Transvestic fetishism is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to those who are thought to have an excessive sexual or erotic interest in cross-dressing; this interest is often expressed in autoerotic behavior. It differs from cross-dressing for entertainment or other purposes that do not involve sexual arousal, and is categorized as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. (Sexual arousal in response to donning sex-typical clothing is homeovestism.)
Some male transvestic fetishists collect women's clothing, e.g. nightgowns, babydolls, bridal gowns, slips, brassieres, and other types of nightwear, lingerie, stockings, pantyhose, shoes, and boots, items of a distinct feminine look and feel. They may dress in these feminine garments and take photographs of themselves while living out their fantasies.
According to DSM-IV, this fetishism was described mostly in heterosexual men; however, DSM-5 does not have this restriction, and opens it to females and men with this interest, regardless of their sexual orientation.
There are two key criteria before a psychiatric diagnosis of "transvestic fetishism" is made:
- Individuals must be sexually aroused by the act of cross-dressing.
- Individuals must experience significant distress or impairment - socially or occupationally - because of their behavior. General transvestism or cross-dressing is different from transvestic fetishism. Transvestic fetishism is when cross-dressing becomes a person’s only source of arousal and is more similar to object or clothing fetishism . Transvestism is also different from transgenderism, when individuals feel that their sexual anatomy does not match their gender identity. Transgenders dress as the opposite gender as a lifestyle because they view themselves as trapped in the wrong body and desire to be that gender. Many cross-dressers identify themselves as heterosexual; therefore, cross-dressing is not necessarily a homosexual act.
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