Atypical Sexual Behavior

Atypical and Abnormal Sexual Behavior

Transvestism

There are many different usages and meanings of the term transvestism. Most experts agree that the correct usage is when people dress in clothes normally worn by the opposite gender in order to identify with that gender in some manner. A transvestite is a biological male who feels a strong compulsion to dress and present, on a regular basis, as a female. It is also known as cross-dressing. Some dictionaries add the words 'for sexual pleasure', but this is not really true because many cross-dressers just feel comfortable when they don the clothing of the other sex.

Many people who go in for wearing the clothes of the opposite sex have become unhappy with the word ‘transvestite’. They
prefer to describe themselves as ‘cross-dressers’. Several websites have claimed that the incidence of cross-dressing in men is now about 1 in 100. However, there is at present really no way of establishing whether this figure bears any relationship to the truth.

Recent research has confirmed that most transvestites are not homosexual. The vast majority of male transvestites like being men. In contrast, men who are uncomfortable about being male, or who feel they are not male inside, are said to have gender dysphoria. Dysphoria means a chronic feeling of discontent.

So why do men cross dress?
No one really knows why some men have this desire. Most men who cross-dress describe it as an outlet for stress, and they tend to want to dress up more during times of tension at work or at home.
Some men get relief from tension simply by wearing women's lingerie (often silk) under their exterior male clothing. These guys often go no further than that with their cross-dressing.
Most transvestites, however, want to appear as female as possible in their outer garments and want to wear make-up. Men who cross-dress are not mentally ill. Indeed, psychologists in the USA have decided that cross-dressing comes within the normal range of male sexuality unless it becomes a compulsive obsession.
Not every transvestite is a secret transvestite. Some individuals make their livings as transvestite artists (drag queens) on stage and in clubs. Other performers cross-dress because they seek to break down gender barriers, such as the famous stand-up comedy artist Eddie Izzard.
If this unhappiness and discomfort at being male leads them to take steps to change gender, they are then called transsexuals.

Transsexualism.
Gender identity is the inner sense of masculinity or femininity.
Gender role is the objective, public expression of being male or female. Gender identity disorder is characterized by strong, persistent cross-gender identification; people believe they are victims of a biologic accident and are cruelly imprisoned in a body incompatible with their subjective gender identity. Those with the most extreme form of gender identity disorder are called transsexuals. These disorders are considered mental disorders because the body does not match the person's psychologic (felt) gender.
They always emphasize the awareness that “I am a male” or “I am a female.” They experience some degree of incongruity between their anatomic sex and their gender identity. The incongruity experienced by transsexuals is usually complete, severe, disturbing, and long-standing. Usually, this behavior is part of normal development. Only in extreme cases does this behavior and an associated expressed wish to be the other sex persist. Most boys with gender identity disorder of childhood do not have the disorder as adults, but many are homosexual or bisexual as
adults.
The formation of a secure, unconflicted gender identity and gender role is influenced by social factors (eg, the character of the parents' emotional bond, the relationship that each parent has with the child). Symptoms of transsexualism can be found since a child is 2 years old. Symptoms include; prefer cross-dressing, insist that they are of the other sex, intensely and persistently desire to participate in the stereotypical games and activities of the other sex and have negative feelings toward their genitals. For example, a young girl may insist she will grow a penis and become a boy; she may stand to urinate. A boy may fantasize about being female, and avoid rough-and-tumble play and competitive games. He may sit to urinate and wish to be rid of his penis and testes.
Best video example: (URL) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4iSlbMCNzQ&feature=related Fetishism
A fetish is a fondness or liking for something in particular, that may, or may not be very common; some people have a foot fetish, where they love to rub or have their feet rubbed.
A raw definition of a fetish is something that turns you on. A fetish could also mean that you have a very strong liking for something. The cause of fetishistic behavior as a pattern of sexual gratification cannot usually be explained easily. It is only when these patterns become part of a larger picture. Some people, even when engaged in normal sexual activity, will require the presence of such stimuli objects for arousal. A true fetish in psychology terms is a thing the needs to be present for sexual satisfaction to be achieved. This describes a type of mental illness. But the usual use of the word fetish just refers to a particular like for something specific, not an absolute need for it. A simple example of how something becomes a fetish is when someone in adolescence masturbates to pornography. They look at the images which arrouse them and use the images to help reach an orgasm. Although they may be focusing on a person in the image, their brain is also seeing and remembering the whole image and everything in it. So if every model in the images is wearing stockings, the brain makes an association between stockings and sex. Or it could be high heels, T shirts etc. It is not limited to clothing. This object then becomes a sexual trigger even if it is not normally related to
sex.

Best video example: (URL)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFWwyMX-HPQ