Editing Cross-dressing (section)

== Transvestism ==

{{Distinguish|Travesti (gender identity)|Transgender|Transvestic fetishism}}

Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different [[gender]].

The terms ''transvestism'' and ''transvestite'' were coined by [[Magnus Hirschfeld]] in 1910. In the early 20th century, ''transvestite'' referred to [[cross-dresser]]s, and also a variety of people who would now be considered [[transgender]].

The term ''transvestite'' is now considered outdated and derogatory, and has been replaced with the more neutral word ''cross-dresser''.<ref name="kattari_2021" />

===History===

Though the term was coined as late as the 1910s by [[Magnus Hirschfeld]], the phenomenon is not new. It was referred to in the Hebrew Bible.<ref name="aggrawal_2009_16_3"/> Being part of the homosexual movement of Weimar Germany in the beginning, a first transvestite movement of its own started to form since the mid-1920s, resulting in founding first organizations and the first transvestite magazine, ''[[Das 3. Geschlecht]]''. The rise of [[National Socialism]] stopped this movement from 1933 onwards.<ref>Rainer Herrn: ''Die Zeitschrift ''Das 3. Geschlecht in: Rainer Herrn (ed.): ''Das 3. Geschlecht – Reprint der 1930 – 1932 erschienenen Zeitschrift für Transvestiten'', 2016, ISBN 9783863002176, p. 231 ff.</ref>

====Etymology====
[[File:Faksimile-Transvestitenschein.png|thumb|A 1928 [[transvestite pass]] allowing [[Gert Katter]], a female-to-male [[trans man]] who was one of Hirschfeld's patients, to wear male clothing.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Michael T. |last2=Timm |first2=Annette |last3=Herrn |first3=Rainer |title=Not Straight from Germany: Sexual Publics and Sexual Citizenship Since Magnus Hirschfeld |date=30 October 2017 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-13035-1 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WS9ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |language=en}}</ref>]]

[[Magnus Hirschfeld]] coined the word ''transvestite'' (from Latin ''trans-'', "across, over" and ''vestitus'', "dressed") in his 1910 book ''[[Die Transvestiten]]'' (''Transvestites'') to refer to the sexual interest in cross-dressing.<ref name="MagnusHirschfeld">Hirschfeld, Magnus: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=mQMbAAAAYAAJ Die Transvestiten.]'' Berlin 1910: Alfred Pulvermacher<br/>Hirschfeld, Magnus. (1910/1991). ''[https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1591021685 Transvestites: The erotic drive to cross dress.]'' (M. A. Lombardi-Nash, Trans.) Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.</ref> He used it to describe persons who habitually and voluntarily wore clothes of the opposite sex. Hirschfeld's group of transvestites consisted of both males and females, with [[heterosexual]], [[homosexual]], [[bisexual]], and [[asexuality|asexual]] orientations.<ref name=Hirschfeld>Hirschfeld, Magnus. ''Geschlechtsverirrungen'', 10th Ed. 1992, page 142 ff.</ref>

Hirschfeld himself was not happy with the term: He believed that clothing was only an outward symbol chosen on the basis of various internal psychological situations.<ref name="MagnusHirschfeld"/> In fact, Hirschfeld helped people to achieve changes of their [[first name]] (legal given names were required to be gender-specific in [[Germany]]) and performed the first reported [[sexual reassignment surgery]]. Hirschfeld's transvestites therefore were, in today's terms, not only transvestites, but a variety of people from the [[transgender]] spectrum.<ref name="MagnusHirschfeld"/>

Hirschfeld also noticed that [[sexual arousal]] was often associated with transvestism.<ref name="MagnusHirschfeld"/> In more recent terminology, this is sometimes called [[transvestic fetishism]].<ref name=DSM-5-paraphillic/> Hirschfeld also clearly distinguished between transvestism as an expression of a person's "contra-sexual" (transgender) feelings and [[Sexual fetishism|fetishistic]] behavior, even if the latter involved wearing clothes of the other sex.<ref name="MagnusHirschfeld"/>

The use of the term {{lang|es|travesti}} meaning cross-dresser was already common in [[French language|French]] in the early 19th century,<ref>{{Cite Q|Q125754132}}, Volume II, p. 896</ref> from where it was imported into [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], with the same meaning.<ref>Porto Editora – ''[https://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/travesti travesti]'' no Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa [em linha]. Porto: [[Porto Editora]]. Accessed on 2024-05-02 20:58:24. </ref>

