By Kristina Latham

Transgenderism and crossdressing are blanket terms given to people who wear opposite sex clothing or who display opposite sex behaviors. Fetishistic crossdressing is when someone's entire motivational objective is sexual excitement, although some identification with the opposite sex can occur, usually during sex. A fetishist does not dress to pass as the opposite sex in public, and after sexual gratification there is no use for the clothing until he or she is ready for another sexual experience. Drag queens and female impersonators are men who dress as women, but usually do not identify with women; this category includes entertainers and gay men who dress to make themselves more attractive to other men.

This article concerns itself mostly with transvestites and transsexuals, who are also referred to as crossdressers, gender dysphoric, and transgendered. Transvestites are men who dress as women, most of whom identify with women, but some are uncomfortable with completely identifying with women. Transsexuals are people who feel they are the opposite sex, and they desire to live their lives that way. In men, these two groups can be viewed as a scale with the former being a more extreme version of the latter. Transsexuals often take hormones to change their appearance and many have legal name changes. Some may have reconstructive surgery on their sexual organs to create a vagina or a penis. Many live permanently as the opposite sex by taking hormones without having a sex change operation.

Transgenderism and crossdressing occur more frequently in men, though instances of female-to-male transsexualism are more common than previously thought (Raymond, 1994, p. xiii). Further, women in most societies are not stigmatized for transgendered behavior the way men are. One theory why transexualism occurs more in men is that women who emulate men do not face the amount of stigma that men who emulate women do. In fact, the stigma in our society against men displaying femininity may create and intensify transsexualism in young boys and male adolescents. Women, on the other hand, are more free to challenge their gender role; as a result, women have led the way in breaking down sex role barriers. For this reason, some argue that transgendered men suffer greater oppression than transgendered women.

The transgendered endure oppression in many ways. Legally, there are many laws against someone wearing clothes of the opposite sex in the United States and in other countries (Frye, International Transgender Law Conference). Even if laws such as these do not exist, people who dress as the opposite sex endure enormous scorn and ridicule, unless they are one of the fortunate few who can completely pass for the opposite sex. In many cases, people who crossdress will have the police called on them, even if they crossdress in their own back yard. Recently, a crossdresser was arrested for no other crime than shopping for women's clothes while crossdressed in the Wonderland Mall in Livonia Michigan (Latham, 1993).

Transgenders who live their life in the role of the opposite sex frequently are not accepted in that role. Transgendered men, for example, are often laughed at, stared at, and spoken to with contempt. In many instances, if a transgendered person is not extremely careful in public, he or she may be harassed, physically attacked, or murdered. The transgendered also contend with a negative portrayal by the media. Television sitcoms and late night television comedians frequently make fun of crossdressers. In fact, transgenders are one of the few minorities left who are not exempt from negativity because of politically correct norms. Moreover, movies frequently depict crossdressed men in extremely negative ways. Silence Of The Lambs, Psycho, and Dressed To Kill are just a few of the movies that portray male-to-female crossdressers as homicidal maniacs. Moreover, the transgendered endure employment discrimination, ostracization from family members, and ostracization from the larger society as a whole. It is easy to see why most transgenders either remain in the closet or have a sex change and completely live their life in the role of the opposite sex.

History is filled with many interesting examples of transgenderism. It can be found in every civilization throughout the history of the world (Ackroyd, 1979, p. 10). Famous transgendered people include George Sand (Winwar, 1945, p. 100), Ann Bonny, Joan Of Arc (Smith, 1973, p. 49) (Smith, 1976, p. 216), Caligula (Barrett, 1989, p. 43), Henry III of France, (Bullough, 1993, p. 104) and Queen Christina of Sweden (Masson, 1968, p. 370). In some societies, crossdressing behavior was punished, but in other societies it was accepted, and in some societies it was considered a sacred and powerful condition (Ackroyd, 1979, 37). In many societies, a niche was provided for the transgendered. Native American societies, for example, had berdaches, a role for transgendered men in which they lived as females (Bullough, 1993, p. 3). In some Native American nations, women who were lesbian had a similar role, and were allowed to fight in war (Wheelwright, 1989). It is believed that if society today did not place such a rigid conformity on gender roles, and created a similar third-sex category that was accepted by the larger society, then transgenders would be less likely to seek out a sex change operation.

The transgendered movement has made massive strides in stopping oppression in the last two decades. Just twenty years ago, the crossdressing movement consisted of small nomadic groups having small clandestine meetings in motel rooms. Today, the movement is made up of a huge world-wide communications and support network. There are large organizations everywhere, many of whom publish professional magazines and books. There are support groups in every part of the country. There is a large convention for the transgendered somewhere in the United States almost twice a month, and aggressive political activism is growing at an exponential rate (Lynn, 1991, p. 1). One of the milestones of the transgender movement occurred in May of 1995 when the American Psychiatric Association recognized crossdressing as harmless practice and stated that transvestitism is no longer termed an illness (I.F.G.E., 1995, p. 7).

