through adolescence, "men" and "women" are the end products. In the modern vernacular growing up is a process whereby parts of oneself are "turned off" by society in the person of parents, teachers, siblings and peers. Those not “turned off” remain “turned on” and are free to develop greater complexity, importance and reality.

Little thought is given to the fact that the traits, characteristics, emo- tions and behaviour patterns arbitrarily assigned to the other sex for its gender expression are actually part and parcel of the total humanness of each individual, regardless of sex. It should not be surprising, therefore, that some persons of each sex find themselves in possession of more or less well developed feelings, desires and traits which did not get effec- tively "turned off" during their childhood and adolescence and which their society seeks to deny them by assigning such qualities of life to the other sex. Such persons will naturally seek to exploit, utilize, experience and enjoy these "forbidden" areas. This desire is aggravated by the extreme polarization of western society and to a lesser extent in most other societies. In nearly all departments of living there is a "proper" and "acceptable" way for men to deal with themselves and their environ- ment and a different "proper" and "acceptable” way for women to handle the same circumstances. Is it not to be expected then, that this kind of a society, which denies a large portion of their own human potential to each, (but considerably more so to men) should in a sense "force" those in whom the inappropriate traits are stronger, or who accidentally dis- cover the fascination of experiencing the opposite gender role, to exploit this part of themselves in whatever ways may be possible and effective in their society? In western societies, dress, self-decoration and chemical and mechanical enhancements of natural differences are the most obvious manifestation of this polarization and are thus the most promising and satisfying areas to invade in order to express and experience the individual's contra-genderal yearnings. It is for this reason that femmiphilia, that is transvestism, is considered an endogenous social condition and not (except in very specific individuals and conditions) a psychopathic one.

The etiology of the condition is therefore considered to be simply an awareness of the social (i.e. genderal) differences between men and wo- men; a desire or a need to express, experience or enjoy some of the per- quisites and positions of the opposite gender and the adoption of the external appearance of that gender as a means of "entering into it", so that such cross gender expression and enjoyment may be experienced. The proximal cause or experience which makes the individual become aware that cross dressing is a means of relieving this tension or satisfying this craving or need may be quite varied. Anything, from the classical

86