As an Existentialist, I was intrigued by this essay, which looks at how it applies to crossdressing (and other folks along the transgender spectrum). The PowerPoint version is this:

  • Each person has free-will. One cannot always choose one’s circumstances, but one can always choose one’s response.

  • Our existence and our choices in this existence are vitally important.

  • Each person has the ultimate responsibility for their life. Our world is only what we make of it.

  • Our minds constantly seek to escape the profundity of our existence, the necessity of self-determination, and our personal resonsibility. We must be ever mindful of the tendency to self-delusion.

  • For some, a change of gender may be the authentic choice; for others, it may be a form of escape. “Dark side” behavior is one example of escapism. But so too, many of the secondary emotional problems associated with crossdressing—things like attitudes of victimization, powerlessness, despair, hostility, and nihilism that are common in the transgendered community—merely justify a retreat into a private reality and avoidance of the challenges of full participation in the world

  • Self knowledge is vital. Our choices should not be made out of ignorance, fear or unmitigated selfishness.

  • While our situation is “absurd,” we can choose whether we respond to the absuridity in a positive or a negative way.

The two points are really the most important.