PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS OF MALE-TO-FEMALE TRANSSEXUALS, HOMOSEXUAL MEN, AND HETEROSEXUALS

Transsexuals, because of their attempts at gender reversal, offer a un ique opportunity to study self-presentation, social roles, and stereot ypes. The present study is a content analysis of personal advertisemen ts of male-to-female transsexuals (TM, N = 99), homosexual (HoM, N = 6 4) and heterosexual men (HM, N = 99), and heterosexual women (HW, N = 99). Advertisements were coded for the presence or absence of 11 chara cteristics either offered or sought, based on the 1984 work of Deaux a nd Hanna. The content of TM personal advertisements was significantly different from those of HW, HM, or HoM. TM mentioned physical characte ristics and sincerity and requested friendship most often; HoM mention ed sexuality most often; HM offered financial security and status in t he form of occupation, and listed marital status most often; and KW of fered personality characteristics and attractiveness most often. Sever al factors may contribute to the pattern of differences observed, incl uding the fact that TM were more likely to be seeking friendship than sexual partners, in contrast to the other three groups.