Wikipedia defines cross-dressing as a noun; cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothing another accouterment commonly associated with the opposite sex within a society. The Free Dictionary defines cross-dressing as a noun, the practice of adopting the clothes or the manner or the sexual role of the opposite sex. Learners Dictionary defines cross-dressing as a noun, the act or practice of wearing clothes made for the opposite sex.
The general dictionary term denotes an action or a behavior without attributing or proposing causes for that behavior. Some people automatically connect cross-dressing behavior to transgender identity or sexual, fetishist, and homosexual behavior, but the term cross-dressing itself does not imply any motives.
About 2-25% of normal, healthy, heterosexual male population may enjoy the feel of wearing women's clothing. For the most part, these men lead normal, productive lives and keep their cross-dressing limited and private. To cross-dress is a personal chose and private activity subject to no one's disapproval. Psychologists in the past tried to associate cross-dressing as a problem but in general, in today's time, Psychologists do not even regard cross-dressing as a problem - unless the cross-dresser considers it a problem.
All this seems simple enough but people will bring up what the bible says about a man or woman in the clothes of the other.
A cross-dressing, "A man's item shall not be a woman, and a man shall not wear a woman's garment; whoever does such a thing is an abhorrence unto Adonai." Deuteronomy 22:5 http://www.beki.org/crossdress.html. Many men feel guilt after they cross-dress and it is mainly that the Christian Religions has associated cross-dressing with sin. The basic or the Christian Religion is all men are sinners but only he without sin shall cast the first stone. So, if cross-dressing is a sin, it must be a minor one for it did not even get put on the big list of the Ten Commandment. Maybe cross-dressing is not a sin at all but is it not up to God to decide and not a man? From a more understanding and forgiving God, we are told that some men have given a challenge by God to explore oneself to the fullest and to discover their true self.
The group of people who cross-dress can be broken into three distant groups, Transvestite, Transgendered, and Transsexual.
Transvectors
A transvestite (TV or cross-dresser) is someone who gets enjoyment from dressing in the clothes normally associated with the opposite sex. It may be merely underwear, full clothing, or include makeup, wigs, jewelry, and perfume. Cross-dressing is primary a male activity. The general convention is to label all cross-dressers as the transvestite.
There is arguably more debate about whether transvectors can be classed as a disorder and/or sexually deviant than any other paraphilia. Transvectors has traditionally been defined as the cross-dressing in clothes worn by the opposite sex for sexual pleasure. However, there are many groups of people who may dress in the clothes of the opposite sex but may experience absolutely no sexual arousal whatsoever. Therefore, those who study paraphilic behavior are more likely to use the term ‘transvestic fetishism’ to describe the small group of people (typically male but there are some documented female cases in the literature) who derive their sexual pleasure from cross-dressing. Therefore, transvestite groups (where the word simply refers to cross-dressing) may comprise Femmiphile, Female Impersonator, Transvestic fetishism, Periodic transvestites, Marginal transvestites.
Cross-Dressing Femmiphile
This is the most common form of a crossdresser. Virginia Prince, a Transgender Pioneer coined the terms “feminiphilia” and “feminiphile” in Transvestia #7 (January 1977). The spelling of these terms would change over the years to femmephobia and femmiphile, sometimes capitalized, sometimes not. To signal an association with the dual personality or ‘girl within’ mode of identity, writers sometimes utilized Prince’s lexicon of “true transvestite,” “femmiphile,” or “femme percolator,” often abbreviated as “FP.” In its simplicity, the femmiphile is a person who has a love for what our society considers being feminine and a very strong desire to associate them with the feminine. Femmiphiles have high admiration for the female and wish to emulate them as much as possible. FEMMIPHILE (FP)"Lover of the feminine." A term used to describe crossdressers by those that find the terms crossdresser and transvestite offensive.
A female impersonator is a person whose prime reason for cross-dressing is employment. They have perfected their cross-dressing act into a performing art. It is interesting to note that the late James Cagney got his start in show business as a female impersonator.
