1st Edition

Vested Interests Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety

By Marjorie Garber Copyright 1992

    Beginning with the bold claim, "There can be no culture without the transvestite," Marjorie Garber explores the nature and significance of cross-dressing and of the West's recurring fascination with it. Rich in anecdote and insight, Vested Interests offers a provocative and entertaining view of our ongoing obsession with dressing up--and with the power of clothes.

    Introduction; Part 1 Tranvestite Logics; Chapter 1 Dress Codes, or the Theatricality of Difference; Chapter 2 Cross-Dress for Success; Chapter 3 The Transvestite’s Progress; Chapter 4 Spare Parts; Chapter 5 Fetish Envy; Chapter 6 Breaking the Code; Part 2 Transvestite Effects; Chapter 7 Fear of Flying, or Why is Peter Pan a Woman?; Chapter 8 Cherchez La Femme; Chapter 9 Religious Habits; Chapter 10 Phantoms of the Opera; Chapter 11 Black and White TV; Chapter 12 The Chic of Araby; Chapter 13 The Transvestite Continuum Liberace-Valentino-Elvis; Chapter 14 Conclusion A Tergo;

    Biography

    Director of the Humanities Center at Harvard

    "Vested Interests is a political and emotional gold mine--beautifully illustrated, and written with wit, style, and with obvious love for the subject. Could you ask for more?." -- Kate Bornstein, Lambda Book Report
    ". . . erudite and exhilaratingly well-argued . . . her [Garber's] argument is both intricate and persuasive." -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett, The New York Times Book Review