"What distinguishes Fantastic Women is its feminist perspective.   Woodhouse links what could be seen as an esoteric issue with other feminist concerns - patriarchal power in general, wife abuse in particular." - Suzanne J. Kessler, State University of New York, Purchase

Fantastic Women is the first book to explore transvestism from the standpoint of the politics of gender.  According to Annie Woodhouse, transvestism transgresses the "rules" of gender in a direct and extraordinary way.  Transvestism does not mean becoming a woman, even on a temporary basis,.  Although the transvestite goes against the unwritten rules of masculinity, he does little to diminish male power.   Instead, he relies on a masquerade that bears little relation to most women's experience of daily life.  Transvestism involves switching roles and identity, not only from masculine to feminine, but also from reality to fantasy.  It is a form of fractured behavior that maintains masculinity and femininity as separate, exclusive entities.  In this sense the transvestite enjoys "the best of both worlds," taking what he wants from femininity, while retaining the privileges of masculine status.

Typically heterosexual, the transvestite is often married.  Until now the wives remained largely invisible.  Their own accounts of marriage to  transvestite men stand in stark contrast to the views not only of the "experts" but often also of the transvestites themselves.

Transvestism presents serious contradictions for feminism.  Outright rejection of transvestism lends support to the idea of a rigid division of gender.  Yet to claim that transvestism blurs the edges of the gender divide is to ignore the feelings of women married to transvestite men.  The issues raised here extend beyond the issue of men dressing up as women and into the broader arena of gender politics.

Annie Woodhouse, formerly senior lecturer in sociology at South Bank Polytechnic, is a qualitative researcher with a London-based company.

1. Seeing is believing?  Sex, gender and appearance
2. Through the looking glass
3. Best of both worlds?  Transvestite lives
4. The boy can't help it:  scientific view of transvestism
5. Transvestism and women
6. Wives talking
7. Transvestism and marriage

Conclusions: transvestism and the politics of gender