SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

Roots of PTSD revisited by (me!) sandra, tvgp

once again, i'll be all over the map.. bear with me:    first I have to write about this:

all interest/attention on human behavior:   human behavior, by the way, of predators, and victims, and law enforcement; and family/friends thereof..    everyone's behavior    the ins, the outs, the why and why nots of how/why people  -behave- as they do

***
 cross-dressing:  as mentioned before, I have only personally known 1 cross dresser; and it was long ago, and I also had access to literature regarding this society of people; primarily, at the time, white males over 40..

I speak then, from a very limited/restricted view, but I want to share a few things anyway.   when I learned the one cross dresser I knew, was a vietnam vet, I did not ignore this information; I was certain it factored in

I had another friend say, "no, there are plenty of men who served in the war who did not become..."

k

that's fair.  but guess what else:   not every vietnam vet battled PTSD either; only a %

it is my guess, that cross dressing, is another symptom of PTSD; as was my eating disorder, which I will discuss again, and in more detail later, but

but!  PTSD is not the exclusive factor; it is one of several contributing factors toward cross dressing; as war is not the exclusive factor resulting in PTSD.. 


as, my eating disorder, was not   -in my opinion of my own experience-   the result of being a rape victim;  my eating disorder was the result of  -several-  traumas/experiences/pressures all combined

but, I'm pointing to the following as evidence regarding cross dressing as a behavior/and a link to experiences of war

this is an excerpt from one of my posts regarding being a rape survivor:

SHE HAS A NAME TOO!   -though ive never been privileged to know it. I wonder what HER name is..  I bet it was something very, very, beautiful; soft and feminine and lovely to pronounce..


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let me place it also here to show where I want to direct your attention:


SHE HAS A NAME TOO!   -though ive never been privileged to know it. I wonder what HER name is..  I bet it was something very, very, beautiful; soft and feminine and lovely to pronounce..


***

when I review my own writings, I can see...    the association of violence/trauma/ugliness/harshness with masculinity and the associations of beauty/soft/feminine/lovely things with..  femininity.

so,

it makes perfect sense to me, personally, that a person traumatized by war..   predominantly men/male/masculine, might seek out  -unconsciously-  soft, feminine things.

but, as I talked/listened/learned, this cross dresser and others,  also took great pleasure in tricking men of higher ranking in the corporate world.

it is my opinion, that  -stuck/controlled- in the corporate world by wages/position, and by higher-ups who were blatantly hypocrites, also contributed to the cross dressing behavior

it provided some means to say, f you!  but, quite strategically, because, what recourse would the white, male, married, heterosexual CEO have; when he took the bait..

so, I combine, exposure to war/masculine violence/controlled by corporate hypocrites, and..

  -preoccupation- as a numbing device.

the entire time, a man is thinking about what dress, what hair, what make-up..    the time devoted to getting ready,

/and any woman knows, this does all take some time..  amen

anyway,   all of the thought and practical time devoted to living this lifestyle is time that cannot be spent thinking about other things..

  -preoccupation-   of any kind, from my multi-traumatized point of view and life experience is

the ultimate survival tool.   

and, now..

this is all from my very limited/restricted exposure, point of view.   and clearly, I am putting cross-dressing as a behavior

I am lumping it in the same category with eating disorders

that is to say, I think it is a dis-order; a symptom..

but, if someone wanted to argue, with more exposure/experience, that it is not a dis-order, but just a entirely common and natural, healthy way of life for a certain percentage of the human population,

I would be open to hearing these positions out


I do believe that homosexuality fits in that category:  as a perfectly healthy, quite natural orientation for a certain percentage of the human population; for all of time. I do not regard it as a disorder or symptom.

    
but, who does make these calls correctly?  what is natural/healthy..   what is a disorder/symptom to be healed

based on what criteria?

anyway,

all of what ive written above, is the result of hearing from my friend in conversation    -and translating in my own mind:

     " the Vietnam war experience did not contribute to the cross dressing behavior"

I'm quite convinced it did.

posted by SHE @ 10:02 AM