This discussion of the subject of transvestism comes from a person who knows first hand what he is writing about. The article was originally published in TB INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEXOLOGY, Bombay India (no longer published). It is reprinted here by special permission of the author.

TRANSVESTISM:

an empirical study

By JANET THOMPSON"'

The author of this article is a 38 year old man. For the past seven years, he has worn female clothing exclusively. In a biographical sketch, he says: "As far back as I can remember, I have wanted to wear girls' clothes and whenever I had an opportunity, I would dress in my mother's or sister's clothes.

Most of the literature which has dealt with the subject of transvestism has touched it at a very superficial level. Until recently it was invariably considered to be associated with homosexuality and always has been thought of as a pri mary sex deviation. That it is a deviation cannot be denied in that it is a variation

"I have been married twice. My first from what is generally recognized as wife died of pneumonia after we had been normal behavior. However, transvestism, married for three years. I have one daughper se, pertains simply to the wearing of fer now fifteen years old. My wife knew the clothing of the sex to which one does nothing of my desire to wear feminine not physically belong and therefore it allire until after we were married and while falls into the category of a behavior proshe didn't like the idea, she reluctantly put up with it.

"Two years after her death, I married again, but this time, I told the girl about my desires as well as I could. She said she did not mind and we lived together very happily for three years. However, the strain of keeping my secret from our friends and relatives was too much for her and she had a 'nervous breakdown' and decided on a divorce.

"At the same time, I lost my job which I had had for fifteen years. I decided that I might just as well try and do what I had always dreamed of: try and live as a woman.' The author of the article moved to another town and look up residence there. He now makes a living managing a small apartment house and doing some remodelling and decorating of small apart ments principally for working girls. He has also been successful as an artist and has sold a number of paintings to help the economic situation.

8

blem rather than into that of a sexual problem as it has usually been classified. Sexual patterns as divulged by case history studies of transvestites may or may not be linked with the transvestism. In cases of fetishism or homosexuality it obviously is.

In the past ten years, I have personally known, corresponded with, or known of, over fifty transvestites. I have yet to find a common denominator other than the desire to wear the clothes of the opposite sex. In this the intensity of the desire varies tremendously. This common denominator may label an entire group "transvestites" in the light of the broad definition; however, in this group, which includes the heterosexuals, there are definite fetishists, sadists, masochists, voyeurs, homosexuals, etc. There is also the psychotic who, through wearing the clothing, comes to actually believe he is of the opposite sex or that he is "a female soul in a male body." Transvestism

mattachine REVIEW

occurs in both the male and the female. The causes and dynamics and problems faced are very similar; however, this paper will cover particularly the male transvestite.

The ratio of the above incidence among transvestites appears to be about the same as the ratio in any given group of people. The greater portion of the transvestites I have known are heterosexual with strong autoerotic tendencies. The common denominator, "dressing", is always present, the intensity of it is variable; the rationalizations of it are endless and are curbed only by the range of the imagination of the individual.

Transvestism knows no special group or strata of society It appears to develop in families ranging from the apparently well-balanced emotionally and financially secure to the insecure, impoverished or broken families. Neither economic, so cial, marital, family status, nor type of career can be pointed to as being particularly conducive to the development of transvestism.

It seems evident to me that the inception of transvestism falls in the one-to-five year old period of the child's life as a result of faulty, incomplete or distorted sex identification. In the boy this can occur as a result of any one or a combination of such situations as follows; over-protection by the mother, abusive or over-aggressive treatment by the male parent, the absence of a male figure during this vital period, or the presence of a weak male in contrast to a dominant female parent; the insistence on the part of the mother who wanted a girl-child that he be "her little girl", as well as many more similar conditions. It may be discovered that the transvestite was one of several children and that the other siblings have no tendencies in this direction. Why is it then, that in a family such as this where the environment and emotional conditions are similar for all the children, one will have tendencies toward transvestism ? Child psychologists agree that each child in a family has some different basic needs and for the parents to "treat them without favoritism" does not guarantee that the needs and demands of each child will be fulfilled.

That transvestism exists, that it is worldwide and that it has existed in one form or another in every culture known to recorded history, is a demonstrated fact. In Bali, a homosexual transvestite is

SEVENTH A LOCAL

called a "Bantjih." In Samoa, where they do not recognize transvestism at all, there are boys who have made such a strong feminine identification that they will prefer to sit with the women and do women's work rather than go with the men. The American Plains Indians, who valued courage in battle above all else, expected so much of their youths that many were driven to accept women's dress and a woman's role. The "Berdache," the man who dressed and lived as a woman among the American Indians, was a socially accepted institution. Among the Mexican Indians such men were called "Mujerdos" and were an accepted part of their culture. Some cultures provide sex-reversal roles for both sexes; some provide it for men but deny it to women; some may not provide any pattern for it at all, but, on the other hand, they may provide elaborate roles that will attract individuals who would not otherwise seek

them.

There are endless instances in history of men who have taken to female attire and women to men's clothing for love, political gain, religious reasons, etc., as well as for feelings of inadequacy or dissatisfaction in their own sex role. The Abbe de Choisy in France in the 17th century lived to the age of 80 and over half of that time he was attired and looked upon as during the reigns of Louis XIV and XV, lived for 30 years in the role of a woman. Heliogabulus, one of the early rulers of the Roman Empire, dressed in the flowing silken robes of the women of that time. Nero gave a young man to his doctors with instructions for them to make a woman of him, and then "married" him. (Continued on page 44)

woman. The Chevalier d'Eon

9