makes cross-dressing, as I’m forever reminding my fellow crossdressers who whine about women being able to wear pants without being suspect. Although obviously this wasn’t true only a few decades ago…) Whereas I suspect female who dress “unfemme” don’t see it as adopting FTM presentation as much as discarding “girly” things. But I am curious whether females do sometimes intentionally wear “masculine” clothing with the intent of incorporating “masculine” attributes, just as they might wear stereotypically feminine clothing with the intent of attracting men on a Saturday night.