60.

The Role of Transvestism in Marriage

It appears from the literature that more than half the heterosexual male transvestites are married and have children. In "Janett Thompson's" experience "by far the larger number...are married and with children". More- over, there are not a few among them, who have been mar- ried even more than once.

Transvestites of both sexes usually marry with an optimistic, though fallacious hope that the marriage will "cure" their desires for cross-dressing, and will bring an end to their doubts and uncertainty as to their "prop- er" and "true" sex. Not all of these opportunist marriages are lasting. Yet the male transvestite more often makes a fairly satisfactory adjustment, and his marriage has every chance to survive, if his wife shows some under- standing and a certain amount of permissiveness for his transvestic cravings.

It is significant that if divorce occurs in a male transvestites marriage, it is usully brought about by his wife. The most frequent reason is that she "got tired with his masquerading and all that sort of thing." Yet if a female transvestite is divorced it is again she, the wife, who seeks the divorce, the reason being that her husband's heterosexual approaches are "disgusting, naus- eating and unbearable" to her. (((ED NOTE: Note here again the the implied equivalence of homosexuality and TV. When the male is involved he is called a TV and this is clear, but when it is a female who is called a TV she is repulsed by normal heterosexual advances making it clear that the is not properly a TV but a homosexual female. I think the medical profession is more confused than the TVs by far.)))

It appears that the attitude of the wife is always the decisive one in a transvestite marriage.....It is charac- teristic that all reported divorced male transvestites make a success of their second marriage, finding more sym- pathy and more permissiveness from the second wife.....