CROSS-DRESSING

:''This article is about cross-dressing in general. For specific information about cross-dressing for sexual reasons, see Transvestic fetishism.'' Compare also the List of transgender-related topics and Transvestism (disambiguation).
'Cross-dressing' is the act of wearing clothing commonly associated with another gender within a particular society. The usage of the term, the types of cross-dressing both in modern times and throughout history, an analysis of the behaviour, and historical examples are discussed in the article below.

Usage

Nearly every human society throughout history has distinguished between male and female gender by the style, colour, or type of clothing they wear and has had a set of norms, views, guidelines, or even laws defining what type of clothing is appropriate for each gender. Cross-dressing is a behaviour which runs significantly counter to those norms and therefore can be seen as a type of transgender behaviour. It does not, however, necessarily indicate transgender identity; a person who cross-dresses does not always identify as having a gender different from that assigned at birth.
The term 'cross-dress''ing''' denotes an action or a behaviour without attributing or proposing causes for that behaviour. Some people automatically connect cross-dressing behaviour to transgender identity or sexual, fetishist, and homosexual behaviour, but the term ''cross-dressing'' itself does not imply any motives. (See "Equal clothing rights" below.) However, referring to a person as a 'cross-dress''er''' suggests that their cross-dressing behaviour is habitual and may be taken to mean that the person identifies as transgendered. The term cross-dresser should therefore be used with care to avoid causing misunderstanding or offence.

Other meanings of the term

A new meaning for the term "cross-dressing" has appeared in the African-American community, where it is used to refer to wearing two different name brands of clothing (or sports team logos) simultaneously. For example, wearing both a Tommy Hilfiger hat and FUBU jacket might be referred to as "cross-dressing." This use of the term is exclusively negative. While far removed from the original meaning, this usage is increasingly common and can lead to confusion among those used to more traditional meanings of the term.
The term "cross-dressing" is also used in debate, as a rhetorical device to couch your argument in your opponent's terms, making you appear more co-operative and your argument more difficult to refute.^[1]

Varieties of cross-dressing

There are many different kinds of cross-dressing, and many different reasons why an individual might engage in cross-dressing behaviour.^[2]
Some people cross-dress as a matter of comfort or style. They have a preference towards clothing which is only marketed to or associated with the opposite sex. In this case, a person's cross-dressing may or may not be visible to other people.
Some people cross-dress in order to shock others or challenge social norms.
Both men and women may cross-dress in order to disguise their true identity. Historically, some women have cross-dressed in order to take up male-dominated or male-exclusive professions, such as military service. Conversely, some men have cross-dressed in order to escape from mandatory military service.^[3]
Single-sex theatrical troupes often have some performers cross-dress in order to play roles written for members of the opposite sex. Cross-dressing, particularly the depiction of males wearing dresses, is often used for comic effect onstage and onscreen.
'Drag' is a special form of performance art based on cross-dressing. A 'drag queen' is a male-bodied person who performs as an exaggeratedly feminine character, in an elaborate costume usually consisting of a gaudy dress and high-heeled shoes, heavy makeup, and a large wig. A drag queen may imitate famous female film or pop-music stars. (See also RuPaul)
A 'drag king' is the counterpart of the drag queen — a female-bodied person who adopts an exaggerated masculine persona in performance or who imitates a male film or pop-music star. Some female-bodied people undergoing gender reassignment therapy also self-identify as ''drag kings'', although this use of "drag king" is considered inaccurate by some.
Transgendered people who are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment therapy are usually not regarded as cross-dressing. Namely, a transsexual who has completed gender reassignment surgery is certainly not considered cross-dressing, unless they were to wear clothes of the gender opposite of what they have transitioned to. Pre-operative transsexuals may be considered similarly.
A transvestic fetishist is a person (typically a heterosexual male) who cross-dresses as part of a sexual fetish.
The term ''underdressing'' is used by male cross-dressers to describe wearing female undergarments under their male clothes. The famous low-budget filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. said he often wore women's underwear under his military uniform during World War II.
Some people who cross-dress may endeavour to project a complete impression of belonging to another gender, down to mannerisms, speech patterns, and emulation of sexual characteristics. This is referred to as passing or "trying to pass" depending how successful the person is. An observer who sees through the cross-dresser's attempt to pass is said to have ''read'' them. There are books and magazines on how a man may look more like a woman.^[4]
Sometimes either person of a heterosexual couple will wear it to arouse the other. For example, the Male would wear skirts or lingerie and/or the Female will wear boxers or other male clothing. (See also forced feminization)
Others may choose to take a mixed approach, adopting some feminine traits and some masculine traits in their appearance. For instance, a man might wear both a dress and a beard. This is sometimes known as ''genderfuck''.

