Transvestic Fetishism

Transvestic fetishism is generally understood as a sexually deviant behavior whereby an individual experiences sexual pleasure or gratification from engaging in the act of cross-dressing, with the focus being on women’s garments or fabrics. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association, codifies transvestic fetishism as a paraphilic disorder, an extreme or atypical sexual interest that creates marked clinical distress in a person’s daily functioning. According to current research, it is believed that 3% of men and less than 0.5% of women engage in transvestism (cross-dressing), making engagement in a transvestic fetish a largely male phenomenon. However, a person engaging in transvestic fetishism does not automatically meet the criteria for a psychopathological diagnosis, and it is ...