In the last few years there has been an active increase in attention paid to transgenderism. The transgendered community includes those who live full or part time in the other gender’s role, transsexuals, and transvestites (we will talk more about transvestites in Chapter 16. See Table 16.2 for more information about transgendered groups). Some professional actors, such as drag queens or female impersonators, may or may not be transgendered.
A transgendered person is often happy as the biological sex in which he or she was born, yet enjoys dressing up and acting like the other sex (e. g., a man who works during
the day as a man and dresses and acts like a man, but who goes home and puts on women’s clothing and acts like a woman at night). Although a transvestite often derives sexual pleasure from dressing as a member of the other sex, the majority of transgendered men and women do so for psychosocial pleasure rather than sexual pleasure. Many transgen — dered people report that they feel more “relaxed” and “at peace” while cross-dressed (Author’s files).
Some of the earliest work on transgenderism was done by Magnus Hirschfeld (see Chapter 2). Hirschfeld wrote a book in 1910 called The Transvestites: An Investigation of the Erotic Desire to Cross Dress. In this book Hirschfeld explained that there were men and women who thought, felt, or acted like the other sex. John Money, whom we discussed earlier in this chapter, suggested that the majority of people are “gender congruent,” which means that their biologic sex, gender identity, and gender behaviors are all in sync and there is no transgender behavior (Money, 1955). However, it is estimated that 10 to 15% of the population fails to conform to prescribed gender roles (V. L. Bullough, 2001). One 45-year-old transgendered male said:
Being transgendered has given me the chance to see life from both sides, male and female. It is not something I chose. I feel like I was drawn to it much like a moth to a flame. I started dressing at age 5, and by the time I reached puberty, it became an active part of my life because it made me feel better about myself. Interestingly, each little dose of euphoria was quickly sublimated by hours, days, and weeks of guilt. No one could exert greater guilt on me than myself. The personal disgrace I felt was at times paralyzing. In my adult life, cross-dressing is much more than just part of my sexuality, it is part of the way I define myself. I have overcome most of the shame and guilt I grew up with, and I have learned to accept myself no matter who I see looking back at me in the mirror. (Author’s files)
At some points in history, transgendered behavior was chosen out of necessity. Billy Tipton (1914-1989), a well-known jazz musician, was discovered to be a female when he died in 1989 (Middlebrook, 1999). He was married to a woman and was the father of three adopted boys who did not learn of his biological gender until after his death. It is believed that Dorothy Tipton changed herself into Billy Tipton sometime around 1934 for professional reasons. Dorothy had been having trouble being taken seriously as a musician and felt that if she were a man, she would have more opportunities to prove herself. Although many people believed that Tipton pretended to be a man out of necessity, some believe that she really had a desire to become a man and was unhappy being a woman.