Cross Gender Dressing

Society plays a role in prescribing appropriate and inappropriate behavior. How a man and a woman are supposed to dress are unwritten codes of behavior that most people tend to follow. Cross-dressers represent a group that is defiant of established norms as they opt to dress in ways contrary to their gender assignment. Further controversy surrounds the issue of cross-dressing particularly because there is
little consensus on its definition. There is also debate on the distinction, if any, that exists between transvestism and other similar behaviors performed by men. There are similarities in some of the behaviors performed by these separate groups. Research has yet to determine the causes of cross-dressing linking it to home, parental, behavioral and genetic factors, none of which has been established. Similarly the heterosexual non-cross-dressing male attitude, reflective of society's overall attitude, towards cross-dressers is not positive, but with the male fashion trend of skirt like kilts and high-heeled boots coming to trend one may find it more than just a fad to be clad in something similar to ones heterosexual partner. In this essay I would like to dive in to the less talked about world of cross-dressing and mixed sexual feelings and and how this once uncharted secret life is becoming more and more talked about and is an okay norm in our new modern decade.

In societies throughout the world there are certain unwritten codes of behavior that individuals within the society adhere to and often unconsciously follow. Ingrained in these behaviors are certain unquestioned
principles that just seem to make sense. One of the most potently ingrained societal norms that pervades in almost all societies worldwide is the concept of dress and its intimate connection with sex, gender and sexual orientation. It is taken as a given in society that women, not men wear dresses. Dress comes to represent one's sex which in turn connotes ones gender and that in turn... [continues]

Read full essay