News and Events => Science & Medical News => Topic started by: Shana A on April 08, 2010, 12:25:47 PM Return to Full Version
Title: The Third Gender
Post by: Shana A on April 08, 2010, 12:25:47 PM
Post by: Shana A on April 08, 2010, 12:25:47 PM
The Third Gender
Transsexuals are illuminating the biology and psychology of sex—and revealing just how diverse the human species really is
By Jesse Bering
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-third-gender (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-third-gender)
The reigning queen of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the "Baroness" Titti Von Tramp, a deeply bronzed, thoroughly waxed and statuesque figure approaching seven feet tall in stiletto heels, wearing tinted couture glasses and crowned with a perfect platinum mane. On any given night, you can find the bosomy Von Tramp at one of the local nightclubs, pursing her strawberry-colored lips in a photo-op for one of her many fans or perhaps making an Ulster businessman turn bright red by deviously running one long, manly finger down the man's cheek and judging, "That's a good year."
For many people, the term "transvestite" is synonymous with such larger-than-life characters, an entertaining coterie of mostly gay men and their oversexed female alter egos. But as with any human demographic, transvestites are a very diverse bunch, and it is only a select few who can turn their minority status into such a lucrative career in drag theatrics. For more modest individuals, the limelight is hardly a desirable place to be. Furthermore, the psychological motivation to dress or act as the opposite sex varies widely—transvestism is but one of the many manifestations of cross-gender behavior in the human species.
Transsexuals are illuminating the biology and psychology of sex—and revealing just how diverse the human species really is
By Jesse Bering
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-third-gender (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-third-gender)
The reigning queen of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the "Baroness" Titti Von Tramp, a deeply bronzed, thoroughly waxed and statuesque figure approaching seven feet tall in stiletto heels, wearing tinted couture glasses and crowned with a perfect platinum mane. On any given night, you can find the bosomy Von Tramp at one of the local nightclubs, pursing her strawberry-colored lips in a photo-op for one of her many fans or perhaps making an Ulster businessman turn bright red by deviously running one long, manly finger down the man's cheek and judging, "That's a good year."
For many people, the term "transvestite" is synonymous with such larger-than-life characters, an entertaining coterie of mostly gay men and their oversexed female alter egos. But as with any human demographic, transvestites are a very diverse bunch, and it is only a select few who can turn their minority status into such a lucrative career in drag theatrics. For more modest individuals, the limelight is hardly a desirable place to be. Furthermore, the psychological motivation to dress or act as the opposite sex varies widely—transvestism is but one of the many manifestations of cross-gender behavior in the human species.