Don't you think men's clothing is pretty boring? It's always pants and a shirt, and for business - a suit. The stereotypical business attire: blue suit, white shirt, red tie and black wing tips, and if it's raining, then it's a tan trench coat. Okay, we know the tan trench coat sounds oh-so-Hollywood, but hey, we Indians are catching up, you know! It looks like a bunch of clones walking down the street.
Women, on the other hand, have flexibility in dressing, of which many men are quite envious. With choices of fabrics, colour, style and accessories, women's clothing is just more fun. It allows the freedom of self-_expression_ that men's clothing just do not have.
We women cross-dress all the time. They buy men's jeans, shirts and sneakers... even underwear, and they do it without shame or ridicule. In fact, the female cross dresser is considered fashionable. Whereas male cross-dresser opens himself to scorn and ridicule almost beyond belief.
Today it is estimated that about five per cent of the male population are cross-dressers. And the people going in for it come from all walks of life. From pop star Michael Jackson to Bollywood actor Bobby Darling, many of whom are expressing their 'feminine instincts' by cross-dressing.
If you think cross-dressing is the outcome of modern age, think again. Cross dressers also known, as transgender/transvestite people existed in Mahabharata and Vedic times. And in one of the Bhagavad Gita verses, Lord Krishna's use of word 'Kaiabyam' clearly unveils that Brihannala (Arjuna) was a M2F (Male to female) cross dresser. And even Kamasutra recognise them as part of sexual minorities and called them as the Hindu third sex.
However, the need to cross dress may differ from a person to person. For 40-year-old Kerala-based Princess Lilly, cross-dressing is merely a hobby and a fashion statement. But, for people like Devendra Kumar Panda, a senior police officer from Uttar Pradesh, cross-dressing is but a necessity to express feminine potentials. Bobby darling, a face that is very common on television sets and a famous hair stylist Sylvie who runs several high-profile beauty salons in Delhi, are a few of the genuine cross-dressers in India.
Although no one knows for sure the reason for cross-dressing, it appears, however, that for many the clothing serves as a 'lens' to facilitate focusing upon and developing the feminine side of the personality.
Few men opt to cross-dress and live their lives as women. And few exceptional men go for sex change to relieve intense cross-gender feelings. Finally, it's the individual's psychology and also the money that drives the decision.
Money is a problem when it comes to gender change. However, to many, cross-dressing works out to be a cheaper option compared to sex change surgery. And the cross-dressing expenses vary depending upon the freedom of intensive feminine _expression_ of the person.
"In fact, most may only dress once a month or once every six months. Many men don't even reach the point of fully dressing but get the same feeling by just wearing women's "undies" under their suits," reports US-based therapist for cross dressers, Dr William Stayton.
Commenting further on high-profile patients, he reports, "You can't imagine how many politicians can't give a speech in Congress without wearing women's panties."
So, the expenses differ for the rich and the famous, and those with money and leisure to indulge. Those who don't have money to go for expensive sex change surgery are satisfying their desires by creating a transgender identity.
And it is less expensive compared to a sex change surgery (transsexuals), which costs approximately Rs 2 lakh for male to female surgery, and about RS
4.5 lakh for female to male operations. And a sex change procedure - from male to female or vice versa - involves changing the genitalia as well as other physical attributes like breasts or body hair.
And the cross-dressing cost consists mainly of the parlour fee, apparel and cosmetics. And the money goes into it is meager and less painful compared to any surgery.
Nevertheless cross-dressing or transvestism is always confused with gender change or transsexuals. "But they are two opposite poles," says Kolkata-based Sampa Ghosh. Adding more, he says, "Much speculation has centered on why men cross-dress. No one knows for sure. While some cite hormonal or genetic factors, others favor environmental factors."
Experts feel that a life without cross gender _expression_ can be tragic in most cases. For many the need to cross dress becomes a part of the self, just as musicians need to play music or painters need to paint.
Bringing forth the feminine part of ourselves certainly makes us better human beings,' shares a middle-class cross dresser from Delhi.
Of course, there is need to understand that there is within each man a set of feminine potentials, but society demands that these be suppressed. But the fact remains that cross dressers are as feminine as they were, and will ever be. Cross-dressing is just a means of giving _expression_ to their feminity.
And many are splurging to satisfy dressing instincts to express their feminine self. | |
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