Variations in Sexual Behavior

Sexual Minorities: 6. Transvestites

Terms 2: A special usage

In some countries, the term “transvestite” is also used for certain male prostitutes who wear women’s clothes and adopt feminine mannerisms. However, this usage differs from the one used by sexologists. Indeed, the males in question - most of them young  - may cross dress not for any sexual, but for purely economic reasons. Dressed as females, they can attract a certain type of customer - men who cannot admit their homosexual interests even to themselves. These men therefore seek out males dressed as females, and among these, they prefer the most effeminate. This way, they can pretend to themselves that they are not really engaging in homosexual behavior. Indeed, they feel that their sexual contact with these “transvestites” confirms and enhances their own masculinity.
The phenomenon is found most often in places where male homosexuality is equated with femininity, and where a “cult of masculinity“ is celebrated, for example in Mediterranean countries and in Latin America. The prostitutes themselves may or may not be transvestites in the scientific sense. They may or may not identify with a feminine gender role, and their main erotic interest may be homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual. For them, the overriding concern is not “sex”, but money. Curiously enough, many of their “masculine” customers prefer a “passive”, receptive role during sexual intercourse, assigning the “active” part to the “transvestite”. This finding has important implications for AIDS prevention programs.