The facts that can be taken as evidence in favour of the reactive theory include the following:-

1. The great strength of the emotional feelings expressed by the transsexuals reported by Dr. Benjamin indicates some strong self- preservative drive.

2. The sheer persistance of many transvestites, in spite of all that Society, themselves or their spouses can do, similarly indicates the great force of the drive.

3. Whatever the source of the drive, it is quite unreasonable. This is typical of the effects of an unconscious construct working its way out. "Unisex" clothes have no appeal to the transvestite now, any more than had the gorgeous clothes and wigs worn by all men in the 17th. and 18th. centuries. We are forced across a clearly demarcated line into the apparel of the opposite gender. I don't want one of the beautifully frilly patterned shirts that are now being sold in men's stores. I want a woman's blouse and there is no doubt about it!

4. The feeling of sheer relief and joy expressed many times over by transvestites on getting out of their masculine clothes, again indicates the degree of psychological strain set up by the difficulty these people have in adopting the role, in their normal lives, that they (correctly or incorrectly) feel they must play for self-preservation.

The relationship of the above to the classical divisions of psycho- logical disorder (Psychosis vs. Neurosis; Manic-Depressive, Schizo- phrenic, Hysterical & Obsessional types of disease) should be con- sidered. These labels are descriptive terms though there is a real dif- ference between the Psychotic and the Neurotic states, in that in the former it is possible to hold in consciousness, simultaneously, two mutually incompatible thoughts. The psychotic is frequently de- scribed as being "out of touch with reality." A descriptive classifica- tion has little real use. Its like classing Cardinals and Orioles to- gether because both are red birds! An orthodox Psychiatrist might call transvestism an obsessive disorder with hysterical features. The Psychosis-Neurosis division has more significance, however. The transsexual who believes he is a "woman trapped in a man's body" and who expects that the body can be converted to suit his mind is clearly psychotic. His constructs have become utterly incompatible with everyday life and he has had to retreat from reality in order to survive at all. The one who accepts that his desire to cross-dress is part of a reaction to the pressures of some aspect of his earlier life, that he, like all other men, is a compound of a male body and a more or less integrated masculine and feminine mind, and that his anxiety,

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