FREE INQUIRY In Creative Sociology Volume 9, No 1 May 1981 "72 TRANSVESTISM: EXPRESSION OF A SECOND SELF John T Talamini, University of Scranton DEFINITION Transvestites have a the transvestite subcul,ture, in the stigma hidden from others, in con­ "coming out" process, they enjoy trast to those whose sti gma is a supportive milieu. ' oDvio'us, as with the physically The act of purchasing women's led, deformed, or obese. In clothing is a problem for many the public mind, transvestites are transvesti tes because of thei r own sometimes confused with' hermaphro­ guiJt feelings and their tendency dites, bisexuals, drag queens, to worry that sales personnel will trans-sexuals, and f'emal~ imper­ know that the item is actually for son'at6rs. Transvestites are hetero­ them. Some estimate their clothing sexu~I,' and their only unique size and order fro'm a mair~order charaeteristic is their desire to retailer. III-fitting clothes can be wear women's clothes clandestine­ returned without having to face ly'. Our observations are based on anyone at a ladies' 'store. In per- inte"rviews with SO transvestites sonal shoppin'g for women"s from Ne England and' the Mid­ clothes, the transvestite may Atlantic states, representing both claim that the cosmetics are for a m'idd'e class and working class masquerade party, or that the men of many occupations. 'The purchase is for the wife or girl snowball "sampling 'technique was friend. There are special bou­ used, since each respondent knew tiques for transvestites in large at teast one other transvestite. cities throughout the United They' have meetings, 'and may be­ States. There, clothes' and cosme­ long to a secret transvestite soci- tics are expensive because of the such as the of the limited clientele. Set'f, or the Internation~al • Be'ing inexperienced as a woman The the transvesti te tends to overdo from 30 to' 60 femininity. He wonders if his 'fe­ and most were in male dress and m'akeup is convirl.;.. mid· 40's; 32 were co'liege gra­ cing. Those with understanding duates; 34 were or had been mar­ wives, or with transvestite ried,~ and' many had performed friends can benefit from expert milit.ry service in World War II, opinion. Those who belong to a Korea, or Vietnam. transvestite club or "sorority" oft'en take female names, or femin­ BECqMING'A TRANSVESTrTE ize their own name, like Roberta, Tpe transvestite usually begins or Carla. Or they may use their in chit od' by wearing his moth­ own initials for. a female name, er's I or siste s clothes, or by or take the 'name of a loved , "uerading in women's clothes female o'r movie actress. at a Halloween party or a play. • A transvestite who feels that he One id: '''1 be 'putting on If.V can pass as a woman ventures rnr.ft"l,A.... ' S clothes when I was abou: forth in public for short appear­ 12. 'The ~i rst 't'i'mel did it, I got ances • ' He shops, goes to a movi e very excited'. Whe:n I looked into or restaurant, ",or rides buses and the 'mirrOr I felt as if I was trains. Drinking establishments transformed into a woman, and I are taboo' territory for the trans­ was ,in ecstacy. I would do it vesti te because of the' danger 'of every week thereafter, when my being approached by another man moth~r was) out." who is fooled by the feminine The transvesti te who dresses gu;ise. Some go out' in public with alone at an early age has confu­ another' transvesti te who Wears sion · and guilt feeling's, since his' cohven'tionl male clothing. Some behavior is "not' in accord 'with have a problem of storing their' the culturally sanctioned male feminine clothing if they 'live with role. Many transvestites lead a a typical, conventional family. lonely life. But when they enter They nray keep them in public FREE INQUIRY In Creative Sociology Volume 9, No 1 May 1981 73 lockers, or at the home of a ride on buses and shop when transvestite friend. dressed. I reaIly get ~ kick out In his own subculture, the of fooling people. It's amazing transvesti te uses an argot which how many peop Ie take appearance outsiders do not understand. I·t for granted. It con·tributes a sense of solidarity Eroticism. The transvestite gets and exclusiveness. The terms, TV, pleasure from the sensuality of FP, and GGrefer to transvestite, feminine clothing. Many transves­ femmiphi Ie, and genetic ~ re­ tites are unders, that is, they spectively. wear articles of female clothing According to Becker, deviance under their male clothing. How­ may assume a !!!aster trait, or a ever, most embrace a complete fe­ master status. Transvestism is no male wardrobe. exception. According to the conven­ There is an-element of narcis­ tional stereotype, the transvestite sism for the man dressing in is consumed by his deviant, status woman's clothes. Transvestites and behavior. No other status like to show' pictures of them­ looms so relevant. selves in female dress. They also usually enjoy eyeing their femin­ MOTIVES FOR. CROSS-DRESSING ized selves in the mirror. When Relief from male pressures. dressed, they feel sexy, and at­ The --rr:an'"Svestite periodically tracted to themselves. One respon­ wants to be free of the rigid dent said: It, feel 'very sensuous demands of being a man,wi th the when I put on lingerie and ho.se. attendant requirement for-masculin­ Satin and si Ik make me feel very ity. As a man, the transvestite'lis feminine and cuddly_ I am pretty expected to perform a sex role when dressed as cS woman, and which he may sometimes want to get mesmerized by my transforma­ avoid. When dressed in woman's tion. 1t clothing, the transvesti