ABSTRACT

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.

chapter |17 pages

Introduction

Clothes Make the Man

part |143 pages

Tranvestite Logics

chapter |26 pages

Cross-Dress for Success

chapter |26 pages

The Transvestite's Progress

chapter |25 pages

Spare Parts

The Surgical Construction of Gender

chapter |10 pages

Fetish Envy

chapter |34 pages

Breaking the Code

Transvestism and Gay Identity

part |228 pages

Transvestite Effects

chapter |24 pages

Cherchez La Femme

Cross-Dressing in Detective Fiction

chapter |24 pages

Religious Habits

chapter |33 pages

Phantoms of the Opera

Actor, Diplomat, Transvestite, Spy

chapter |37 pages

Black and White TV

Cross-Dressing the Color Line

chapter |49 pages

The Chic of Araby

Transvestism and the Erotics of Cultural Appropriation

chapter |16 pages

Conclusion A Tergo

Red Riding Hood and the Wolf In Bed