Transvestism and sexual identity. A case report

Abstract

This work arises from a clinical case. The parents consult when they discover that their son’s girlfriend is a cross-dresser. The father reproaches him for not being with “a real woman”. There are some clinical questions related to the irruption of the topic in a traditional family group, the sinister effect, the commotion produced. It also raised questions about the transvestism, gender identity, and the place of male-female binaryism. There are several axes: the nomination problem: a transvestite, or the generic: l@ travesti. The differentiation of anatomical sex and gender, the nuclear gender identity. The bisexual constitutional disposition, the reinventions of sexuality from different identifying combinations. The dis-identification of the male from his mother, and the transvestism and transsexuality as problems that mainly affect men. The countertransference, and the gender ideals -what is expected of a man and a woman-, the abstinence and neutrality rules. The new meaning about femininity and masculinity, about being female and being male. All the different ways of access to sexual and gender identity.