Transvestites In Vern L. Bullough's 'Casa Susanna'

Throughout history, people’s views towards gender have tightly corresponded with biology and a person’s physical and genetic makeup. Transvestites, mostly male, have battled with the question of which category they fit into and if society will accept them for whom they truly aspire to be. This untitled photograph, taken by an unknown photographer, portrays a refuge home known as “Casa Susanna,” a safe-haven for heterosexual transvestites and drag queens during the dawn of the 1960s. It was not until a decade ago that the “Casa Susanna” photos were discovered and people really questioned the meaning behind the people within the refuge home. The photos document the secret lives of breadwinning men within the safe house of “Casa Susanna,” conforming

Some believe they are “both disturbed and exceedingly rare” (Devor, 110), others view them in terms of psycho, and some even are known as saints. In the dawn of the 1960s most cultures in the United States would view transvestites as psycho, disturbed, and exceedingly rare. Most transvestites during this time were aware of society’s unaccepting views towards them and either conformed to society’s norms or expressed themselves within the safety of accepting others. In Vern L. Bullough’s article “Transvestites in the Middle Ages” he discusses transvestites and examines it in the terms of social status. Throughout Bullough’s studies he analyzes transvestite saints that shaped the attitudes towards transvestites in North America. During Bullough’s study he comes across the difference between male transvestites and female transvestites. It is clear that status could only be gained if females dressed in the clothes of males. On the other hand, if male saints were to dress as females they would both lose status and have sinned. The difference between men and woman transvestites is just another look at society’s illiberal policies. The men at “Casa Susanna” knew that if they were to de-masculinize themselves they would be scrutinized and lose status within society. Not only were society’s views towards transvestism narrow-minded, they were discriminatory based on sex. The need to conform to society’s norms has been an ongoing battle throughout time, and is a clear example of a one-sided cultural intolerance towards