FEMMEPERSONATION AND THE CHURCH

by THE VERY REV. MSGR. ADRIAN DWYER

Editor's Introductory Notes:

Since we have a great many Catholic sisters among us and since several of them have indicated to me some concern in regard to the attitude of the church on TVism, I asked the Very Rev. Msgr. Adrian Dwyer to comment on the subject for the benefit of our readers. Msgr. Dwyer is a member of a diocesan tribunal--the office of the church concerned with marriage and divorce problems. In this cap- acity he has become acquainted with the subject through having sev- eral couples in whose marriage TVism was a problem, come before him. In corresponding with him I presented the concept of Femme Person- ation to him and he has understood the psychology and philosophy behind the word and thus uses the abbreviation "FP" in his article.

In a covering letter coming with the article itself he says, "I tried deliberately to keep my remarks general enough so as to avoid a consideration of the moral issues connected with FP which might be peculiar to Catholics alone. The problems referred to must bother many FPs, no matter what their Church affiliation might be.

"In anticipation of the obvious criticism that I proposed a lot of questions, but didn't give any specific answers, I think it nec- essary to say that specific answers to the questions proposed cannot be given except on an individual basis, because circumstances will differ from case to case. So, even though you may have a hundred men asking the same question, you can't give them all the same an- swer, because what might be advisable in one case, might do irrep- arable harm in another.

Nobody knows all the answers, but the opportunity offered for communication by Transvestia, the Femme mirror, the Clubs, and the Camp, will give individuals ample facility for airing their problems and there is nothing that dissipates problems like getting them out in the open. Problems thrive on secrecy, and this is especially

true of moral probleme."

Sincerely yours,

Adrian Dwyer

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