Eileen

THE GIRL IN THE CLOSET

ARTICLE

The "girl within" seems to be the core of most of the interpretations of Transvestism that I have read or heard. Psychological literature in general and the behavior and writings of FPs have led me to some rather different conclusions than are usually expressed.

There is a common psychological reaction or defence called compart- mentalization. As the name implies, this occurs when the individual, usually in childhood, separates part of his personality from the rest and keeps it in a special compartment. Usually this occurs because some other person in his environment has been pressuring the child into giving up some essential personality trait. When the child cannot do this he re- sorts to locking up that part of his personality. The connections with Transvestism are obvious, particularly when a TV refers to his femme- self as being in the closet.

The implications are less obvious. Compartmentalization does not solve the child's problem. It merely postpones it. The locked-away parts of his personality are necessary. Blocking them off merely increases their strength until the individual can no longer ignore them. He is now under considerable pressure to express these traits and must search for some way to do so without damaging the rest of his life. The FP finds se- cret ways, times and places to do this. This relieves the pressure, for the moment, but does nothing to relieve the compartmentalization of his life. He is expressing his femme-self but doing so in strict separation from the rest of his life. The need remains.

This is not an argument against dressing or an attempt to "cure" FPs. Obviously, to close that outlet does nothing but cause worse trouble.

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