Wikipedia defines a "drag queen as usually a male-bodied person who performs as an exaggeratedly feminine character, in heightened costuming sometimes consisting of a showy dress, high-heeled shoes, obvious makeup, and wig. A drag queen may imitate famous female film or pop-music stars. "
Drag involves wearing highly exaggerated and outrageous costumes or imitating movie and music stars of the opposite sex. It is a form of performing art practiced by a drag queen and drag kings. Drag is often found in a gay or lesbian context. The term "drag king" can also apply to people from the female-to-male side of the transgender spectrum that do not see themselves as exclusively male identified, therefore covering a much wider ground than a "drag queen". Although many drag queens, they are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons or purposes.
The term "fetishism" originated from the Portuguese word feitico, which means "obsessive fascination". (Psychology Today, 2005) Fetishism was introduced as a psychological scientific term in 1887 by Alfred Binet. (Grachev, 2006) The term "fetish" comes from "fetishism" and was used to describe religious relics found in tribal cultures by the Old World Portuguese explorers. Fetishism in anthropologic contexts refers to the ancient belief that godly powers can inhere in inanimate things. (Felluga, 2011) In its original anthropological context, a fetish was any religious artifact which tribal peoples believed had magical powers. (Brame, 2006) Fetishism is the idea of an object having supernatural powers or powers over another human being. Sigmund Freud was the first to describe the concept and activities of Sexual Fetishism. In 1927, Freud suggested that fetishism was the result of a psychological trauma, the trauma of a female lacking a penis; according to Freud, "fetishes are unconscious elements and are concrete forms of unconscious fantasies" (Lowenstein, 2002) and occurs "almost exclusively" among men; theorists in the late 20th century began to challenge this notion.
Transvestic fetishists cross-dress for their sexual pleasure and included men who divine in some cases may involve sexual arousal from a very specific piece of clothing.
Transvestic fetishism is a term used in the medical community to refer to one who has a fetish for wearing the clothing of the opposite gender. This is considered a derogatory term by some, as it implies a hierarchy of value in which the sexual element of behavior is of low social value. Many reject the term "transvestite" for this reason, preferring cross-dresser instead. It is often difficult to distinguish between fetishism that happens to have female clothing as an object other reasons for men to cross-dress for sexual play. Some people feel that transvestic fetishism does not count as true cross-dressing.
Men with a cross-dressing fetish associate an article of woman clothing such as woman's shoes, panties, stockings or other garments with sexual arousal. The man does not know why but female garments hold a special visual or tactile sensation attraction. This fetish is imprinted upon his mind. When his body comes in contact with the female garments his brain is hard-wired to release neurotransmitters (dopamine, oxytocin and a host other neurotransmitters). These neurotransmitters produce sensations of well-being, pleasure, sexual gratification and self-identity. It is as if the cross-dressing has fooled his brain into thinking that he has achieved contact with a female. His body responds to sexual gratification, stimulation, etc. resulting his hormones to be elevated. Contact with female garments simulates a natural reaction to be sexually excited. At this point self-stimulation to climax may be the only release available. The neurotransmitters affect the reward centers of the brain with the instant gratification and mimicking an addiction response. Contact with woman garments is an autoerotic response which cannot stop his brain from releasing the neurotransmitters. The act of cross-dressing provides a pleasurable experience. Each time the act repeats, it becomes entrenched in his id, he feels as if he cannot stop cross-dressing.
For many men, women's clothing becomes associated with sex. Items like bras and panties can be a visual cue for sexual arousal. An example would be the normal response to Victor Secrets CBS Fashion Show or Sports Illustrated Swim Suite Addition. Woman undergarments can become fetish objects by a simple process of association with the arousal when they see them on desirable women. While it might not be a logical step some men will try on such inherently arousing garments. Under the influence of a sexual needs, the touch and feel of the garments are enough to climax.
Dressing now can stimulate both visual and touching and this to a man that is in the mood, the man is primed in some way to be sexually aroused by the dressing actions. Thus, the sight of a stocking covered foot in a high-heeled shoe or of a satin dress pulled taught across a soft belly, even though these things on your own body still evoke the usual arousal response. His own physical intimacy and touching also lead his sexual arousal. One's own body is about as physically intimate as it is possible to be when dressing. In the already sexually charged atmosphere of a cross-dressing session, the touch of sensual fabrics against the body, the feel of the smooth lines and surfaces imprints a pleasurable response, which in the action is addicting.
