glbtq >> Special Features >> Cross-Dressers: Male, Part 1

glbtq: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & queer culture

Encyclopedia
Discussion

glbtq Books
  Advertising Opportunities
Press Kit
  Permissions & Licensing
  Terms of Service
  Privacy Policy
  Copyright

		Special Features Index

Cross-Dressers: Male, Part 1


	Though male Cross-Dressing is common historically, cross-dressers have often been misunderstood and maligned, especially in societies with strictly defined gender roles. Despite this disapprobation, cross-dressing entertainers have often been accepted and even celebrated in many cultures.


	Drag artist Lady Bunny


	Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is an all-male dance troupe that combines dance, cross-dressing, and comedy to both parody and celebrate classical ballet.


	Ray Bourbon (1892?-1971) was a legendary drag performer and recording artist who appeared in silent movies, vaudeville acts, Broadway plays, and, from the 1940s through the 1960s, performed across the United States in a gay nightclub circuit.


	In Literature, the gay male cross-dresser and the lesbian cross-dresser are depicted quite differently.


	Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead, 1945-1988) was a versatile character actor, nightclub singer, and international cult star who generally performed his stage show and movie roles in drag. He became famous through his appearances in John Waters' films.


	Drag Shows need say nothing about sexual identity, but they have been an almost institutionalized aspect of gay male culture for a long time.


	The Chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810) was the most famous transvestite of the eighteenth century. The French diplomat and soldier lived the first half of his life as a man and the second as a woman.


	Harvey Fierstein (b. 1954) is an award-winning playwright and an accomplished actor and performer. He began his acting career as a drag performer in New York City in the early 1970s.


	Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) was a pioneering German activist and sexologist. A cross-dresser himself, Hirschfeld coined the term "transvestite."


	Barry Humphries (b. 1934) is a character actor, singer, writer, poet, and painter known principally for the stage personas he has developed. Of these personas, the most internationally recognized is Dame Edna Everage whose sheer force of personality has enabled her to achieve the status of "International Mega-Star."


	Kabuki is a classic Japanese theatrical form incorporating fantastical costumes, stylized gestures, music, and dance. Kabuki originally showcased female and boy prostitutes, but now features all-male casts.


	Charles Ludlam (1943-1987) was an actor, playwright, and innovator in the "Theater of the Ridiculous." He drew on many elements of camp and farce, but never allowed them to obscure the seriousness of his themes.


	Male Cross-Dressers Part 1 is the first half of a two part series. Click Here to view Part 2.


	Photo Credits: Photograph of Lady Bunny by Jimmy Smith, courtesy ladybunny.net. Photograph of Ballet Trockadero performers by Sasha Vaughn, courtesy Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Engraving of the Chevalier d'Éon courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Image of Magnus Hirschfeld courtesy Archiv für Sexualwissenschaft, Berlin. Image of Kabuki actor courtesy McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University.