ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses femininity as practiced by men in order to illuminate the cultural meanings of this behaviour. The fact that men can be more ardent exponents of the practice of femininity than women has become clearer in recent decades as the medical profession, pornography and the Internet have spawned a massive cult of femininity amongst men in the form of transsexualism or/and transvestism. The chapter looks at these Internet resources to show that men's practices of femininity are not about being 'women' but about adopting the socially prescribed behaviours of a subordinate group in order to enjoy the sexual satisfaction of masochism. Wives find it very difficult that their husbands, after 'coming out' as cross dressers, will only engage in lovemaking whilst wearing women's clothes and expect their wives to relate to them as women.