Clothes

The actual determination of cross-dressing is largely socially constructed. For example, in Western society, trousers have been adopted for wear by women, and is not regarded as cross-dressing. In cultures where men have traditionally worn skirt-like garments such as the kilt or sarong these are not seen as female clothing, and wearing them is not seen as cross-dressing for men. As societies are becoming more global in nature, both men and women are adopting styles of dress associated with other cultures.
It was once taboo in Western society for women to wear clothes traditionally associated with men. Cross dressing is specifically cited as an "abomination" in the Bible in the book of Deuteronomy (22:5). This is no longer the case and Western women are often seen wearing trousers, ties, and men's hats. Nevertheless, many cultures around the world still prohibit women from wearing trousers or other traditionally male clothing.
Cosplaying is also included in cross-dressing, for some females may wish to dress as a male, and vice versa (see Crossplay). Breast binding (for females) is not uncommon and is most likely needed to cosplay a male character.
In most parts of the world it remains socially frowned upon for men to wear clothes traditionally associated with women, although such clothes are accepted in certain traditional contexts (e.g. the Scottish kilt). Attempts are occasionally made, e.g. by fashion designers, to promote the acceptance of skirts as everyday wear for men. Cross-dressers have complained that society permits women to wear pants or jeans and other masculine clothing, while condemning any man who wants to wear female clothing.
While most cross-dressers dress as modern women, there are some who are involved in subcultures that involve dressing as little girls or in vintage clothing. Some such men have written that they enjoy dressing as feminine as possible, so they will wear frilly dresses with lace and ribbons, as well as multiple petticoats, corsets, girdles and/or garter belts with nylon stockings.^[5]

Social Issues

Cross-dressers may begin wearing their opposite sex's clothing as children, using the clothes of a sibling, parent, or friend. Some parents have said they allowed their children to cross-dress and, in many cases, the child stopped when they became older. It appears that when boys are forbidden to cross-dress, they will try to stop, only to resume doing it later. The same pattern often continues into adulthood, where there may be confrontations with a spouse. Married cross-dressers will experience considerable anxiety and guilt if their spouse objects to their behaviour. Cross-dressers may become obsessive and/or compulsive in their behaviour, if not actually addicted to wearing the opposite sex's clothing . Some have periodically disposed of all their clothing, a practice called "purging", only to start another collection later.^[2]

Analyses

Female-bodied cross-dressers

The behaviour of women in general has historically often received less attention than that of men, and cross-dressing is no exception. However, there are some famous examples of cross-dressing female-bodied persons in history (see Famous historical examples of cross-dressing people below).
In modern Western societies, cross-dressing behaviour in women is more difficult to identify as a large number of traditionally men's clothing such as trousers have become socially acceptable for both genders to wear, leaving few types of clothing that are only socially acceptable for men to wear. A woman can even wear men's shirts, trousers, and underwear without it being noticed or considered as crossdressing, as very similar clothing items are produced for women.
Social acceptance plays a large role in the perceived low numbers of women crossdressers for the simple reason that it is far more socially acceptable for a woman to be seen wearing men's clothes than a man to be seen wearing women's clothes. Therefore a woman wearing rugged jeans and a plaid shirt would not garner much attention, whereas a man wearing a skirt and high heels would instantly be deemed a cross-dresser. Since the advent of feminism, women have been held to much more lax standards of gender expression and dress, allowing them to still express their femininity but at the same time not being constrained to the feminine ideal as in ages past. Men, on the other hand, are still subject to the same social constraints that existed before the advent of feminism. Thus, men are being held just as much (if not more) to the same standards of masculinity as in the past, and a display of seemingly opposite gender behaviour on a man's part is socially taboo. Therefore the reason it is so hard to have statistics for female-bodied crossdressers is that the line where non-crossdressing stops and crossdressing begins has become blurred, whereas the same line for men is just as defined. This is one of the many issues being addressed by the modern-day masculist movement, the male-equivalent of the feminist movement.

The classic psychoanalytic view

Classic psychoanalytic views of cross-dressing emphasized the role of taboo in the behaviour. Only items that were proscribed to a gender would be appropriated, and therefore it is not the general association of an item with one sex or the other but the prohibitions against the item that give satisfaction to those with a fetish attachment to cross-dressing. According to this theory, as articles become acceptable for ordinary wear (e.g. a man's necktie on a woman, which passed from taboo to fashion in the 1970s) they will cease to be sought by cross-dressers.

The problem of attributing motives for cross-dressing

When speaking of historical figures, when cross-dressing is not clearly related to specific events (like an escape or disguise) it is usually impossible to state clearly what the motives for cross-dressing were. This information was rarely recorded or preserved. Documents on the subject are often either court records (where the cross-dressing person may have said whatever they thought would minimize their punishment) or accounts by other people who might not understand the motivations correctly. Furthermore, historic figures were often unable to identify themselves as homosexual, transgender, transsexual, or transvestite because these classifications simply had no names or social recognition in their era.
It can be equally difficult to be certain of the motives of modern day people who cross-dress. The only real proof of motive is that person's own statement. Yet even this is not always certain, as there are examples of people attributing their cross-dressing behaviour to one motive only to later realize that they may have had another reason. The classical example of this would be a transsexual person who initially attributed cross-dressing behaviour to transvestic fetishism (for transwomen) or the utilitarian practicality of male clothing (for transmen).
Another possible motive to cross-dressing is Freud's Sexual Inversion Syndrome ^[7]
, wherein the affected person feels that they are actually the opposite gender.

