Shemales: An Appreciation

If one rejects the biological purpose of the female, a shemale-a man transformed into an imitation of a woman-can be fun and sexy, because then it's only the sex that counts. Shemales are a part of America's love affair with what has been called the "culture of death" or the "death culture." As such, they are as sexy as the forbidden fruit that tempted Adam in the Garden of Eden. They second-guess God or nature, as it were, suggesting that chicks with dicks may be an equally good, if not better, partner with whom men can establish and maintain personal, social, and sexual relationships-one that does not and cannot involve reproduction. As such, the pursuit of the shemale, rather than of the female, defies the divine injunction that demands that men "be fruitful and multiply" and the very reproductive basis itself for male-female (rather than male-shemale) relationships.

Despite appearances to the contrary, a shemale is not a female. She is a contradiction, an embodiment of ambivalence and ambiguity. Ostensibly an alternative third sex that, in merging sex and gender, transcends both, she is, as a so-called chick with a dick (and without a cunt), ultimately a denial and a rejection of womanhood. Therein lies her mystique, her charisma, and her attraction for those who admire her and rejoice in her charms.