Part Seven:
Medical Writers on Androgynism.
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I. What a New York Official Physician Has to Say about Fairies.
In Medical Life of December, 1920, I had an article: The Biological Sport of Fairieism. Readers completely out of touch with Underworld life evidently thought I was telling a fairy tale. Apparently the editor of the Medical Review of Reviews appealed for corroboration to a physician likely to be one of the best authorities in the United States on my subject, Perry M. Lichtenstein, M.D., Ll.B., Physician to City Prison, "Tombs" (New York's principal jail), House of Detention, etc., all of New York City. Apparently there resulted the valuable and interesting article, The "Fairy" and the Lady Lover, in Medical Review of Reviews of August, 1921. Its writer has enjoyed almost unparalleled opportunities for examination of the very fairies whose existence had been called in question. I quote a small fraction, but the whole paper should be read by every devotee of Aesculapius. Knowledge of its contents is very necessary for every practitioner. I use my spelling of "fairie." My own comments are in brackets. The Review for November, 1921, contained quite a lengthy reply of mine. Dr. Lichtenstein begins his paper:
"Does the 'fairie' or 'fag' really exist? This question has been asked time and again. There is no doubt but that this type of degenerate is a reality. [Unprejudiced science has not yet decided the matter of the degeneracy of the androgyne in general, as I have already shown in detail. There exists as much evidence that the bisexual is a superman or genius as that he or she is a degenerate. The truth of the matter probably is that degenerates are no commoner per thousand among bisexuals than among the sexually full-fledged, but that geniuses occur far oftener.] He is a freak of nature who in every way attempts to imitate a woman. In my official capacity I have come in contact with several hundred of such individuals, and have in every instance felt sorry for the unfortunate being. [Such sympathy indicates that fairies are not wilfully of that genre, and should not suffer term after term in prison, as now, for acts that do nobody harm beyond offending the aesthetic sense of the unsophisticated. Of course, in the matter of accosting on the street, etc., they should be treated the same as full-fledged females. But their punishment should not be augmented because they are "homosexuals"—a word that is a misnomer.]
"In practically every case I have found the man to be a young person of age ranging between sixteen and thirty. ["man"!—Only a pseudo-man. Really a woman whom Nature has disguised as a man; a woman with male genitals.] .... They are by no means mental defectives. Most of them have had a good education and come from respectable families....Since early childhood they have been seclusive and kept close to their mother. They are emotional and affective.....They....imitate the female as closely as possible. They take feminine names, use perfume and dainty stationery which frequently is scented, and in many instances they wear women's apparel.
"Recently one of these individuals was arrested, charged with soliciting. When he ["he-she" would be the accurate pronoun] arrived in the city prison, he was searched, and on him were found .... artificial busts, a wig, and a box containing powder and rouge. This young man ["androgyne" would be the proper term] was twenty years of age. He was beardless [evidently natural], had an effeminate voice, and a distinctly feminine walk. He lisped and in speech closely approached a bashful female. .... He .... had graduated .... from high-school. .... He ran away from home and met some boys ["girlboys" would be the proper term] whom he considered good company. These young men ["androgynes" would be the proper term] were of the same type as he In this way [after a fashion, taking the place of the female of the species], [he] made enough money to live.
"These individuals .... of ten occupy handsomely furnished apartments which are paid for by men who patronize them. As a rule several 'fags' occupy an apartment. On one occasion ten such individuals were arrested in a raid by the police I had an opportunity to observe them closely. In every respect they resembled the female. The names they used in calling one another were feminine They had a typical feminine walk [Because androgyne legs are sometimes those of a woman.]
"I can distinctly recall two cases which occurred quite recently The first .... was arrested for soliciting and was sent to the female prison. This person had wonderful hair which reached to the waist, and it was not false. His face was as smooth as a woman's [naturally beardless evidently], his voice was distinctly feminine, and his hands and feet were small. He wore high-heeled shoes. In examining this person the matron insisted that he strip. The prisoner refused, and thereupon I was notified to make an examination When questioned, he stated that he preferred to dress as a female because he found that he was effeminately inclined He was sent to the work-house, and after serving his time was released. Several months later I learned that he had again been arrested for a similar offence. This time he wore a wig in addition to the feminine garb. [Because during his prior imprisonment, he had, under pressure, consented to have his hair cut short, like a man, and promised to live henceforth as a man—a promise hard to keep since "he" was psychicly, and in part physically, a female.]