For over a hundred years, the American Psychological Association has tried to associate cross-dressing as unhealthy, and illness, a dysfunction or a disorder. The "Transvestic Fetishism" in the DSM-III-R (APA, 1987) was an attempt to make all cross-dressing a perversion. The very name equates cross-dressing with sexual fetishism and social stereotypes of perversion. It serves to sexualize a diagnosis that does not clearly require a sexual context. Cross-dressing by males very often represents a social expression of an inner sense of identity. In fact, the clinical literature cites many cases, considered diagnosable under transvestic fetishism, which present no sexual motivation for cross-dressing and by no means represent fetishism (Wise & Meyer, 1980).
When a person who is sexually aroused by the wearing of certain articles of feminine clothing, it is said he has a fetish. Unlike the average crossdresser, the fetish will not dress completely, and will only dress when they wish sexual arousal. In some cases, the true fetish may not even become aroused unless wearing the article of feminine clothes that give him pleasure.
Effeminate Homosexual
Effeminate homosexuals (who may occasionally cross-dress for fun), Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behavior, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behavior, mannerisms, style or roles.
It is a term frequently applied to womanly behavior, demeanor, style, and appearance displayed by a male, typically used implying criticism or ridicule of this behavior (as opposed to, for example, merely describing a male as feminine, which is non-judgmental). The term effeminate is most often used by people who subscribe to the conventional view that males should conform to traditional masculine traits and behaviors. Generally, the description is applied to individuals but may be used to describe entire societies as an inflammatory allegation. In the Western tradition, as described below, effeminacy has often been considered a vice, indicative of other negative character traits and often involving a pejorative insinuation of homosexual tendencies. In other societies, feminine males may be considered a distinct human gender (third gender) and may have a special social function, as is the case of Two-Spirits in some Native American groups. Furthermore, in contemporary culture, effeminacy has come to be seen by some to be simply one characteristic or trait which might be a part of a particular person's "gender role", and in this sense, would not be considered a vice or indicative of any other characteristics. An effeminate male is like a fop or a dandy, though these tend to be archaic identities that are taken on by the individual rather than insulting labels.
There have been a couple of relatively large-scale studies of transvestism including that of Dr. Richard Doctor and Dr. Virginia Prince (California State University, USA) who surveyed 1,032 transvestites, and Dr. Niklas Långström (Centre for Violence Prevention, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden) and Dr. Kenneth Zucker (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) who examined transvestic in a Swedish community survey of 2,540 adults. This and other research has suggested there appear to be at least two distinct sub-groups of transvestic fetishists (‘periodic transvestites’ and ‘marginal transvestites’).
Periodic transvestites: These transvestites are said to have psychological satisfaction with both their male gender and sexual identity, and with the activity of cross-dressing activity. Furthermore, they have no desire to pursue any other form of feminization.
Marginal transvestites: These transvestites experience psychological dissatisfaction with their male gender and sexual identity. The sexual arousal experienced from cross-dressing is typically lower than that of periodic transvestites. They may also engage in other feminization activities including hormone treatment, bodily hair removal, and (in extreme cases) surgical reconstruction. Some marginal transvestites may, therefore, include transsexuals who cross-dress not only for sexual pleasure but also for gender synchrony.
Virginia Prince is oftentimes given credit for coining the term “transgenderist” and “transgenderism” in 1978. In 1977, Prince writes of three types of different types of Trans experiences: class one, “regular transvestite or femmiphile”; class two—those males who live as women openly and in society (transgendered); and class three—those who undergo or who “seriously plan” sex change surgery (transsexual).
Transsexualism
Transsexualism describes the condition in which an individual identifies with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their assigned sex, i.e. in which a person's assigned sex at birth conflicts with their psychological gender. A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort because of a desire to be a member of the opposite sex, or if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress because of that gender identification. Transsexualism is stigmatized in many parts of the world but has become more widely known in Western culture in the mid to late 20th century, concurrently with the sexual revolution and the development of sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Discrimination or negative attitudes towards transsexualism often accompany certain religious beliefs or cultural values. There are cultures that have no difficulty integrating people who change gender roles, often holding them with high regards, such as the traditional role for 'two-spirit' people found among certain native American tribes.
Unlike the average crossdresser who will spend most of his time in the masculine role, a transgenderist is a person who lives and works in the cross-gendered role full-time. Unlike the transsexual, he is content with his male organs and does not plan surgery to remove them.
Transgender is an umbrella term used to describe anyone whose gender identity or expression situates them differently than the traditional gender role they were assigned at birth. Some of the countless categories incorrectly lumped together under this term include cross-dressing, drag, androgyny, and many shadings between these larger groupings.
"Transgender" is also used to describe behavior or feelings that cannot be categorized into these older sub-categories. For example, people living in a gender role that is different from the one they were assigned at birth, but who do not wish to undergo any or all of the available medical options. Or people who do not wish to identify themselves as "transsexuals", "men" or "women", and consider that they fall between genders, or transcend gender.
Some people who present as female, but with male genitalia may have been born intersexual but may also be transsexual or transgender, who do the transition (taking estrogens and/or other methods) to achieve some desired secondary sex characteristics, but not sexual reassignment surgery. Sometimes these individuals are referred to as ladyboy or she male (compare there), but these terms are considered derogatory by many, including most transgender or transsexual people not working in the sex industry.
Persons with a gender identity disorder have had strong feelings since childhood that they were born in the wrong body. They want to belong to the opposite sex, e.g. they want to be a woman instead of a man and vice versa. This can be seen in children when they keep on indicating that they want to belong to the opposite sex, want to wear clothes of the opposite sex and have a strong and continuous preference for playing the role of the other sex or pretending to belong to this sex. They also want to play games and have pastimes of the other sex and preferably play with pals of the other sex.
In 1982, Kurt Freund reported evidence that there exist two types of cross-gender identity in male-to-female transsexuals, coined the term "homosexual transsexual" and hypothesized that gender dysphoria in "homosexual males" (male-to-female transsexuals attracted to men) is different from gender dysphoria in heterosexual males. His protégé, Ray Blanchard notes that "Freund, perhaps for the first time of any author, employed a term other than transvestism to denote erotic arousal in association with cross-gender fantasy."
Blanchard's observations at the Clarke Institute began with four types of male transsexuals based on their sexual orientation relative to their sex assigned at birth: homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, and asexual (i.e., transsexuals attracted to men, women, both, or neither, respectively.) Blanchard conducted a series of studies of biological males with gender dysphoria, including male-to-female transsexuals, concluding that there exist two distinct types. One type of gender dysphoria/transsexualism manifests itself in individuals who are exclusively attracted to men, whom Blanchard referred to as homosexual transsexuals, adopting Freund's terminology. The other type includes those who are attracted to females (gynophilic), attracted to both males and females (bisexual), and attracted to neither males nor females (analloerotic or asexual); Blanchard referred to this latter set collectively as the non-homosexual transsexuals. Blanchard claims that the non-homosexual transsexuals (but not the homosexual transsexuals) exhibit autogynephilic, which he defined as a paraphilic interest in having female anatomy.
While often confused with the crossdresser, transsexuals are NOT considered cross-dressers. Unlike cross-dressers who recognize themselves as males with a feminine part to them, the transsexual is a person who is psychologically a member of one sex, and physiologically a member of the opposite sex. Unlike the crossdresser, the transsexual cannot be content unless the physiological body is surgically altered to be congruent with the psychological person who occupies that body. While cross-dressing for personality expression is far more common in masculine to feminine form, transsexualism is about equally common in female to male as it is in male to female.
There is usually a great sense of discomfort with one's own anatomic sex, often with distaste or disgust with their genitalia. The person seeks to alter the body appears to be of the preferred sex. Many transsexuals will undergo and sex reassignment surgery (SRS) to become the other sex. They are said to be pre-op when taking hormones to enlarge their breasts and reduce body hair prior to surgery. Post-op after the surgery.
Autogynephilic
Autogynephilic is the "mental illness" described by the pseudoscientific theory that male assigned-at-birth sexual transsexuals who have any sexual interest except exclusively to men, have a fetish with viewing themselves as females. This covers lesbian, bisexual, and asexual transsexuals. The term roughly translates from Greek to "Self Poon Lovin'." The theory was originated by Ray Blanchard and Kurt Fruend in the 1980s, and endorsed by onetime celebrity psychologist J.Michael Bailey (who was later forced to resign as psychology chair at Northwestern University).
The theory is often accompanied by the notion that transsexuals attracted exclusively to men take an identical developmental route as homosexuals, but are so overtly effeminate that they find it difficult to operate in life as even a homosexual man. And since these transsexuals are developmentally identical to homosexual men, they are labeled "homosexual transsexuals."
From the Science of Relationships website, www.scienceofrelationships.com, Copyright © 2012, the article Cross-Dressing and Gender-Bending: Separating Science Fact from Fiction by Dr. Justin Lehmille.
http://www.scienceofrelationships.com/home/2011/10/31/cross-dressing-and-gender-bending-separating-science-fact-fr.html
Dr. Justin Lehmille writes,
First and foremost, transvestites and transsexuals could not be more different. A transvestite is someone who engages in cross-dressing for purposes of sexual arousal but does not truly wish to change his or her gender.1 In other words, transvestites dress as members of the opposite sex simply because it turns them on. Some dress up entirely as the opposite gender, while others were only a single piece of the other sex’s clothing (e.g., a male transvestite might wear just panties or a bra). You can think of transvestism as a type of fetish where a certain object or action is necessary to “give yourself over to absolute pleasure” (if I may borrow a line from Rocky Horror).
Dr. Justin Lehmille continues, in comparison, transsexuals do not cross-dress because they get a kick out of it—rather; they do so because they genuinely want to change their gender identity. Transsexuals experience what is known as gender dysphoria, which means they feel as though they are trapped in the body of the wrong sex.2 It is for this reason that transsexuals sometimes undergo sexual reassignment surgery to change their body’s appearance to be consistent with their desired gender (case in point: Dancing with the Stars contestant Chaz Bono). If I may borrow one more line from Rocky Horror, Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s advice to a transsexual would probably be: “Don’t dream it, be it.”
Transgender and transsexualism are only regarded as a disorder if they make a person unhappy and unsatisfied, or cause problems in relation to other people. If they are happy with it, and it causes no problem, it is a personality trait, but not a disorder.
Note that transgender need not include a wish to have sex playing another sex role than born with. Note also that some people normally use their normal gender role, but sometimes wish to try out the reverse gender role.
© Emma Michelle Martin and Elevated Therapy - Oct '99 title "A Guide to Gender Dysphasia" provides a definition including Transvestism, can find cross-dressing in an article. "A transvestite (TV or cross-dresser) is someone who gets enjoyment from dressing in the clothes normally associated with the opposite sex. It may be merely underwear, full clothing, or include makeup, wigs, jewelry and perfume."
The reader might ask if you do not get enjoyment from dressing are you a transvestite. The answer is very confusing. At the American Psychological Association (APA),
The APA has grouped cross-dresser in with the term "transgender" and an identity disorder. Transgender was coined by Dr. Virginia Prince in the mid-1970's to differentiate those individuals who wanted to live in the opposite gender role without surgery from those that wanted surgery.
The DSM-IV-TR (1994) does not acknowledge the existence of healthy, well-adjusted male-identified heterosexual cross-dressers. DSM-IV-TR (1994) does not attempt to differentiate between the ego-syntonic, not distressed heterosexual cross-dressers and those who are ego-dystonic or distressed by guilt other significant distress that disrupts their daily life.
The APA further labels cross-dresser with a disorder, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-Text Revised (2000) of the American Psychiatric Association, which refers to cross-dressing as “transvestic fetishism”, though it does make it clear that the diagnosis applies to:
“Heterosexual males who have sexually arousing fantasies urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing (wearing female clothing). To be considered diagnosable, the fantasies urges, or behaviors must cause significant distress in the individual or be disruptive to his or her everyday functioning.”
The male-to-female cross-dresser who is not diagnosed with “significant distress” by his dressing, nor has his “everyday functioning” disrupted by it, is not considered to have “Transvestic fetishism”, or paraphilia unless the dressing interferes with his “satisfactory sexual relations” or the “recognize the symptoms as negatively impacting life but feel as if he is unable to control them.”
Other countries have a different approach to the subject, the International Classification of Diseases-10 (1994) of the World Health Organization since the latter refers to cross-dressing as “dual-role transvestism” and lists it under “Gender identity disorders”. The ICD-10 then defines it as:
“The wearing of clothes of the opposite sex for part of the individual’s existence to enjoy the temporary experience of membership of the opposite sex, but without any desire for a more permanent sex change or associated surgical reassignment, and without sexual excitement accompanying the cross-dressing.”
The ICD-10 does not refer to the sexual nature of cross-dressing, as does DSM-IV-TR. This is particularly relevant to those many cross-dressers who maintain that they are not sexually aroused by cross-dressing; they are not distressed by it, and it does not negatively affect their lives in any way.
Separately from historical precedent and social constructs, there is no valid reason why strong sexual interests, unusual or otherwise, be diagnosed as mental disorders, nor that cross-dressing is categorized as a ‘sexual disorder’. Also, cross dress is primary a heterosexual activity with only less than a third having tried a homosexual act.
Defines cross-dressing "someone who enjoys wearing clothing and accessories intended for a different gender role." Cross-dressing men will dress for both sexual and non-sexual reasons.
There can be as many definitions for cross-dressing as there are experts. For the book, cross-dressing is the act or practice of wearing clothing associated with the opposite sex. A cross-dresser is a person who derives enjoyment from dressing in the clothes associated with the opposite sex.
There are many different categories of men that of cross-dress and they dress for many different reasons. The term underdressing describes male cross-dressers wearing female undergarments under their male clothes. Underdressing can be as simple as wearing just nylon stockings, or pantyhose or just woman panties. There are a large group of men on the Internet, "Men in panties" or Men in Stocking" that will cross-dress occasionally wearing woman undergarments under their guy clothes. These men are mostly straight; some are bisexual, rarely gay. They live normal lives with their wives, family co-workers not knowing their secret. The famous low-budget filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. reported he often wore women's underwear under his military uniform during World War II. Underdressed my dress this way as a matter of comfort or style while other Underdress or dress to shock others or challenge social norms.
Some men who cross-dress have facial hair, beards and or mustaches enjoy dressing in woman's undergarments and woman's outer garments. Their appearance from the neck down is feminine. Sometimes they wear a wig. This type of cross-dressing is called gender-bending. No attempt by the man is made to act as a female, nor does he pretend to be a female.
Many men who cross-dress enjoy and desire they are forced to dress and they take on a role of a submissive. They dress as maids, schoolgirls, streetwalker or other degrading female types. This activity usually involves a partner male or female who assists in the dressing fantasy. These men are called sissy, and the actions on them by other is called sissification.
She-male is a man who has his breast enlarged. They can be pre-op or have no desire to fully change to be a woman. They enjoy being half man half woman and adapt the mannerism of woman. A she-male is in high sexual demand and many she-males charges for their time.
In summary if, you wear an article of clothing of a female you are a cross-dresser. If you are distress about cross-dress and it is affecting your life and relationships then you are diagnosed as a transvestite. If you cross-dress to be treated like a woman, you can be considered transgendered. If you dress in female’s clothes because you think you are a female trapped in a man's body you are said to be a transwoman. If you desire to change your sex to a female, you are said to be transsexual. Some cross-dresser may have a disorder called Transvestic Fetishism if they have recurrent, intense, sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies, of at least six months' duration, involving cross-dressing. However, most cross-dressers are likely a heterosexual with no desire to be a woman and not having sex with a man.
If all this is confusing then you can understand why society has a misunderstanding for men who dress in woman clothing.
