I realize the trangender community is very large and very diverse, but keep in mind that for many the term “transsexual” is offensive. And, if my understanding of the difference between kinks, fetishes, and orientations is correct, being attracted to transgender people would be an orientation. I think of fetishes especially as being a certain attraction to an object. It’s an important distinction given that some men see transgender individuals as “faceless and interchangeable”, and we’re talking about people. Although as the article mentions, there are men who “were not specifically seeking out a relationship with a trans woman, but they were not put off when they found out” as well as those who “don’t distinguish…or they appreciate both types of women”. It could be, especially in the cases of such men, that “orientation” is much more fluid than is normally thought.
And thanks for mentioning “Lola”…one of my favorite songs, and one of my favorite bands. Ray Davies has said that the song’s origin came from a friend chatting up an attractive girl, only to be surprised when he saw she had a five o’clock shadow. I don’t know the rest of the story, but I like to think it had a happy ending.
You’ve reminded me that gender fluidity was a big thing in the glam rock era–the most obvious example being David Bowie, although a few years later there’d be Boy George and Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive. I wonder if, at the time, such gender fluidity was played up for shock value.
