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, 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 librqries. 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.
Stepwise Progression of Heterosexual Transvestism
Sometime between the ages of five and fourteen, the young boy tries on an article of women's clothing and experiences the sexual gratification, usually through masturbation.
Family and social factors influence the child; the mother may be the dominant figure in the family. The socioeconomic status of the family may be high thus respectability may be highly regarded by the family and peer group. The culture may stigmatize crossdressing and the family may be homophobic.
The child or adolescent stumbles onto the joy of crossdressing and masturbation. Orgasm occurs and is reinforcement of the crossdressing activity, which remains clandestine and is possible without any loss of respectability or punishment.
Marriage to a conventional partner takes place
The sex partner joins in with and supports the cross-dressing activity e reinforces her husband’s masculine image while at the same time helping him to develop his femininity a firmer and richer relationship is generally established. The tolerant partner may hamper this activity somewhat, but the relationship may continue but possibly not successfully over a long duration. or she nay grudgingly tolerates it or leaves. If she leaves or other losses are felt; the activity may accelerate the crossdresser into further suppressing his masculinity. and continue on into the Transgenderist or Transexual
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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