====''Transvestite''====
Today, the term ''transvestite'' is commonly considered outdated and derogatory, with the term cross-dresser used as a more appropriate replacement.<ref name="Vaccaro1">{{cite book|last1=Vaccaro |first1=Annemarie |last2=August |first2=Gerri |last3=Kennedy |first3=Megan S. |last4=Newman |first4=Barbara M. |title=Safe Spaces: Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=978-0-313-39368-6|year=2011|page=142|access-date=October 21, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkxjSnI2e0UC&pg=PA142|quote=Cross-dresser/cross-dressing. (1) The most neutral word to describe a person who dresses, at least partially or part of the time, and for any number of reasons, in clothing associated with another gender within a particular society. Carries no implications of 'usual' gender appearance, or sexual orientation. Has replaced transvestite, which is outdated, problematic, and generally offensive since it was historically used to diagnose medical/mental health disorders. }}</ref><ref name="Capuzza1">{{cite book|editor1-last=Capuzza |editor1-first=Jamie C. |editor2-last=Spencer |editor2-first=Leland G.|title=Transgender Communication Studies: Histories, Trends, and Trajectories|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|isbn=978-1-4985-0006-7|year=2015|page=174|access-date=October 21, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1emBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|quote=Eventually, the transvestite label fell out of favor because it was deemed to be derogatory; cross-dresser has emerged as a more suitable replacement ([[GLAAD]], 2014b).}}</ref><ref name="Zastrow">{{cite book |author=Charles Zastrow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DB5TCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA239 |title=Empowerment Series: Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering People |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-305-38833-8 |page=239 |quote=the term transvestite is often considered an offensive term. |access-date=October 21, 2016}}</ref><ref name="kattari_2021">{{Cite book |editor1-last=Kattari |editor1-first=Shanna K. |editor2-last=Kinney |editor2-first=M. Killian |editor3-last=Kattari |editor3-first=Leonardo |editor4-last=Walls |editor4-first=N. Eugene |date=2021 |chapter=Glossary |title=Social Work and Health Care Practice With Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals and Communities: Voices for Equity, Inclusion, and Resilience |edition=1st |location=New York, NY |publisher=Routledge |page=xxxviii |isbn=978-1138336223 |quote=Transvestite: Outdated term previously used to describe a cross-dresser. Now considered pejorative.}}</ref>

The term ''transvestite'' was historically used to diagnose medical disorders, including mental health disorders, and transvestism was viewed as a disorder, while the term ''cross-dresser'' was coined by the trans community.<ref name="Vaccaro1"/><ref name="Gerstner">{{cite book |author=David A. Gerstner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XS_SnVPixE8C&pg=PA568 |title=Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-313-39368-6 |page=568 |quote=A variety of derogatory terms are still used to describe any aspect of the transgender condition. [...] The term transvestite being older [than cross-dresser] and associated with the medical community's negative view of the practice, has come to be seen as a derogatory term. [...] The term cross-dresser, in contrast, having come from the transgender community itself, is a term seen as not possessing these negative connotations. |access-date=October 21, 2016}}</ref>

In some cases, the term ''transvestite'' is seen as more appropriate for use by members of the trans community instead of by those outside the trans community, and some have [[Reappropriation|reclaimed the word]].<ref name="Richards">{{cite book|first1=Christina |last1=Richards |first2=Meg |last2=Barker|title=Sexuality and Gender for Mental Health Professionals: A Practical Guide|publisher=[[SAGE Publications]]|isbn=978-1-44628716-3|year=2013|page=162|access-date=October 21, 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13GKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|quote=The term ''transvestite'' should not be considered to be a safe term, and should certainly not be used as a noun, as in 'a transvestite'. Instead, and only when relevant, the term trans person should be used. [...] There are some people who have reclaimed the word transvestite and may also use the word ''tranny'' or ''TV'' to refer to themselves and others. [...] The term ''cross-dressing'' too is somewhat outdated and problematic as not only do many fashions allow any gender to wear them -- at least in many contemporary Western societies -- but it also suggests a strict dichotomy being reinforced by the person who uses it.}}</ref>

===Transvestism as a “disorder”===
The [[International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems]] (ICD) listed ''dual-role transvestism'' (non-sexual cross-dressing) and ''fetishistic transvestism'' (cross-dressing for sexual pleasure) as disorders in [[ICD-10]] (1994).<ref>{{Cite web |title=ICD-10 Version:2016 |url=https://icd.who.int/browse10/2016/en#/F64.1 |access-date=2019-10-11 |website=icd.who.int}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ICD-10 Version:2016 |url=https://icd.who.int/browse10/2016/en#/F65.1 |access-date=2019-10-11 |website=icd.who.int}}</ref> Both items were removed for [[ICD-11]] (2022).<ref name="lgbtq" />

When cross-dressing occurs for [[erotic]] purposes over a period of at least six months and also causes significant distress or impairment, the behavior is considered a [[mental disorder]] in the United States ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]]'', and the psychiatric diagnosis "[[transvestic fetishism]]" is applied.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Sex%20and%20GID%20Lit%20Reviews/Paraphilias/DSMV.TF.pdf |title=DSM-V |work=The DSM Diagnostic Criteria for Transvestic Fetishism |publisher=[[American Psychiatric Association]] |date=2009 |access-date=February 4, 2013}}</ref>