By Kristina
Eastern Michigan University
A fetishist is someone whose entire motivational objective is sexual excitement, although some identification with women can occur, usually during sex. He does not dress to pass as a woman in public. After he is sexually gratified, he has no use for the clothing until he is ready for his next sexual experience. Drag queens and female impersonators are men who dress as women but usually do so not because of an urge to identify with women. This category includes entertainers and gay men who dress to make themselves more attractive to other men. The people who participated in this study are transvestites and transsexuals. Transvestites are men who like to dress as women, many of whom identify with women, but some are uncomfortable with completely identifying with women. Transsexuals are men who feel that they need to be women and they desire to live their lives as women. These two groups can be seen as a scale with the former being a more extreme version of the latter. Transsexuals often take female hormones to give them a feminine appearance and they often live their lives completely as women. Some will have reconstructive surgery on their sexual organs to create a vagina. Many live permanently as women by taking hormones without having the operation, these people are called transgenderists.
Because Crossdressing is a rare phenomenon, there has not been many books written on the topic. The two most comprehensive and informative books are Crossdressing, Sex, And Gender by Vern and Bonnie Bullough (1993) and Transvestites and Transsexuals by Richard F. Docter (1988). The former is a history of Crossdressing with some exploration into aspects of the behavior and the latter is a thorough scientific evaluation of aspects and causes of the behavior. Richard Docter's book delved into many interesting phenomenon about Crossdressing that need to be explored further. Hence, this study uses some of Docter's conclusions as a catalyst to extrapolate upon the phenomenon of Crossdressing, and this study will also uncover information about the Southeast Michigan club for Crossdressers who this study works in cooperation with. There have been many small independent studies on various aspects of male to female sexual identity problems, though none have been as wide as the scope of Docter's book. Two of those studies have tried to answer some of the same questions that this study asks, and they will briefly be discussed.
Fagen, Wise, Derogatis, and Schmidt (1988) conducted a study in which twenty-one transvestites who were seeking therapy because of their Crossdressing were compared to a control group of forty-five heterosexual married males who participated in an in vitro fertilization project. Both groups were at the John Hopkins Medical Institution. Both groups underwent a psychological test and a complete psychological examination which asked the participants to do a sexual history. They were also administered a Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory which evaluates components of their current sexuality.
The results of these comparisons showed little difference between the two groups. Their sex drives were similar, as was their political and sexual attitudes. The transvestite group differed from the control group by showing a more negative body image of themselves, which is probably because they would rather be female, at least part of the time. The transvestite group was more likely to describe themselves in the feminine tense, they had more dissatisfaction with their sexual life, and a significantly higher number of sexual fantasies. Both of the groups showed no difference in their fund of sexual information. The transvestites were more psychologically distressed than the heterosexual control group, but this would be expected given that they came for psychological help and the control group did not.
In another study, Goodwin and Peterson (1990) interviewed a sample of fifty male transvestites and one female transvestite with a specific goal of discovering child abuse as a etiologic factor of transvestism. Goodwin et al., (1990) sent one hundred questionnaires to different clubs for Crossdressers in all geographic areas of the continental United States. The questionnaires consisted of thirty-eight questions and a six question summary that asked respondents to give a more in-depth evaluation of their childhood experiences. There was no control group in this study and these clubs were for heterosexual transvestites only. Fifty-one people responded to the survey. Their ages ranged from twenty to seventy-one with a mean age of forty-three. The respondents received in-depth questions asking them to evaluate their home environment, and to list a history of abuse. The transvestites were also asked to make a self-evaluation of why they Crossdressed.
