Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:1221-1224
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
Partners of distressed transvestites
TN Wise, C Dupkin and JK Meyer
The authors studied partners of 18 transvestites who sought consultation
because of their disorder. They found that all of these women were moral
masochists and that all tolerated the self-centered, obsessive-compulsive
behavior of their transvestic spouses. Many of these women had experienced
multiple losses and poor parenting, and their transvestic partners
fulfilled their dependency needs. The authors recommend supportive and
insight-oriented therapy for such women who, in order to stay with a
transvestic man, sacrifice their own self-esteem and desire to engage in a
mutual relationship.
