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The term cross-dressing (more frequently in Italian univerbato in crossdressing), rendered in Italian also with transvestism (not as transvestism or transvestism) is an English term that literally means "dressing in the opposite way" and identifies the act or the '' habit of wearing, publicly and / or privately, habitually or occasionally, for various reasons including purely playful, clothes that in a specific socio-cultural context are commonly associated with the opposite gender role to one's own. The person who practices crossdressing is called a crossdresser.

Crossdressing can be practiced by both men and women, regardless of their perceived gender identity or sexual orientation; therefore it should not be confused with other realities such as homosexuality, transsexuality, transgenderism.

The Italian synonym of the term crossdressing would be transvestism, as well as crossdresser would be disguised, but the English voices are increasingly used with a different meaning compared to the Italian counterparts, as the latter tend to be associated with crossdressing fetishism, classified among the paraphilias, while the former have a more generic and broader meaning, which also includes the disguise without implications related to sexual arousal. Furthermore, the term "transvestite" (also abbreviated to "trav") tends to be reserved for those who regularly wear clothes that refer to the opposite sex, while the more recently introduced term "cross-dresser" is mostly reserved for those who practice transvestism as sporadic / occasional activity or relegated to the private sphere only. [1]

Drag queens and drag kings represent a form of crossdressing in the entertainment world.

A famous crossdresser is supermodel Andrej Pejic, who parades in both women's and men's clothing.ili.