Setting the record straight
Professors: Cross-dressing not perverted
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
There is no sexual perversion
involved in the many differ
ent types of cross-dressing,
according tojames K. Cole, Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln psychol
ogy professor.
Cole said men have historically
played the roles of women in tradi
tional theater, which involves as
suming the dress and roles of female
characters.
Among homosexuals, cross
dressing offers a chance to act out,
imitate or caricature the appear
ance of the opposite gender, he
said. It can function “as a state
ment, almost political,” Cole said.
“It can be an anti-society orienta
tion to straight masculine and
feminine roles.”
Another type of cross-dressing,
transvestitism, “represents an erotic
orientation involving cross-dress
ing,” Cole said. He added that trans
vestitism is not necessarily a form'
of homosexuality.
“Many transvestites have a pre
dominantly heterosexual orienta
tion,” he said.
Cole described a fourth type of
cross-dressing which occurs among
transsexuals - those people who
feel they have the wrong physical
body, such as a biological male
who has all the psychological and
emotional feelings of a female.
“They dress as females because
they feel it is the correct role for
them,” Cole said.
Cole made another distinction
in the use of the term “drag.”
“Drag refers to an almost theat
rical car icatu re of the opposite gen
der,” he said. “It is not necessarily
a male dressing as a female, but is
so most often.”
UNL Psychology Professor Rich
ard Dienstbier said there are large
numbers of cross-dressers who are
heterosexual.
“It may have an arousing qual
ity, a sense of‘getting away with it,’
an element of risk,” he said.
Typical responses to people
-t I
The current generation
does not seem accept
ing of sexual vari
ations of any kind
Dienstbier
UNL psychology professor
-9 9~
dressed in the clothes of the oppo
site gender might include being
taken aback, discouragement or
disgust, Dienstbier said.
“There is a fear of people whose
sexuality is different,” ne said. “There
is great tension expressed; anger
and insecurity are elicited by those
who cross-dress.”
According to Dienstbier, such
responses are not likely to change
a great deal in the next few dec
ades.
“The sex roles we are taught to
accept are reasonably well-estab
lished in different societies,” he
said. “Sex roles may be different in
different cultures, but they are fixed
within each culture.”
“I don’t think there are matiy
societies kxiay where a cross-dresser
would be fully accepted,” Dienst
bier said. “At some ceremonies it
occurs, but those are lightly pre
scribed situations.”
More men than women are seen
as cross-dressers, Dienstbier said,
who pointed to a greater permis
siveness in America toward the
wearing of men’s clothing by
women.
He described a growing accep
tance of homosexuals and trans
sexuals since his college days but
said, “The current generation does
not seem accepting of sexual vari
ations of any kind. You can read
graffiti on the john walls and see
now uptight people are about their
sexuality. ”
“The prevailing attitude is not
one of acceptance of differences,
especially for young men growing
up feeling tension and conflict atxiui
whether they can really establish
themselves in an adult male sex
role,” Dienstbier said.
“Those insecurities are often ex
pressed as great dislike or distrust
of those who don’t show tradi
tional adult malesex roles, whether
they are homosexuals, transsexu
als or cross-dressers,” he said.
Dienstbier said people who cross
dress in a more casual way don’t
necessarily experience arousal, but
they may do it for a variety of
reasons.
According to Cole, it is “who the
individual is,” not the person’s age
or other factors which determine
cross-dressing
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