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Cesaretti, 2001; Bullough & Bullough 1993; Docter 1988; Firestein
1996). There are also cultural variations that have to be taken into
account (Herdt 1994; Bullough & Bullough 1993).
Focus on transvestites and transsexuals
The dominant groups in the transgender community and those which
have been most discussed in the literature are transvestites and transsexuals
(see Bullough & Bullough 1993; Docter 1988; Docter & Prince
1997). For this reason we shall in this research report focus mainly on
these groups when discussing transgender individuals.
A transvestite is described in the literature as an individual, commonly
a man, who periodically cross-dresses for personal reasons or to express
a female sub-identity, a second self or “the girl within” (Denny & Green
1996; Docter 1988; Docter & Prince 1997; Prince 1980). The researcher,
Richard Ekins (1997), describes in his book Male Femaling how crossdressing
can be understood as the individual having a cognitive identity
script expressing the ability to switch between a male and a female gender
identity – termed an “oscillating identity script” (Ekins 1997).
A common term for transvestism is cross-dressing. This refers to a
man who wears women’s clothes or a woman who wears men’s clothes.
Female fashion, however, makes it simpler for women to express themselves
in the clothes of the opposite sex without arousing particular discussion
or categorisation as cross-dressers (Denny & Green 1996). The
research discusses various forms of female cross-dressing, a female masculinity
or transgender masculinity including female-to-male trans sexual,
FtM (Bullough & Bullough, 1993; Halberstam 2003).
Transsexual people have a long lasting desire to live their lives as the
opposite sex compared to the biological sex of their birth. Transsexual
individuals most often – but not always – seek medical consultation
for help with sex reassignment so that their mental identity may correspond
with their biological sex (Denny & Green 1996).
1.5 Critical reflection on the concept of transgender
individuals
The research literature has considered the important question of
whether the various groups in the cross-dressing spectrum, e.g., transvestites,
transsexuals, really represent different expressions of the same
basic phenomenon or whether they are examples of essentially entirely
40 • summary