A survey of crossdressers

The term autogynephilia was introduced by the psychologist Ray Blanchard. He defined it as "a man's paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as a female".

There is an overlap between this group and the crossdressers. Not all autogynephiliacs are crossdressers. But a lot of crossdressers get erotically turned by dressing up as a woman.

Knowing more about the crossdressers will help us get a better insight into autogynephilia.

My online friend Colin has set up some tables based on an interesting survey of cross-dressers in 1992 compared to a similar sample from 1972. Some of the questions relate to gender identity. Colin suspects a lot of crossdressers fantasize about having a woman's body.

Image: Jude Law as crossdresser in Rage.

SURVEY OF 1032 CROSS-DRESSERS

Demographic, Childhood, and Family Variables: 1992 and 1972 data

Note the large number of married crossdressers, and the fact that most of them believe their fathers provided a good masculine image. They were not raised as crossdressers, if anyone suspects that.

TABLE I	(%)	(%)
Age	1992	1972
20-30	10	20
30-40	33	34
40-50	28	28
>50	29	18
Religion	1992	1972
Catholic	24	23
Protestant	38	57
Jewish	3	4
Agnostic/Athiest	10	13
Other	25	3
Education past BA	1992	1972
yes	65	63
Occupation	1992	1972
Unskilled	12	17
Skilled	16	21
Business	26	24
Arts	4	7
Technical	21	14
Professional	21	17
Marital Status	1992	1972
Married now	60	64
Separated, Divorced, widowed	23	14
Never married	17	22
--	--	--
Ever been married	83	78
Fathered children	69	74
Raised by both parents	76	82
Father provided good masculine image	76	72
Raised just as a boy	86	83

Sexual and Cross-dressing variables: 1992 and 1972 Data

The fact that most identify as heterosexual, should not come as a surprise. That as many as 29 percent some kind of homosexual experiences probably points to a desire to have sex as a woman.

72 percent report that crossdressing brings sexual excitement and orgasm occasionally to nearly always. It is fair to say that these probably are autogynephiliacs.

66 percent began cross-dressing before the age of 10. If most of these crossdressers truly are autogynephiliacs, this means that autogynephilia appears before puberty and is not the result of increased testosterone production in puberty.

A large majority of them believe that they express a different part of themselves when crossdressing, i.e. they believe they have an innate feminine side.

71 percent have crossdressed in public, although they do not necessarily do this often. Note that most of the respondents are members of crossdresser clubs. This may influence their tendency towards going out dressed as women.

Their wives are normally aware of their habit. Only a minority was told about it before marriage though, even if the number of crossdressers revealing their condition at an early stage is increasing. Their wives have mixed views about their men's crossdressing.

The authors draw attention to the "purges" of crossdressers:

"There appears to be pervasive guilt associated with transvestism, for we found three quarters of our subjects reported a purge of their feminine attire at some time in their history (75 vs. 69%). This is invariably described as a product of intense feelings of wrongdoing and shame."

TABLE II	(%)	(%)
Sexual Orientation	1992	1972
Heterosexual	87	89
Bisexual	7	9
Homosexual	1	1
Asexual	5	1
Some homosexual experiences	29	28
Sexual Interest in women	1992	1972
Above average	17	24
Average	57	62
Below average	26	14
Age began cross-dressing	1992	1972
Before age 10	66	54
Between 10 and 20	29	37
After age 20	5	8
View of self when cross-dressed	1992	1972
Express different part of myself	80	78
Just myself with different clothes	20	22
Cross-dressing brings sexual excitement and orgasm	1992	1972
Nearly always	21
Often	19
Occasionally	32
Rarely	12
Never	9
Enjoy feminine clothes when orgasm is not feasible	1992	1972
Frequently	41
Often	24
Occasionally	24
Rarely	8
Never	2
--	--	--
Prefer complete cross-dressing	93	85
Frequency of public cross-dressing	1992	1972
Frequently	14	8
Occasionally	48	23
Rarely	38	69
--	--	--
Have appeared cross-dressed in public	71
Activities while cross-dressed	1992	1972
Ride on bus, train, etc.	10
Eat in restaurants	28
Plays, lectures church	18
Tried on feminine clothes in stores	22
Used ladies' room	26
Seen by acquaintances who knew me	17
--	--	--
Experienced a "purge" of cross-dressing	75	69
Wife is aware of cross-dressing	83	80
Wife's acceptance or antagonism	1992	1972
Completely accepting	28	23
Mixed view	47	57
Completely antagonistic	19	20
--	--	--
Wife knew of your cross-dressing before marriage	32	27

Cross-gender Identity, Hormones, and Sexual Reassignment

Colin points to the fact that 60% of current cross-dressers prefer their masculine and feminine selves equally. This means that their gender identity is male and female.

