The boy can’t help it: scientific views of transvestism

Abstract

In Chapter 2 we saw that transvestism is not a single, unitary process which can be easily identified and categorised into a convenient slot. This is why there has been a tendency towards a proliferation of confused terminology, with transvestism being identified with transsexualism, homosexuality, heterosexuality, fetishism, masochism and dissatisfaction with gender identity/role (a phenomenon known as gender dysphoria syndrome). In popular thought, the transvestite is commonly confused with the transsexual and/or the homosexual, but in medical and psychological research inaccuracy and muddled thinking are also found. Indeed, considering the difficulties encountered in the attempt to locate and define transvestism we may expect research findings to be diverse, particularly if the ways in which ideas about sex and gender have changed during the course of this century are also taken into account.

‘If someone could give me a reason why they do it I’d feel a lot better.’

(Eleanor, married to a transvestite)