变异的性行为

历史记载

正如我们在第一讲所阐明的一样，在男女之间的严格的性别划分并不总是符合生物学事实。毕竟，“性分化是一个程度不同的差异问题”。事实上，存在——而且已经存在例外的状况，即异常的解剖结构和生理发育问题。

对这些身体结构和功能的例外状况，社会的反应因历史时期和地理区间的不同而有相当大的差异。一些社会对男女的衣着和行为坚持明确而狭义的标准，而且对不愿意或不能采纳这个标准的个人难以或不能容忍；另一些社会以某种方式会容纳这样的人，给予他们特殊的社会地位；还有一些社会干脆就接纳了任何人，无论生理结构、着装状态和性取向如何，典型的还是非典型的，都接纳为正式社会成员。

实际上，就性别不合准则方面有许多不同的原因。有的人是生物方面的原因——个人的身体结构特征不符合普遍一致的期待。有的人是心理方面的原因——个人对社会指派的性别角色感到不合意。在一些社会，会允许一些正规场合换穿异性服饰，甚或要求特定的情形——即在狂欢节期间、化妆舞会时和在舞台上换穿异性服饰。最后，我们确信社会的态度能够并确实随着时间的变迁会发生改变，因而非常难以对此做出概括。无论如何，与性及性别有关的议题过于庞杂和过于复杂，在此要做出适当的阐述则会勉为其难。我们对这些内容会另辟主题在另外的课程中给予阐述。尽管如此，以下的内容将至少就一些换穿异性服饰方面简要地阐述一下历史概要。

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.