Based on the personality profile of Crossdressers in the literature published this far, one can try to predict the characteristics and growing up experiences of Crossdressers. This experiment hypothesized that Crossdressers came from dysfunctional families, and that Crossdressers may feel resentment towards their caregivers. This experiment also hypothesizes that as young boys Crossdressers had problems fitting into masculinity. One possibility is that they disliked their fathers, so one question asks if the subject's father was cold and hostile. Adolescence is a crucial time for identity development, so questions ask if Crossdressers were unpopular in high school, or if they were inhibited in their relations with girls. Questions also ask if these groups are envious of women, and questions ask if they agree or disagree with feminist viewpoints that argue that women are altogether worse off than men. Questions also ask if subjects are excessive talkers, and to what degree are they homosexual. See appendix A for a list of questions.
As stated in the abstract, a population of male to female Crossdressers and a control population of men who are presumably not Crossdressers were given questionnaires to find if they answered questions differently and to find information on the Crossdressing group in particular. The questions pertain to the aforementioned hypotheses. The questionnaires make no mention of Crossdressing and are intended to find a preponderance of certain personality traits among Crossdressers and therefore link certain growing-up experiences with Crossdressing behavior.
On nearly every one of the questions, both groups responded similarly on a scale of one to ten. The means on eight questions were identical if one does not take into account percentage points. Those questions asked when the subjects began having close dating relationships with girls, to what degree would they judge themselves to be attractive, which sex has it more difficult, and to what degree do they describe their father as warm or cold. On eleven of the questions, there was only a one point difference between the means. Those questions asked if the subjects came from traditional families, if they spent more time with their mother or father at an early age, if they had homosexual experiences as a child or adolescent, were they popular and well liked in high school, were their growing up experiences normal, was their childhood stressful, and were they victimized by bullies in school.
Questions that appeared through casual observation to have a significant difference were analyzed with t-tests. Additionally, a point bi-serial correlation followed each t-test to determine strength of the relation between group membership and response to questionnaire item. There were four questions where significant differences were found. When asked 'Speaking with friends, do you find yourself trying to speak frequently or infrequently?' the difference was, t (66) = 2.591, p.011. There was a weak relation between response to this item and group membership (Rpb=.32). When subjects were asked 'Would you consider your relations with the opposite sex in adolescence as bold or inhibited?' the difference was t (66) = 2.236, p.027. There was a weak relation between response to this item and group membership (Rpb=.26). When Crossdressers were asked 'To what degree are you homosexual or heterosexual?' the difference was t (66) = 3.172, p.003. There was a weak relation between response to this item and group membership (Rpb=.36). The most significant difference was found in the question, 'To what degree would you describe your family life as dysfunctional?' Crossdressers stated that their family life was dysfunctional at, t (66) = 2.747, p008. There was a weak relation between response to this item and group membership (Rpb=.32).
The most significant difference was that Crossdressers were more likely to rate themselves as coming from a dysfunctional family. This date supports the research in the study by Goodwin et al., (1990) that finds many transvestites coming from maladaptive family functions.
The question in which Crossdressers rate themselves as more inhibited with girls in adolescence supports Docter's theories stating that an antecedent developmental factor of Crossdressing is sexual inhibitions. Docter states that "inhibitions about intimacies with girls will restrict sexual experience in the young adolescent" (Docter, 204). This could also correspond to Crossdressers stating that they are infrequent talkers. Finally, Crossdressers stated that they are more likely to be bisexual. This can be misleading, however, because 96% of the control rated themselves closer to heterosexuality in the lowest four numbers on a scale of one to ten, whereas 88% of Crossdressers ranked themselves in the same lowest four numbers. This shows that Crossdressers, like the control group, are heterosexual, but are more likely to admit some homosexuality. This corresponds with Docter's research that an antecedent factor of Crossdressing is the formation of a well-established heterosexual orientation (Docter, 204), and that transvestism is a heterosexual phenomenon, but there is some bisexuality within the category (Docter, 1988). This data also corresponds with the study by Fagen et al., (1988) that Crossdressers have a greater number of sexual fantasies.
