Much has been written speculating as to why a man becomes a trans- vestite. All I can do is speculate too. It seems logical that environmental factors are the most important. And since the personality is to a major extent formed in the first few years of life it is most likely that the parents, or those adults who act as parents for the child, are the prime influence in this development. I believe that the child evolves the idea that being a girl is a better deal, or at least in his particular situation he would be better off as a girl. Now many in their case histories state that their father was the dominant figure in their household and that the mother played a feminine passive role. But appearances can be de- ceiving and it is difficult for an adult to look back to his pre-school days and evaluate his thoughts or the emotional climate of his house at the time. A seemingly passive mother may still subtlely dominate her masculine husband getting her own way, pushing him beyond his ca- pacities, criticizing him in front of others, making him spoil her and withholding her physical love. She may at the same time 'seduce' her young son towards femininity by overprotection, being overdemand- ing of his love and acting as the martyr in any family dispute. She may use illness to get sympathy and get things done for her. The emo- tional climate of the house may be such then that the father seems to do all the work and the mother gently, femininely pulls the strings and gets the most attention, benefit and credit. It may be this way, or to the young boy, only seems this way. In any event he identifies with his mother and therefore with the feminine. As a child he is influenced by these events. As a completely dependent person he is acutely aware of the emotional climate of the house. He can't analyze it or his reactions to it and as an adult he can no longer recall the details. So he is influ- enced but he doesn't know how.

The above are thoughts that occurred to me as I read through the pages of Transvestia. They are not presented as facts but as ideas that seem logical to me. Their value and their validity is for the individual reader to decide. I do not view the plight of the TV without compas- sion. I sense the urgency and the magnitude of the emotional force which drives him. But I think this force is so strong as to tend to make him selfish. In seeking acceptance from his wife he may forget that her psyche, her social pressures and her prejudices may compel her to re- ject his transvestism with a fury equal to his need to pursue it. He may be required to have as much understanding as he hopes to receive.

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