Transvestia

TV; on others, they are properly described as separate classes. Dr. Oakley has clearly read and half-digested too many "authorities", and casually gives equal weight to the opinions of the Rev. A. M. Smith and Hugo Beigel versus those of such eminent medical specialists as Dr. W.S. Pugh and Dr. Harry Benjamin. (All these are quoted at some length, with many others.) Es- pecially confusing is the last chapter, where excellent discourses on TV and TS are accompanied by an ex- tremely unsatisfactory pair of questionaires. As there is an obvious misprint at the top of page 239, one may hope that the questions on pages 238 and 240 were also transposed by the printer.. Otherwise, page 240 makes every TV I know of appear to be a TS, while page 238 would indicate the same people are not even TVs!

Another flaw in confusion on medical knowledge (apparently D. Psy. is not a medical degree). A hor- rible example is the statement on pages 145-6 that "ova... projected through the Fallopian tubes into the womb, creates the true female orgiastic sensations. " This would imply that a woman can have but one or- gasm per month! In reality, up to 250 per month have been reported. However, most of the medical data appears reliable.

On the whole; this book is a definite advance over its predecessors, and may do a good deal to improve the public image of the TV as well as of the TS. Re- peated emphasis on the differences of both from the homosexual is always welcome, and Oakley makes this point well. His pleas for public sympathy include all three, but one can scarcely resent that generosity.

Sheila Niles, M.S., FPE.

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