"The next case .... was arrested .... When taken to the female prison, he refused to allow the matron to search him I was called in. I found that the prisoner wore a wig and artificial breasts. Every bit of his attire was feminine The voice and mannerisms were distinctly effeminate
"Many of the so-called 'social elite' are to be included among these people" ["Many" only in the aggregate. Proportionately, only about one out of one-hundred-and fifty men. But the ratio is probably higher among the cultured than among manual laborers. They are not at all blameworthy, because they were born with the strongest kind of instincts in that direction, and do not thereby harm in the least any individual or society as a whole. They carefully keep their idiosyncracy under cover.]
II. What One of America's Foremost Medical
Writers Has to Say about Fairies.
Dr. Robert W. Shuf eldt, author of Studies in the Human Form, has included at least one fairie among the many human beings the results of his physical examination of whom he has published. The following are excerpts from his valuable and interesting article, Biography of a Passive Pederast, in the October, 1917, issue of the American Journal of Urology and Sexology. I use my own spelling of "fairie." My comments are in brackets. Those interested should read the entire original article. Particularly two photographs of the subject are given, one nude and the other in full feminine garb.
"J. W. ....is a fairie from the slums of Brooklyn, N. Y. .... twenty-three years of age. When fourteen .... the lobes of his ears had been pierced .... for earrings, and these ornaments he commonly wears when dressed in female attire He invited my attention to the fine development of his breasts, whereas there was not the slightest evidence of gynecomasty The impression was left upon my mind that he was morphologically male in all particulars. .... I became thoroughly convinced that the man was laboring under .... a most extraordinary delusion He claimed to have his menses regularly every month .... [Evidently bleeding piles.]
"In July he admitted that he had never been pregnant; while in November, when he brought with him one of his numerous 'husbands' or lovers, he claimed that he had been pregnant a few years previously and been operated on in a hospital and the conception removed 'through his side.' .... I am convinced that this mendacity is due to his delusions.
" .... While he could sing soprano well, he could not whistle .... and he threw a stone like a girl. [Common earmarks of androgynism.] .... He did not, as he moved about .... give one the impression that there was anything in his demeanor simulating femininity, nor did his behavior in any way betray the remarkable manner in which his sexual life was being lived ....Apart from his extremely meagre education, he is no fool or dullard in other particulars. .... It would seem that his trade [professional female-impersonator and fairie] is olied chiefly for the money there is in it .... He claims he has never been arrested or otherwise interfered with by the police
" .... He has always been possessed of the contrary sexual instinct. He always shunned women and girls more or less, while yearning at the same time to assume female attire and enter into their domestic vocations .... Believing himself designed by Nature to play the very part he is playing in life, it was truly remarkable to hear this nervous, loquacious, foul-mouthed, and foul-minded fairie of the most degraded slums of the multi-millioned city chatter about his experiences. ....
"Few writers in the field of psychiatry have enjoyed what I had next the opportunity to observe. .... The putting on of female attire by a contrary sexed male. [The paper details the putting on of the various articles.] .... He became very talkative ....telling of some of his recent escapades .... gesticulating as we often see agitated girls do .... remarking that he was very tired, owing to the fact that he had been 'ironing all the forenoon.' [Androgynes gravitate toward peculiarly feminine tasks.] .... 'What do you think of that hat? Is n't it a dandy? I trimmed it myself.' .... He was, without the slightest doubt, thoroughly in earnest in all he said and did, and by no means was he playing a part 'Dear me,' he said, 'I've forgotten my ear-rings; but you won't mind that?' Upon my assuring him that I liked young girls better without them, he seemed relieved and proceeded to fit to his head a .... blonde wig .... As he had recently shaved, his face was quite smooth, and in a twinkling he made it up with .... pink powder, with red pomade for the lips 'Ha!' he said [after fully transformed outwardly into a soubrette, in the style of costume prevalent among courtesans at the date of J. W's appearance before the doctor for wear in their resorts only, but in 1921 affected for street wear by all butterflies of fashion] 'I feel more like myself now, and I am ready for the picture!' .... "