te feels Adornment & Display freer to express tenderness, To the -transvestite, women's grace, and other qualities whTch clothes are more attractive, and soeiety defines as feminine. Dress­ they suggest the freedom to be ingenables him to.relax and ex­ expressive. He feels:; restricted in press the suppressed side of his men's clothes, and fulfills his nature. As one respondent put it: need for adornment' by entering "I feel a gender comfort when I the more esthetic 'world of fem- cross-dress. I· feel relaxed, very inine dress. One transvestite passive, 5\'1t:::et, and warm. I'ma said: "Men's clotHes are very very aggressive person when act­ drab, with dark colors. Every ingout my male role - very dom­ day I put on the same outfit to r'nant. When I dress as a woman, go to work: a busi ness suit. When I feel this offsets the other side I wear women's clothes I feel I'm of my personality. J feel more expressing the esthetic side of my together. Although I am a man, I personality." Another respondent envy qualities of females: sensi­ said: "I like to be beautiful. tivity to others, andgentleness. 1t Making myself up is exciting. I Role playing. Many actors and have my wigs professionally styl­ aet'i=esses fi nd the.i r work reward­ ed. Rustling petticciats, fine lin­ ing because they can portray gerie, pastel-colored blouses, flar­ other people enmeshed with a dif­ ed skirts - my desire to display ferent set of expectations. Costume myseIf encompasses a II these parties give one the same sort of things. fulfillment. A transvestite who goes out in public and passes as STIGMA MANAGEMENT a woman gains immense satisfac­ • The power of conveQtional defini­ tion in enacting the role. Itl love tions of masculinity leads many to go out in public dressed as a transvestites to accept the domin­ woman. It's amazing how many ant society's lowly evaluation of people take me for a female. I themselves. They interact .with FREE INQUIRY In Creative Sociology Volume 9, No 1 May 1981 74 normals, defined by the main­ • Such statements seem to provide stream conception of male sexual a springboard for action, and orientation. They feel ambivalent manifest what can be labeled con­ about themselves, and manifest version from sti£im!!.; that is-,-a feelings of alienation from self. sense of rebirth into a new iden-. This condition manifests itself as tity. A similar process is iden­ a form of self-hate beginning at tified among homosexuals (Humph­ a young age. Many· older trans­ reys 1972 142). For the transves­ vestites buy clothes and later des­ tite, this is the assumption of the troy them from a sense of gui I t androgynous ideal. Sexual humor and t with themselves. is another way of dealing with • Deviants try to nullify the nega­ the. inner conflict. Transvestite tive status which others accord jokes and cartoons are attempts them by 4 processes: 1) denial; to find a socially acceptable 2) excepting; 3) excusing; and 4) means of expressing the egression normalizi ng (Goode 1978 75 )• and. conflict. Such humor is pri­ Transvestites who dress secretive­ vate, and is limited to the trans­ ly, alone tend to deny their dev­ vest i te subcu I ture. iance in order to escape stigma. • The term rationalization is inap­ Several respondents implicitly propriate. It is a conversion pro­ used denial when they could not cess, and the statements are admit in plain age that they beT'refs. The transvestites also were one of those people. 'Many deal with ambivalent feelings by transvestites stress that they are showing displaced aggression to­ conventional in all other aspects ward homosexuals. They are parti­ of their lives. In their self­ cularly sensitive to the drag image, they point out that they queen homosexual whose parading are many th ings, such as a good in womens clothing tends to give father, husband, and worker. the heterosexual transvesti te a These good qualities mitigate the bad name in the public mind. stigma. Excusing is the third form of CONCLUSION At first, most trans­ neutralization. Blame is deflected vesti..tes accept the conventional to a force beyond the transves­ condenmation of this behavior. tite's control. The transvestite The transvestites feel shame, dis­ sees his compulsion as similar to gust, and guilt. Stitl, they feel that of the alcoholic. Some use compe.l1ed to explore their desire the assumption of biological deter­ by using women's clothfng, cos­ minism, that their compulsion is metics, and mannerisms. They de­ in the genes, or that they happen rive sexual, esthetic, and escap­ to have excess female hormones. ist satisfaction. Confronted with Some cite the astrological influ­ th~ contradiction between their ence of stars and planets which conventional values and their chart their destiny. Others claim deviance, they rationalize to miti­ reincarnation from a previous life gate their conflicted sense of self. when they were a woman. • Normalization is the transves­ REFERENCES tite's strategem to condemnconven­ • Becker Howard 1963 Outsiders. tional behavior, and praise their New York Free Press own honesty. One respondent said: •Goode Eric 1978 Deviant Be­ "All people contain the potential havior. Englewood Cliffs Prentice for transvestism, but it is repress­ Hall ed by society.1t Another claimed: .Humphreys ,Laud 1972 Out of the "Women are becomi ng more asser­ Closets·. Englewood Cliff,S Prentice tive and entering the world of Hall w,ork, but men are afraid to ex­ press their feminine qu~liaties such· ~s tenderness and gentlen­ ess. Cross-dressing. helps me to do this."