eonism

(ˈiːəˌnɪzəm)

(Psychology) psychiatry the adoption of female dress and behaviour by a male. See also transvestite

[C19: named after Charles Éon de Beaumont (died 1810), French transvestite]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

eonism

Psychiatry. the adoption, by a male, of feminine mannerisms, clothing, etc. Also called transvestism, transvestitism.

See also: Sex

Mentioned in

transvestism

References in periodicals archive

Whereas Ruskin still depends on stereotypes in his redefinition of gender roles, Havelock Ellis's work certainly disrupts the rigidity of the binaries by focusing his attention on a wide range of sexual practices which run from "eonism" (cross-dressing) to homosexuality.

Hemingway and gender: biography revisited

(The Chevalier D'Eon, an 18th- century French diplomat and spy who lived most of his life as a woman, became so celebrated that "eonism" was an early term for transsexualism.) In other cultures, such as those Native American and Middle Eastern tribal societies where the masculine warrior ideal is taken to an extreme, transgenderism seems to serve as a socially sanctioned escape valve for people who don't want to compete.

Crossing the line: are transsexuals at the forefront of a revolution - or just reinforcing old stereotypes about men and women?

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