Boys Will Be Girls — Erich Zorn, Ph.D. 1969 Vintage Gender & Sexuality Paperback Poster

Published in 1969 by Oligarch Publications in Libertyville, Illinois, Boys Will Be Girls by Erich Zorn, Ph.D. was part of a fascinating world of mid-century books examining cross-dressing, gender identity, and sexuality at a time when American society wasn't exactly known for its open-minded attitudes.

The late 1960s were an extraordinary period of cultural upheaval. The sexual revolution was in full swing, women's liberation was gathering momentum, and the gay rights movement was beginning to challenge decades of discrimination and repression.

Meanwhile, respectable America was still trying to figure out why some men wanted to put on a dress.

Books like Boys Will Be Girls appeared during an era when cross-dressing and gender nonconformity were frequently treated as medical curiosities, psychological problems, or subjects of sensational public fascination.

The language was often clinical, the attitudes could be remarkably outdated, and the distinction between drag performers, cross-dressers, transgender people, and gay men was frequently misunderstood.

But the interest was certainly there.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, performers like Christine Jorgensen, whose highly publicized gender transition made international headlines, helped bring conversations about gender identity into American living rooms.

Meanwhile, publications like Transvestia, founded in 1960 by Virginia Prince, were creating networks of information and community for people whose experiences of gender didn't fit neatly into society's expectations.

By 1971, Boys Will Be Girls was being discussed in the pages of Transvestia, placing the book within a growing body of literature about gender expression and identity.

Today, the book survives as a curious piece of late-1960s gender and sexuality history, reflecting a period when these subjects were increasingly entering public conversation, even if much of the discussion was still shaped by the prejudices and assumptions of the time.