The areas in which flaws exist in this study are the method of obtaining the control group responses. A subject might be unwilling to give honest answers to a stranger about personal questions, especially pertaining to sex. If the researcher could find a large group of men to fill out the data at one set time, instead of approaching subjects individually, then the control group would be more secure that their answers would be confidential. Moreover, evidence has shown that volunteers tend to answer differently than non-volunteers in psychological studies (Nordens, 126), so this control group may not have been the most accurate sample of the population. It may also be that the Crossdressers who belong to this club are not representative of the Crossdressing population at large. Many members of this club are struggling with their identity and are given the club's whereabouts by their therapist or an outreach crisis worker. It may be that many or most Crossdressers have adjusted well to who they are and have never sought out a club. (emphasis added)
The most important findings of this study were the four questions where differences were found. Crossdressers rate themselves as being inhibited in their relationship with girls in adolescence, and infrequent talkers. The most significant data shows Crossdressing correlates with dysfunctional family life, and Crossdressers rank themselves closer to homosexuality than the control group. Directions for future research would be to delve more deeply into those few questions where differences were found. Maybe present questionnaires to Crossdressers that ask an array of questions about homosexuality. Crossdressers rate themselves as more inhibited with girls in adolescence, so ask questions to determine why. Ask questions to find why Crossdressers rate themselves closer to homosexuality? Do they actually want to have sex with men, or do they want to get attention from men, such as compliments on their appearance when Crossdressed? One should delve more deeply into Crossdressers' background to find factors that lead them to state their family life was dysfunctional. Deeper analysis of those questions will help one to more greatly understand the phenomenon of Crossdressing.
Bullough V. and B. Bullough (1993). Crossdressing, sex, and gender. Philadelphia, PA. University of Pennsylvania Press. Docter, R. (1988). Transvestites and transsexuals. New York and London: Plenum Press. Fagan P. Wise T. Derogatis L. Schmidt C. (1988). Distressed transvestites. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease: The Williams and Wilkins Co. Goodwin L., Peterson R. (1990). Psychological impact of abuse as it relates to transvestism. The Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, Alexandria, VA: National Rehabilitation Counseling Association: Hirschfeld, Magnus (1910). Die transvestiten. Pulvermacher. Nordens and Abbott (1991). Research Design and Method. Mountainview, CA. Mayfield Publishing Company.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics for responses to each survey question. Survey Question Crossdressing non-Crossdressing Number Mean Std Dev. Mean Std Dev. 1. 1.706 2.263 2.706 2.725 2. 1.765 1.558 2.441 1.894 3. 4.765 2.547 6.176 1.898 4. 17.633 4.597 18.000 3.417 5. 2.647 2.473 2.029 2.167 6. 16.121 4.196 16.406 2,872 7. 4.516 2.976 3.697 2.756 8. 1.294 2.493 0.424 1.119 9. 4.441 2.642 5.353 2.485 10. 2.000 2.146 .588 1.459 11. 3.412 1.760 3.324 1.788 12. 3.971 3.119 2.794 2.694 13. 4.412 2.904 4.848 2.373 14. 0.029 .1715 0.000 0.000 15. 44.03 8.54 36 17.04 16. .971 0.967 .382 .6520 17. 4.118 2.293 4.706 2.646 18. 2.853 2.311 2.265 2.179 19. 5.706 2.394 4.353 2.592 20. 5.706 2.680 6.265 2.745 21. 4.061 2.794 3.824 2.645 22. 4.529 2.766 5.853 2.945 23. 4.758 2.773 4.676 2.567 24. 17.27 6.99 19.364 3.888 25. 5.029 2,516 3.412 2.337 Table 2 Response to question number ten: "To what degree are you heterosexual (1) or homosexual? (10) " _______________________________________________ Crossdressers non-Crossdressers___ Degree of Agreement Count Percentage Count Percentage 1. 13 38.24 24 70.59 2. 5 14.71 6 17.65 3. 3 8.82 3 8.82 4. 3 8.82 0 0 5. 6 17.65 0 0 6. 2 5.88 0 0 7. 0 0 1 2.94 8. 2 5.88 0 0 9. 0 0 0 0 10. 0 0 0 0 Table 3 Response to question number 3: "Speaking with friends, do you find yourself trying to speak frequently (10) or infrequently (1) ?" ________________________________________________ Crossdressers non-Crossdressers___ Degree of Agreement Count Percentage Count Percentage 1. 