Here are some recent studies:

Schott, R.L. (1995). The Childhood And Family Dynamics of Transvestites. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 24, No. 3, p. 309-326.

Schott begins his study by stating that transvestitism is not well understood because most transvestites keep their behavior secret. The ones that have been studied, he states, are those who appear in a clinical setting for help. Schott describes in great detail the findings of six studies previously done on transvestism, one of which shows that most transvestites are heterosexual. Another study concludes that there is no support for the hypothesis that a dominant mother will cause transgenderism in males. Another study concludes that crossdressers can be placed into two categories, transvestites or transsexuals, depending on their degree of gender dysphoria. Schott cites one study which shows crossdressers as children were closer to their mothers than their fathers. He cites another study which draws the same conclusion, showing that crossdressers as children find their mothers more warm and supportive than their fathers.

Schott does not identify a clear purpose for conducting this study. But the previous studies he cites and his subjective extrapolation of their contents leads one to believe that he believes the etiology of transgendered behavior comes from an exaggerated bond between a mother and son in childhood. This is a common belief among many professionals. Schott's research design consisted of sending questionnaires to one hundred twenty-six crossdressers whose personal ads were listed in a transgender magazine called Tapestry. There was a 71% response rate to his questionnaire. The questionnaires were also given to a comparison group of forty-four male graduate students whose mean age was twenty-seven.2

Schott's findings show that crossdressers are more likely to be oldest siblings and male-only siblings than the average population. His findings also shows that crossdressers experienced a better relationship with their mothers than the control group. Schott concludes that because crossdressers perceived their mothers as warm and tender and their fathers as cold and hostile, that they developed an aversion to masculinity. His research also found that more than 20% of respondents stated that as children they crossdressed openly in front of their families, sometimes even being dressed up by their mothers. Schott concludes that someone demonstrating these characteristics may be at risk for transvestitism.

Doorn, C.D., Pootinga, J., Verschoor, A.M. (1994). Cross-Gender Identity in Transvestites and Male Transsexuals. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 23, p. 185-200.

This study seeks to discover if transsexualism and transvestitism are a similar phenomenon. The authors state that the conventional belief is that a large difference exists between the two. The authors also feel a closer examination of the phenomenon will demonstrate they are not as mutually exclusive as once thought. One reason for the dichotomy may be that transsexuals seeking sex reassignment surgery emphasize their crossgender identity and tend to deny any erotic association with crossdressing. The author's research shows fetishism exists in both group's repertoire, and transgendered identity usually starts before age ten and fetishism starts later. Therefore, the authors hypothesize that the original function of crossdressing is identity and not fetishism. Their study therefore compares transvestites and transsexuals to discover if an early onset of opposite gender identity formation exists in transvestites like that found in transsexuals.1 The level of homosexuality in the two groups will also be measured. Data was collected from an extensive, structured interview given to the two groups. The transvestite group consisted of thirty-six volunteers from a crossdressing club; the transsexual group consisted of 155 men seeking surgical reconstructive surgery. Questions asked if subjects had preferences for male interests or female interests at an early age, the age they began crossdressing, and to what degree they are homosexual. The findings show that transvestites are much more feminine in their earlier years than expected. People labeled as transvestite have clearly developed feminine gender identity in early childhood, which tends to discount the theory that a cause of transvestitism is fetishism. Findings also show that transvestites are less likely to describe themselves as homosexual than transexuals.

Dickey, R., Peterson, M. (1995). Surgical Sex Reassignment: A Comparative Survey Of International Centers.

The authors in this study examine the current facilities that do sex change operations. They state that only in the last few decades has the sex change operation become public and relatively widespread, and these operations are done almost exclusively by private practitioners and clinics. Because a sex change is an infrequent operation, there is not much regulation of doctors who perform the operation, nor is there much general information on the subject available. There were some attempts to assemble a set of legal issues and treatment practices for the private clinics that perform this service. There is also a publication by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association called Standards of Care, in which they describe a set of standards to be used in diagnosing and evaluating people who seek hormone therapy or a complete sex change. The standards include having the patient go through a period of observation and a period of hormone therapy before the operation. These standards are a minimum criteria, however, and a set of optimum standards that lead to an ideal outcome has not yet been developed. It follows that a system of monitoring standards would enhance patients efforts to find the best doctor or clinic to meet their needs. Therefore, they conducted a formal survey in an attempt to clarify the policies used and examine the criteria currently employed by active gender identity clinics when doing evaluations.

A twenty-nine item questionnaire was sent to twenty-seven clinics located in the United States and other parts of the world. The questionnaire inquired about clinic policies and the legal status of transsexuals in its local jurisdiction. Results showed that five of the nineteen clinics completely adhere to the Harry Benjamin Standards of care guide, and the other clinics report using it closely or just partially.

All but two of the clinics stated they make patients go through a period of observation before making a diagnosis of transsexualism and before prescribing hormones. Eighteen of nineteen clinics strongly recommend that the patient live full time as the opposite gender before surgical reassignment is performed. The study concluded that a relatively high degree of consistency exists between gender clinics when judging the eligibility of sex reassignment.

