Causation and the TV/TS World

Dr.M.T.Haslam

Consultant Psychiatrist, Trustee of Beaumont Trust.
Gendys Conference, 1990

 
The talk commences with a discussion on the causation, natural history and phenominology of a curious, ritualised male activity known as "boxing",. Parallels will be made between this activity and the activity of cross dressing, pointing out the similarities and differences. The relevance of the medical, psychological and sociological models will be discussed.

In the late seventies a study was mounted through the good offices of the Beaumont Bulletin looking at the early histories and psychological profiles of a group of volunteers who formed the readership of the Bulletin and were prepared to answer an anonymous questionnaire. Six hundred readers were circularised and three hundred and twenty replies were received. These were analysed and compared with a matched control group. Apart from a community survey in the United States few studies have been done at this time of the normal transvestite functioning within Society, most previous data having been reported through psychopathological or medico-legal case histories.

It is concluded from the data presented that transvestites in most respects show a similarity with the normal population in terms of personality and early history, though there is some increase in introversion and neuroticism as measured on the Maudsley Personality Inventory. The reasons for this are discussed.

A follow up study is then presented on a smaller group of twelve volunteers who are either transsexual or full time transvestite in their interests and in whom an estrogen provocation test was used to establish whether the response of the hypothalamus would show a female or male type of pattern, the hypothesis being that in such individuals the hypothalamus had established a female type of response. Sixty percent of the volunteers tested did show a female response pattern. The indications and limitations of this study are discussed together with a consideration as to what level of distinctive difference there may be between the two groups.