ender barriers, whereas men still are not. Fetishistic cross-dressing in women, however, is so rare it is almost nonexistent (Stoller, 1992). Dr. Stoller did extensive research on the subject, and was able to site only one case study in which Gutheil (1930) reported of a woman who admitted deriving sexual pleasure from the wearing of male apparel. The woman claimed that: “Simply putting on my suit can provoke an orgasm… The transvestiture has a far greater pleasure-value in my eyes than any intercourse, and I could easily forgo the latter in favor of the former.” As previously stated, this case is a rare documentation of such. Most women studied sited comfort as the main reason for preferring male clothing to female (Stoller, 1992). Sexual pleasure was seldom a factor. This may be one of the reasons for the before mentioned double standard. People generally do not view women wearing men’s clothing as sexual in nature, thus it is not considered deviant, and therefore more accepted.There appears to be several facets to transvestitism that may be overlooked at first glance. It is the subject of much controversy, and conflicting viewpoints. Throughout history, society has embraced cross-dressing in the form of art, however, shunned it in everyday life. This may be viewed as hypocritical, especially with today’s more “liberal” and accepting attitudes. Transvestitism seems to be an unobtrusive way of life, yet is still viewed as a whole as deviant behavior. Practicing men often still feel the need to keep it secret from even those most close to them, so as not to risk ridicule and possible destruction to their business and personal lives. Lack of understanding and compassion may be at fault, and it looks as if time has done little to change this. It seems as if the old adage “live and let live” is quite appropriate for this lifestyle. Unfortunately, most of society has ye...