The authors add:

"A marked change from 1972 data was seen when our subjects were asked whether they preferred their masculine selves, feminine selves, or both selves equally. Sixty percent of our sample preferred 'both selves equally,' compared to only 12% in 1972. This unusually great change may be a reflection of a theme strongly advocated in transvestite magazines and newsletters--that it is healthy and desirable to have an integration of the masculine and feminine components of one's personality. Personality integration, of course, is also a major objective in many forms of counseling and psychotherapy."

Only a minority consider themselves "women trapped in a man's body", although this percentage increased from 1972 to 1992. It is interesting to note that as many as 43 percent would like to use female hormones, although only 9 percent had done so.

Colin adds: "Also interesting is that 17% want a sex-change if money and partner were not a factor."

As many as 45 percent of the 1992 sample had sought counselling.

TABLE III	(%)	(%)
I feel myself to be a	1992	1972
Woman trapped in a man's body	17	12
Man with feminine side	74	69
Fetishist, favor women's clothing	9	12
Preferred gender identity	1992	1972
Masculine self	11	29
Feminine self	28	56
Equally	60	12
Female Hormones	1992	1972
Not interested in using	48	41
Would like to use	43	50
Using hormones now	4	5
Used hormones in the past	5	4
--	--	--
If I were single and financially able at the present time, I would have a sex change operation even now	17	14
Consulted psychologist or psychiatrist	45	24
Helped by counseling	67	47

An important research objective of the project was to identify variables discriminating between so-called "Nuclear" (stable, periodic cross-dressers) and "Marginal transvestites" (more transgendered or transsexually inclined).

The authors say:

"We divided the present sample into two groups using the following question: "I feel myself to be: (a) awoman trapped in a man's body (b) a man who has a feminine side that seeks expression occasionally (c) a man with a sexual fetish for feminine clothing."

"Group 1 was defined as the 747 cross-dressers who selected item (b); Group 2 was defined as the 172 cross-dressers who selected item (a). (...)

"No difference between Groups 1 and 2 were seen for the following variables: married now, ever married, fathered children, parents divorced, separated, or deceased, parents overprotective, parents discouraged rough-and-tumble play, hugged and stroked as child, sexually aroused by specific items of women's clothing, enjoy cross-dressing even when sexual release is not feasible, age of first cross-dressing, prefer complete cross-dressing, experienced a "purge" of cross-dressing, consulted psychologist concerning cross-dressing, and belong to cross-dressing, organization."

10 strongly discriminating parameters were found. The most important were, according to the authors: cross-gender identity, commitment to live entirely as a woman, taking steps toward body feminization, low sexual arousal to cross-dressing.

"Neither age nor experience as a cross-dresser were found to be correlates of cross-gender identity. Although the present generation of transvestites describe themselves much as did similar subjects 20 years ago, the percentage migrating toward full-time living as a woman is greater."

If you do crossdess, please feel free to add a comment on where you stand on this map, and the challenges you are facing!

Reference

Richard F. Docter , Virginia Prince: "Transvestism: a survey of 1032 cross-dressers."

The authors says this about the sample:

"Our subjects were 1032 self-defined periodic cross-dressers, all of whom were biological males, ranging in age from 20 to 80. This volunteer nonrandom sample was acquired from throughout the United States by announcements at transvestite club meetings, conventions of cross-dressers, and in magazines and newsletters for cross-dressers. Nearly all subjects received the self-responsive survey form at one of these events; a small percentage were mailed to individuals who volunteered to participate. An unknown number of survey forms were reproduced by support groups and distributed to interested members. Our best estimate of the overall response rate is that roughly 30 to 35% were completed and returned. The data were collected over a 2-year span ending in 1992. All participation was anonymous. ... Eighty percent said they were affiliated with either a cross-dressers' club or national organization."