Male In Cd Therapy

The American Journal of Family Therapy, 29:293–305, 2001 Copyright © 2001 Brunner-Routledge $12.00 + .00 K. Dzelme and R. A. Jones: p. 293-204

Male Cross-Dressers in Therapy: A Solution-Focused Perspective for Marriage and Family Therapists
KRISTINA DZELME AND RENE A. JONES
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, Indiana, USA The authors would like to give special thanks to Joseph Wetchler,Ph.D., for his editorial comments. Address correspondence to Rene Jones, Purdue University Calumet, 2415 169th Street, Hammond, IN 46323.

This paper offers techniques on how to work with male cross-dressers using solution-focused therapy. An overview about issues crossdressers often face is addressed which shows they have many of the same concerns as other clients seeking therapy. Solution-focusedtherapy is discussed as a way to work with male-cross dressers and their partners. A case study of a male cross-dresser and his wife is presented and possible directions are suggested for marriage and family therapists. Cross-dressing is an issue shrouded in confusion and misunderstanding (Stayton, 1996) which often leads to cross-dressers seeking therapy. Although crossdressing begins inchildhood, most transvestites do not seek treatment until their adult years. This is due in part to the increase in the behavior and the probable stress to a partner (Bullough & Bullough, 1993). Thus, the cross-dressing becomes a couple’s issue rather than an individual issue. Solution-focus therapy builds off the client’s ability to solve his/her own problems. The approach strays from pathologizing thecross-dressing, while addressing the discomfort and misunderstanding shrouding cross-dressing. This paper presents a solution-focused model for incorporating the crossdressing into the lives of the couple.

Gender Versus Sex
An understanding that an individual’s gender is distinct of the individual’s sex is necessary for successful therapy. In the U.S., the sex of a child is the biologicalcriteria to classify him or her as a male or female (West & 294 K. Dzelme and R. A. Jones Zimmerman, 1987). The gender of a person, however, is the “feeling of being male or female.” At birth, society and family begin the pattern of mapping out the appropriate gender role that continues throughout the life cycle (West & Zimmerman, 1987). Gender roles determine what is socially acceptable for males andfemales.

These roles create differences between the sexes that are not “natural, essential, or biological” (West and Zimmerman, 1987). For example, it is not natural, essential, or biological for a girl to wear pink and a boy to wear blue. This gender role was culturally made and used to differentiate between boys and girls. Clothing allows people to show their perception of themselves and isconsidered one of the first identifiers regarding a person’s gender (Bullough & Bullough, 1993). Currently, women have more lead way to cross these gender lines. They wear blue, men’s clothing, and play sports. Men on the other hand have been limited in their ability to explore female gender roles (Wysocki, 1993). According to Moulton and Adams-Price (1997) heterosexual males define theirmasculinity in terms of toughness, material success, and independence. In addition, men measure their masculinity by the lack of feminine characteristics such as emotionality, sensitivity, and nurturing. Thus, masculinity is defined by the rejection of female behavior. Therefore, when a male decides to cross-dress, he disowns his masculinity by embracing that which is female. The rejection of thissocietal gender role now pathologizes the male because he no longer conforms to the “normal” gender role.

CROSS-DRESSING
There is no documentation of the first instance of cross-dressing, yet historians believe it has existed throughout history (Bullough & Bullough, 1993). Western cultures have labeled cross-dressing behavior, transvestitism, as an illness and as such it is listed in the DSM-IV...