TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The emergence of a hijab-wearing male crossdresser community, dubbed by people as crosshijaber on social media, lately causes quite a stir among members of the public.

Clinical psychologist at Jakarta’s Fatmawati Hospital, Widya Shintia Sari, M.Psi, calls for people to not hastily judge this tendency as a form of sexual deviation before any further study is conducted by professionals.

“Whether it is considered sexual deviation or not must be determined by what motivated them to do so. It needs further studies,” said Widya.

Furthermore, she suggests studies need to be held to determine what drives a man to deliberately wear women’s Islamic attire in the form of hijabs or niqabs. She argues there are a number of possibilities that drive men to participate in this crosshijaber trend.

She noted that there is a possibility that the perpetrator finds sexual satisfaction in wearing Muslim women’s clothing or transvestic fetishism. There are also other possible motivations such as for entertainment purposes in order to be popular, or to basically just grab attention for the goal of having their content viral. The psychologist also did not rule out criminal intent in driving these crossdressers.

“Whether the perpetrators are under the influence of drugs or [any] substances must also be considered,” said Widya Shintia Sari.

ANTARA