The picture of a phallic woman, based usually on a "close visual contact" (44) with the mother, or with a sister, may sometimes turn into a caricature. Thus the patient of Greenacre, when a small boy, often "dressed in his mother's clothing and paraded in front of the mirror in order to make fun of her."

Multifactorial Theories:

Some writers show a multifactorial eclectic app- roach to the causation of transvestism.

Thus Ellis,

"On the psychic side" cautiously accepts the psycho- analytical "identification with woman"; on the "phy- sical side" he blames the "imbalanced endocrine glands" perceiving in transvestism a condition allied to eu- nuchoidism. Tennenbaum sees the origin of female trans- vestism mainly in psychological conditioning, but male transvestism he interprets in almost analytical terms of "identification with a sweetheart or wife". East (28) also uses similar concepts in his etiological explana- tions. Benjamin believes that "A constitutional pre- disposition is essential; then comes adverse psycholog- ical conditioning followed by the respective syndromes" Petritzer and Foster (83) also show a dualistic approach. "The psychodynamics of ...transvestism are to be sought ...in the indoctrination and identification with ... mother figure", but "It is reasonable to assume that bio-physiochemical factors based on chromosomal imbal- ance play a role in creating the transvestic picture..."

Some Non-Sexual Explanations:

"Janett Thompson" regards transvestism not as a sexual deviation, but as an unusual pattern of behavior, assumed by certain individuals for the sake of some non-sexual motives. "There are endless instances in history of men who have taken to female attire and women to men's clothing--for love, political gain, re- ligious reasons etc., as well as for feelings of inad- equacy or dissatisfaction in their own sex role."

51.