Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety

by Marjorie Garber

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.

Genres: Queer, Gender, Nonfiction, Gender Studies, LGBT, Theory, Academic

498 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 1991

About the author

Marjorie B. Garber (born June 11, 1944) is a professor at Harvard University and the author of a wide variety of books, most notably ones about William Shakespeare and aspects of popular culture including sexuality.

She wrote Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, a ground breaking theoretical work on transvestitism's contribution to culture. Other works include Sex and Real Estate:Why We Love Houses, Academic Instincts, Vice Versa: Bisexuality and the Eroticism of Everyday Life, Shakespeare After All, and Dog Love (which is not primarily about bestiality, except for one chapter titled "Sex and the Single Dog").

Her book Shakespeare After All (Pantheon, 2004) was chosen one of Newsweek's ten best nonfiction books of the year, and was awarded the 2005 Christian Gauss Book Award from Phi Beta Kappa.

She was educated at Swarthmore College (B.A., 1966; L.H.D., 2004) and Yale University (Ph.D., 1969).

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Highlyeccentric]

That awkward position of 'this is very useful to me' and 'this is obviously dated' and 'this reads as trans-exclusionary in a weird way but it does literally predate the term transgender coming into scholarly use so uh. I am not equipped to judge'.

[Clare]

While it is dated and very academic, Vested Interests is a thorough and eye-opening look into the role of transvestites throughout history and popular culture.

[The Cute Little Brown-haired girl]

My x-fiance was a cross-dresser. (Notice the "x" before the word fiance) And the more research I do, I begin to realize that MANY men do this!! It has gone far beyond the wearing of the girlfriends undies to get that "sensation down there"...man are going all the way with it and realizing that they like the feeling and exhileration of at least pretending to look like a woman. Interesting stuff. Gender bending. And maybe a little mind bending, too. Remember though, whether you agree or disagree with this lifestyle, these are people first...and weirdos second.

[Minh-Ha]

I've actually read this before but need a refresher . . More broadly relevant than it would seem at first.

[KC]

Useful ideas and a great historical overview, but her reliance on the "third category" is outdated and limiting.

[Sarah Sammis]

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2016...

[YL]

Really astute; although some of the 90s testiness about trans as even a category certainly come through. Nonetheless the analysis and the reporting (Garber reads a lot of non-literary resources) are well told, and still relevant. (Who knew the boy scouts was started by a gay cross-dresser, or that hemingway was dressed as a girl by his mother who wanted a daughter? Not me)

[Claudiafoxwell]

the horrifying dichotomy between this is really useful when it’s talking about renaissance stage cross-dressing but actually so outdated when it comes to everything else

[Alane]

My favorite book of graduate school.

[Cara]

Sounds interesting too . . .

[Stephanie Cullen]

Best book that I came across for my dissertation. Thank you Garber!