Psychotherapy Lifestyles defined:
The Fetisher
The first group involving sex and gender differentiation is that of the fetisher. In psychiatric terms, any paraphilia in which erotic interest and satisfaction are centered on, whether it is an inanimate object or a specific, nongenital part of the anatomy. Generally occurring in males, fetishism frequently centers on a garment (e.g., underclothing or high-heeled shoes) or such parts of the body as the foot. In some cases, fetishism becomes severe enough to inspire the fetishist to acquire objects of his desire through theft or assault. Many psychiatrist believe the fetish represent a substitute for male genitalia, which women are imagined to have lost through castration. Although the causes of fetishism are not clearly known, it is generally not considered a serious disorder, unless it is coupled with other psychological disturbances
The Heterosexual Crossdresser
The crossdressing community, composed mainly of heterosexual crossdressing males, (i.e. wearing the clothing of the opposite sex) is on the whole quite large with approximately 5 - 10% of males wearing some article of female lingerie under their male clothing. Unfortunately information for and about couple's relationships are relatively non-existent in the public libraries. In earlier studies of crossdressing support groups, Prince, Buhrich, Pearsey) it was observed that 30 - 40% of male crossdressers may seek therapy. In these studies, 75 -80% of heterosexual crossdresssers were married and in some cases have children. They usually entered therapy due to their wives' discomfort, with little apparent success.
When wives understand that the crossdressing phenomenon is not usually a sexual manifestation or related to homosexuality, as many wives fear due to his desire to crossdress. . The incidence of homosexuality or bi-sexuality among crossdressers is the same as in the population in general, meaning that it is not likely that he has hidden, or is just discovering, his sexual orientation. He probably is what he says he is—straight and in love with you. Based on this information, many wives begin to realize they are not responsible, positively or negatively for their spouse’s behavior, and they can then start to make crossdressing a positive force in their relationship. In fact, they may take his growing appreciation of their needs as a true compliment and the better "she" looks; the better the wife may feel. However, in some cases if she is insecure about her own appearance, this may add a final straw to the marriage.All too often we hear about the emotional pain that wives and partners experience from their crossdressed partners, yet, rarely do we hear about those wives and partners who find joy with a crossdressed husband or partner. Many wives have stated that they enjoyed the experience, when it involved a fantasy fair, Halloween or other safe gatherings such as cross-dressing conventions which involved other crossdresser’ wives. In these cases, they felt they had retained their anonymity from the public. The majority, however, preferred anonymity without any stigma of association. In many instances, this is related to selfishness on the part of the crossdressing husband. His attitude of “I want what I want and your feelings don't count," is the complete opposite of mutual love and respect that should prevail in a loving committed relationship. This inappropriate attitude rules out communication and compromise, as it denies not only her sexual dignity but her human dignity as well. As a result, most wives then engage in a classic denial pattern from "I don't want you to do it or I don't want to know about it when you do it.
The Transgenderist and Trans-sexual
At the extreme end of the continuum is the Transgenderist and Trans- sexual. The transgenderist are individuals who represent a disturbance of the normal sex and gender role orientation. Their goal is to eventually be a foil fledged male or female and have sex with their now opposite gender. They may have taken hormones and wish to pass for periods of time either as a male or females before deciding to change their lifestyle. It is also a transitional period for those that want to ultimately change their sex by SRS.
The transsexuals are not interested in the symbol of feminine attire but feel that they are the opposite sex, and they desire to live their lives that way resulting in the motivation for beginning hormonal treatment and ultimately SRS. (Sexual Reassignment Surgery). Contrary to the view that these are homosexuals since they desire contact with heterosexual men they have an intense drive to be women and not emulate women. They desire a marked feminine appearance and are extremely unhappy with their present gender driving some almost to the point of severe depression or suicide. They often begin hormone therapy in order to change their appearance and many have legal name changes. Due to the severe nature of this condition psychological guidelines were established to justify the request for SRS. These include a minimum of three months of 'intense gender therapy by a qualified therapist prior to beginning hormonal therapy. Prior to SRS, the candidate have to live at least one year as a member of the opposite sex while undergoing therapy at the same time. Some individuals may then have reconstructive surgery on their sexual organs to create a vagina or a penis. Many others live permanently as the opposite sex by taking hormones without having a sex change operation.
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