Brown, G. R. (1994). Women in Relationships with Cross-Dressing Men: A Descriptive Study from a Nonclinical Setting. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, Volume 23, No. 5, 1994.

Brown states that studies on crossdressing are relatively sparse, and studies describing the female partners of crossdressers are even more sparse. Most information obtained on partners of crossdressers are obtained from women who identified themselves as psychiatric patients, or from the second-hand reports of gender dysphoric men. The few published studies on the topic have suffered from insufficient data collection or small sample size. Therefore, Brown examined partners of crossdressing men using a large sample size, by eliminating the patient status, and by using a more extensive amount of interview data.

A four page open-ended questionnaire was given to 106 female volunteers over a six year period. All of the participants were married or in committed, exclusive relationships with heterosexual crossdressers. These women were approached at large annual conventions for crossdressers such as Fantasia Fair in Provincetown, Massachusetts, or the Texas "T" Party in San Antonio, Texas.

The results show that the average female partner of a crossdresser is a forty year old Protestant Caucasian woman who was a firstborn child in her first marriage.1 The model female is more likely to be childless,2 and no more likely to have had lesbian experiences or substance abuse problems than comparably aged American women. A quarter of the women had at least occasional sexual arousal to their partner's crossdressing. The two variables associated with a dislike of crossdressing was the discovery of crossdressing after marriage, and a lack of sexual arousal to it.

Schaefer, L.C., Wheeler, C.C. (1995). Harry Benjamin's First Ten Cases (1938-1953): A Clinical Historical Note. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 24, No. 1, 1995.

Harry Benjamin has been referred to as the "Father of Transsexualism." He is the first American doctor to put a great deal of time and energy into helping people with gender dysphoria. Dr. Benjamin's contributions are enormous. He was the first to commit himself to helping people who voiced utterances of an ancient complaint. A condition prevalent through-out history but which had precious few tellers, no listeners, and hardly any treatment. Because of Harry Benjamin, transgenderism is understood much better today by everyone - the medical community, lay people, and the transgenders themselves than has ever been known previously. Today, transgenders frequently meet others like themselves and learn about themselves even before they seek professional help. Therefore, to better understand the condition, this study examined Benjamin's first patients to discover how they described themselves, their feelings, and their lives before hardly any information was known on the subject, even before the phrase "trapped in the wrong body" was coined. A collective overview of these cases was done.

The time of first contact with Dr. Benjamin for these patients was between 1920-1953. Examining these records reveals that patients describe themselves exactly as patients describe themselves today. Their vocabulary includes a recognition of gender confusion from an early age, crossdressing or attempts at crossdressing at an early age, secrecy, and isolation. An emotion commonly experienced is guilt, which is strikingly similar to the emotions that transgenders experience today. Benjamin wrote that instead of treating the patient, might it not be wiser and more sensible to treat society through education so that logic, understanding, and compassion might prevail. Maybe a society more compassionate of gender role diversity can learn and benefit from the special insight that these unique individuals can offer.

Epilogue

Though these studies shed light on transgenderism, one must be aware that there is much more to be learned. The causes of transgenderism, the personalities of the transgendered, and the characteristics of their wives will someday be understood much better than they are today. The biggest issue facing transgenders today is creating a less gender rigid society. Most importantly, a society more tolerant of men who wear women's clothes or anyone who displays opposite sex characteristics. For the most part, society does not, and transgenders must face that reality. Despite this, transgenders have made enormous progress in self-help and self-acceptance, and these are the first steps any oppressed group must make in the path towards empowerment.

Sources Cited

• Barrett, A.A. (1989). Caligula, The Corruption Of Power. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd.

• Bullough V. and Bullough B. (1993). Crossdressing, Sex and Gender. Philadelphia, P.A. University of Pennsylvania Press.

• Docter, R. (1988). Transvestites and Transsexuals. New York and London: Plenum Press.

• Frye, Phyllis Randolph (1992). International Conference On Transgender Law and Employment Policy. Houston, Texas. August 26-29.

• Hirschfeld, Magnus (1991). Transvestites, The Erotic Drive To Cross Dress. New York: Prometheus Press.

• International Foundation For Gender Education (1995). I.F.G.E. Newsletter. Waltham, MA. International Foundation Of Gender Education.

• Latham vs. Winkelman's (1993). Washtenaw County Courthouse. Ann Arbor, MI.

• Lynn, Merissa Sherrill (1991). Tapestry. Wayland, MA. International Foundation For Gender Education.

• Masson, Georgina (1968). Queen Christina. London. Camelot Press, LTD.

• Raymond, Janice G. (1994). The Transsexual Empire. New York, New York. Teachers College Press.

• Smith, E. L. (1976). Joan Of Arc. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

• Smith, J.H. (1973). Joan Of Arc. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

• Wheelwright, Julie (1989). Amazons and Military Maids. Great Britain. Pandora Press.

• Winwar, F. (1945). The Life Of The Heart: George Sand and Her Times. New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers.