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Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite
sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western cultures, especially when used to describe a
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
or
gender-fluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...
person.


History

Though the term was coined as late as the 1910s by Magnus Hirschfeld, the phenomenon is not new. It was referred to in the Hebrew Bible. Being part of the homosexual movement of Weimar Germany in the beginning, a first transvestite movement of its own started to form since the mid-1920s, resulting in founding first organizations and the first transvestite magazine, '' Das 3. Geschlecht''. The rise of Nazism stopped this movement from 1933 onwards.


Terminology

The word has undergone several changes of meaning since it was first coined and is still used in a variety of senses. Today, the term ''transvestite'' is commonly considered outdated and derogatory, with the term ''
cross-dresser Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...
'' used as a more appropriate replacement. This is because the term ''transvestite'' was historically used to diagnose medical disorders, including mental health disorders, and transvestism was viewed as a disorder, but the term ''cross-dresser'' was coined by the transgender community. In some cases, however, the term ''transvestite'' is seen as more appropriate for use by members of the transgender community instead of by those outside of the transgender community, and some have reclaimed the word.


Etymology

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...
coined the word ''transvestite'' in 1910 (from Latin ''trans-'', "across, over" and ''vestitus'', "dressed") to refer to the sexual interest in cross-dressing.Hirschfeld, Magnus:
Die Transvestiten.
' Berlin 1910: Alfred Pulvermacher
Hirschfeld, Magnus. (1910/1991).
Transvestites: The erotic drive to cross dress.
' (M. A. Lombardi-Nash, Trans.) Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
He used it to describe persons who habitually and voluntarily wore clothes of the opposite sex. Hirschfeld's group of transvestites consisted of both males and females, with
heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
,
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
,
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
, and asexual orientations.Hirschfeld, Magnus. ''Geschlechtsverirrungen'', 10th Ed. 1992, page 142 ff. Hirschfeld himself was not happy with the term: He believed that clothing was only an outward symbol chosen on the basis of various internal psychological situations. In fact, Hirschfeld helped people to achieve the first name changes (legal given names were required to be gender-specific in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
) and performed the first reported
sexual reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
. Hirschfeld's transvestites therefore were, in today's terms, not only transvestites, but a variety of people from the
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
spectrum. Hirschfeld also noticed that
sexual arousal Sexual arousal (also known as sexual excitement) describes the physiological and psychological responses in preparation for sexual intercourse or when exposed to sexual stimuli. A number of physiological responses occur in the body and mind as ...
was often associated with transvestism. In more recent terminology, this is sometimes called
transvestic fetishism Transvestic fetishism is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to men who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entert ...
. Hirschfeld also clearly distinguished between transvestism as an expression of a person's "contra-sexual" (transgender) feelings and
fetishistic A fetish (derived from the French , which comes from the Portuguese , and this in turn from Latin , 'artificial' and , 'to make') is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over othe ...
behavior, even if the latter involved wearing clothes of the other sex.


Cross-dressers

One of the fiercest activists to come out of the
Stonewall Riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
was
Sylvia Rivera Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist September 21, 1995. Accessed July 24, 2015. who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag q ...
, who set up
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) was a gay, gender non-conforming and transvestite street activist organization founded in 1970 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, subculturally-famous New York City drag queens of color.Fei ...
. In a 1971 essay, "Transvestites: Your Half Sisters and Half Brothers of the Revolution", Rivera wrote, "Transvestites are homosexual men and women who dress in clothes of the opposite sex." After all the changes that took place during the 1970s, a large group was left without a word to describe themselves: heterosexual males who wear traditionally feminine clothing. This group was not particularly happy with the term "transvestism", and therefore took on the term "cross-dresser".Bullough, Vern L.
Cross Dressing, Sex, and Gender.
' University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
Cross-dressers are men who wear female clothing and often both admire and imitate women, but self-identify as different from both
gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including ' ...
and transsexuals, and generally deny having fetishistic intentions. When cross-dressing occurs for
erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...
purposes over a period of at least six months and also causes significant distress or impairment, the behavior is considered a
mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
in the ''
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
'', and the psychiatric diagnosis "
transvestic fetishism Transvestic fetishism is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to men who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entert ...
" is applied.


Culture

In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional or ceremonial reasons. For example, in India some male devotees of the Hindu god
Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
, especially in
Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...
and
Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childho ...
, dress in female attire to pose as his consort, the goddess
Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...
, as an act of devotion. In Italy, the
Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
'' femminielli'' wear wedding dresses, called the ''matrimonio dei femminielli'' (marriage of the feminine males), a procession takes place through the streets, a tradition that apparently has pagan origins.Il mondo del "femminiello", cultura e tradizione
TorreSette.news. Retrieved 21 January 2013


Image gallery

File:Relief of Archigallus.jpg, Priest/priestess Archigallus of ancient Rome. File:El excluido.jpg, A 1927 photograph of Álvaro Echavarría ("El excluido") of
Cúcuta Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the Eastern ...
, Colombia File:Teschenberg Hermann von (1866-1911).jpg, Baron von Teschenberg, a German transvestite, one of the founders of the
Scientific-Humanitarian Committee The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (, WhK) was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin in May 1897, to campaign for social recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and against their legal Violence against LGBT people, pers ...
File:Baton Bob (cc).jpg, A modern American transvestite. File:Dina Alma de Paradeda.jpg, A 19th-century photograph of a ''
femminiello or (singular , also spelled as ''femmeniello'') are a population of people who embody a third gender role in traditional Neapolitan culture It may be hard to define this term within modern Western notions of "gay men" versus "trans women" sinc ...
'', an ancient culture of cross dressing in Naples, Italy File:Marcha TodosSomosFamilia - Ciudad de México - 1.jpg, A gay man and a transvestite kissing in a demonstration,
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...


See also

*
Cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...
*
Drag (clothing) The term "drag" refers to the performance of exaggerated masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someon ...
*
Dual-role transvestism Dual-role transvestism is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe people who wear clothes of the opposite sex to experience being the opposite sex temporarily, but don't have a sexual motive or want gender reassignme ...
*
Gender bender A gender bender is a person who dresses up and acts like the opposite sex. Bending expected gender roles may also be called a genderfuck. Gender bending may be political, stemming from the early identity politics movements of the 1960s and 19 ...
*
List of transgender-related topics The following outline offers an overview and guide to transgender topics. The term "transgender" is multi-faceted and complex, especially where consensual and precise definitions have not yet been reached. While often the best way to find out ho ...
*
Transsexual Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
*
Travesti (theatre) ''Travesti'' is a theatrical term referring to the portrayal of a character in an opera, play, or ballet by a performer of the opposite sex. For social reasons, female roles were played by boys or men in many early forms of theatre, and ''trave ...


Notes


References

* Ackroyd, Peter.
Dressing up, transvestism and drag: the history of an obsession.
' Simon and Schuster, 1979. * Mancini, Elena.
A Brighter Shade of Pink: Magnus Hirschfeld.
' ProQuest, 2007. * Ambrosio, Giovanna.
Transvestism, Transsexualism in the Psychoanalytic Dimension.
' Karnac Books, 2011. * Gravois, Valory.
Cherry Single: A Transvestite Comes of Age (a novel)
' Alchemist/Light Publishing, 1997 (Available to read free, online),


Further reading

*


External links


Transvestism at Britannica Online Encyclopædia
{{Transgender footer Transvestism Clothing Gender nonconformity Transgender