變異的性行為

歷史記載

正如我們在第一講所闡明的一樣，在男女之間的嚴格的性別劃分並不總是符合生物學事實。畢竟，“性分化是一個程度不同的差異問題”。事實上，存在——而且已經存在例外的狀況，即異常的解剖結構和生理發育問題。

對這些身體結構和功能的例外狀況，社會的反應因歷史時期和地理區間的不同而有相當大的差異。一些社會對男女的衣著和行為堅持明確而狹義的標準，而且對不願意或不能採納這個標準的個人難以或不能容忍；另一些社會以某種方式會容納這樣的人，給予他們特殊的社會地位；還有一些社會乾脆就接納了任何人，無論生理結構、著裝狀態和性取向如何，典型的還是非典型的，都接納為正式社會成員。

實際上，就性別不合準則方面有許多不同的原因。有的人是生物方面的原因——個人的身體結構特徵不符合普遍一致的期待。有的人是心理方面的原因——個人對社會指派的性別角色感到不合意。在一些社會，會允許一些正規場合換穿異性服飾，甚或要求特定的情形——即在狂歡節期間、化妝舞會時和在舞臺上換穿異性服飾。最後，我們確信社會的態度能夠並確實隨著時間的變遷會發生改變，因而非常難以對此做出概括。無論如何，與性及性別有關的議題過於龐雜和過於複雜，在此要做出適當的闡述則會勉為其難。我們對這些內容會另辟主題在另外的課程中給予闡述。儘管如此，以下的內容將至少就一些換穿異性服飾方面簡要地闡述一下歷史概要。

Sexual Minorities: 6. Transvestites

Historical Notes

As explained in Course 1, a strict division between female and male does not always fit the biological facts. After all, “sexual differences are differences of degree”. In reality, there are - and have always been - exceptions i.e. atypical anatomical and psychological developments.
The social reactions to these exceptions have differed a great deal from one historical period and geographical area to another. Some societies insisted on definite, narrow standards for the dress and behavior of females and males and showed little or no patience with individuals who would not or could not accept them; other societies accommodated such people in some fashion by giving them a special status, and still others simply accepted everyone, typical or untypical, as full members.
Actually, there are many different reasons for gender non-conformity. Some are biological - the person’s body does not conform to general expectations. Some are psychological - the person is uncomfortable with the assigned gender role. In some societies, some ceremonial cross dressing is allowed or even required in certain situations - during the carnival season, at masked balls, on the stage. Finally, we know that social attitudes can and do change over time, and thus it becomes very difficult to generalize. In any case, the issues related to sex and gender are too numerous and too complex for an adequate treatment here. They will be the subject of another course. Still, the following sections will provide brief historical sketches of at least some aspects of cross dressing.