Transvestitism

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Transvestitism
In the last few decades, there has been a rapid change in social attitude towards so-called sexual problems. There has been a call for the freedom to live in the style of which one chooses, so long as no one else is harmed in the process. One area that appears little understood, however, is transvestitism, or cross-dressing. In order to gain some knowledge about this phenomenon, there are many aspects of transvestitism that should be examined, some being: history, societal views, the gay versus straight issue, and women dressing as men.
Transvestitism has a long history, ranging from mythical figures to medieval saints who cross-dressed; from the many instances of berdache in anthropological literature to historical figures such as the most famous eighteenth century French transvestite, Chevalier d’Eon (Bullough, 1993). There are countless examples of this in Greek Theater; the public theater of England, including Shakespearean plays; Kabuki and Noh theaters in Japan, and the Chinese opera. For years, it was considered immoral for women to act in theater, so men assumed the roles of female characters. Even after it became acceptable for women to enter acting, there are many cases of crossdressing in film. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon donned full women’s garb in Some Like It Hot (1959), Cary Grant, in Bringing Up Baby (1938), and Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie (1983). Women have been known to get into the crossdressing act in film and theater as well, with the role of Peter Pan traditionally played by a woman. Marlene Detrich and Josephine Baker were also known to occasionally dress for the stage in full tuxedo, top hat and tails included.
More recently, cross-dressing has been seen in popular culture, with, among many others, drag diva RuPaul, the movie, The Crying Game (1992), and, as an example of female to male crossdressing, singer Madonna. This gives a sense that transvestitism and performing are interrelated, not merely “historically” or “culturally,” but psychoanalytically, through the unconscious and through language. (Garber, 1992) To Marjorie Garber, this represents a notion that there is a naturalness to this behavior, since the common theme crosses so many boundaries, including time. It does seem as if society is tolerant of the idea of cross-dressing for art’s sake. However, what about cross-dressing in everyday life?
Webster (1972) d...

... middle of paper ...

...little to change this. It seems as if the old adage “live and let live” is quite appropriate for this lifestyle. Unfortunately, most of society has yet to adopt this view.

Works Cited
Bullough, Vern. “A Comparative Study of Male Transvestites, Male to
Female Transsexuals, and Male Homosexuals” 1993.
URL: http://www.tgguide.com/Library/Psych_Abstracts/comparst.txt.
Garber, Marjorie. (1992). Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing &
Cultural Anxiety. New York, NY: Routledge, Chapman & Hall.
Gilbert, Matthew. “What A Drag: Is Cross-Dressing Crossing Over to the
Mainstream?” Boston Globe 21 March 1993. URL: http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~mberz/ttt/articles/what-a-drag.
Merriam-Webster. (1972) Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary.
Springfield, MA: G & C Merriam Co.
Prince, Virginia. (1971) How To Be A Woman Though Male. Princeton,
MA. Chavalier Books.
Rudd, Peggy J., Ed.D. (1995) Crossdressers: And Those Who Share
Their Lives. Katy, TX: PM Publishers, Inc.
Stoller, Robert J, M.D. “Transvestism in Women” FEMINET, 1992.
URL: http://www.tgguide.com/Library/Psych_Abstracts/tvwomen.txt.

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