2 5.88 0 0 2. 2 5.88 0 0 3. 3 8.82 1 2.94 4. 4 11.76 3 8.82 5. 7 20.59 4 11.76 6. 0 0 2 5.88 7. 4 11.76 6 17.65 8. 7 20.59 11 32.35 9. 4 11.76 3 8.82 10. 1 2.94 4 11.76 Table 4 Response to question number 19: "Would you consider your relations with the opposite sex in adolescence as bold (1) or inhibited (10)?" ________________________________________________ Crossdressers non-Crossdressers___ Degree of Agreement Count Percentage Count Percentage 1. 1 2.94 3 8.82 2. 0 0 2 5.88 3. 3 8.82 5 14.71 4. 3 8.82 1 2.94 5. 4 11.76 7 20.59 6. 4 11.76 5 14.71 7. 3 8.82 4 11.76 8. 6 17.65 3 8.82 9. 7 20.59 1 2.94 10. 3 8.82 3 8.82 Table 5 Response to question number twenty-five: "To what degree would you describe your family life while growing up as functional (1) or dysfunctional (10) ?" ________________________________________________ Crossdressers non-Crossdressers_______ Degree of Agreement Count Percentage Count Percentage 1. 2 5.88 4 11.76 2. 3 8.82 5 14.71 3. 1 2.94 6 17.65 4. 3 8.82 2 5.88 5. 4 11.76 5 14.71 6. 3 8.82 2 5.88 7. 6 17.65 7 20.59 8. 7 20.59 3 8.82 9. 4 11.76 0 0 10. 1 2.94 0 0 Appendix A This study is strictly confidential. Please fill out this form by yourself and please do not include your name. Honesty is important. Please circle the correct answer or the number that corresponds most closely to your answer: 1) Do you come from a traditional family where sex roles were defined? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 traditional nontraditional 2) Did you spend more time with your mother or your father before the age of five? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 mother both father 3) Speaking with your friends, do you find yourself trying to speak frequently or infrequently? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 infrequently frequently 4) Have you lost your virginity and at what age? 5) Do you feel resentment towards your caregivers for the way you were raised? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 none much 6) Please write the age you began having close dating relationships with the opposite sex? 7) Please rank your satisfaction with dating experiences with the opposite sex before the age of eighteen? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 good bad 8) Did you have homosexual experiences as a child or adolescent? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 none frequent 9) Were you popular and well liked in high school? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 unpopular popular 10) To what degree are you heterosexual or homosexual? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 heterosexual homosexual 11) To what degree would you judge yourself to be attractive or unattractive? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 attractive unattractive 12) Would you consider your growing up experiences to be normal or abnormal? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 normal abnormal 13) All things considered, which sex has it more difficult? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 men women 14) Are you male or female? male female 15) Please write your age. 16) What is your marital status? single married divorced 17) Do you agree with certain feminist viewpoints that argue that women are altogether worse off than men? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 agree disagree 18) Who do you feel has more power in our society? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 men both women 19) Would you consider your relations with the opposite sex in adolescence as bold or inhibited? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 bold inhibited 20) In sex role relations, who has an easier chance of finding sex? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 men women 21) Was your childhood or adolescence stressful? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 stressful not stressful 22) Were you picked on or victimized by bullies in school? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 yes no 23) To what degree would you describe your father as warm or cold? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 warm cold 24) At what age did you begin having a long-term, close, sexual relationship with the opposite sex? 25) To what degree would you describe your family life while growing up as dysfunctional? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 functional dysfunctionalCrossdressing