Crossdressing
Question
I am wondering about something because it is in this week’s parasha. The parasha has a prohibition against crossdressing. A lot of crossdressing occurs for two reasons: one is for professional costume and another because of a fetish.
Many people cross dress in professional costume for a parnassa (livelihood) and not because they want to hurt anyone. If someone needs to cross dress for a parnassa and doesn’t know how to earn a living any other way, are they still prohibited from doing so?
And what about someone who has a fetish. Fetishism is a medical disorder and one might not have control. It is easy to say one has control by simply not doing it if you do not have the disorder. Coming from a family of psychologists, I understand that one who has this form of fetishism does not have any more control over their cross dressing than an alcoholic has over their drinking. Would a cross dresser really be punished by G-d just because of their disease that G-d created them with?