Some famous examples of cross-dressing

Thor and Loki in drag

In Greek mythology

★ In punishment for his murder of Iphitus, Heracles/Hercules was given to Omphale as a slave. Many variants of this story say that she not only compelled him to do women's work, but compelled him to dress as a woman while her slave.

★ Achilles dressed in women's clothing at the court of Lycomedes.

★ Athena often goes to the aid of people in the guise of men in The Odyssey.

In Norse myths and legends

★ Thor dressed as Freyja in order to get Mjölnir back in ''Þrymskviða''.

★ Odin dressed as a female healer as part of his efforts to seduce Rindr.

★ Loki transformed himself into a mare and in that form became the mother of Sleipnir. In ''Lokasenna'', he and Odin taunt each other with having taken on women's forms, bearing babies and nursing them, but the further details of myths behind those taunts have not survived.

★ Hagbard in the Scandinavian legend of Hagbard and Signy (the Romeo and Juliet of the Vikings). After having slain Signy's brothers and suitors, Hagbard was no longer welcome in the hall of Signy's father Sigar. Hagbard then dressed up as one of his brother Haki's shieldmaidens in order to have access to the chambers of his beloved. When the handmaidens washed his legs, they asked him why they were so furry and why his hands were so calloused. Because of this, he invented a clever verse to explain his strange appearance. Signy, however, who understood that it was Hagbard who had come to see her, explained to the maidens that his verse was truthful. Hagbard was, however, deceived by the handmaidens and he was arrested by Sigar's warriors. Hagbard was hanged and Signy committed suicide as Hagbard watched from the gallows.

★ Frotho I dressed as a shieldmaiden in one of his eastern campaigns.

★ Hervor from ''Hervarar saga''. When Hervor learnt that her father had been the infamous Swedish berserker Arngrim, she dressed as a man, called herself Hjörvard and lived for a long time as a Viking.

In Indian mythology: The Mahabharata

★ In the Agnyatbaas ("exile") period of one year imposed upon the Pandavas, Arjuna crossdressed as Brihannala and became a dance teacher.

Famous historical examples of cross-dressing people

Famous historical examples of cross-dressing people include:

First World War photograph of English war reporter Dorothy Lawrence who secretly posed as a man to become a soldier.

★ Hua Mulan, the central figure of the 'Ballad of Mulan' (and of the Disney film ''Mulan''), may be a historical or fictional figure. She is said to have lived in China during the Northern Wei dynasty, and to have posed as a man in order to fulfil the household drafting quota, thus saving her ill and aged father from having to serve.

★ Several tales of the Desert Fathers speak of monks who were disguised women, a fact discovered only when their bodies were prepared for burial. One such woman, St. Mary of Alexandria, died 508, accompanied her father to a monastery and adopted a monk's habit as a disguise. When she was falsely accused of having gotten a woman pregnant, she patiently bore the accusation without revealing her identity to clear her name, an action praised in medieval books of saints' lives as an example of humble forbearance.

★ The legend of Pope Joan alleges that she was a promiscuous female pope who dressed like a man and reigned from 855 to 858. Modern historians regard her as a mythical figure who originated from 13th century anti-papal satire.

★ Joan of Arc was a 15th century French peasant girl who joined French armies against English forces fighting in France during the latter part of the Hundred Years' War. She is a French national heroine and a Catholic saint. After being captured by the English, she was burned at the stake upon being convicted by a religious court, with the act of dressing in male clothing being cited as one of the principal reasons for her execution. A number of witnesses, however, testified that she had said she wore male clothing (consisting of two layers of pants attached to the doublet with twenty fasteners) because she feared the guards would rape her at night.^[8]

★ Anne Bonny and Mary Read were late 17th century pirates. Bonny in particular gained significant notoriety, but both were eventually captured. Unlike the rest of the male crew, Bonny and Read were not immediately executed because Read was pregnant and Bonny claimed to be pregnant as well.

★ Bonnie Prince Charlie dressed as Flora MacDonald's maid servant, Betty Burke to escape the Battle of Culloden for the island of Skye in 1746.

★ Ann Mills fought as a dragoon in 1740.

★ Hannah Snell served as a man in the Royal Marines 1747-1750, being wounded 11 times, and was granted a military pension.

★ Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée Éon de Beaumont (1728-1810), usually known as the Chevalier d'Eon, was a French diplomat and soldier who lived the first half of his life as a man and the second half as a woman. In 1771 he claimed that physically he was not a man, but a woman, having been brought up as a man only. From then on s/he lived as a woman. On her/his death it was discovered that her/his body was anatomically male.

★ George Sand is the pseudonym of Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, an early 19th century French novelist who preferred to wear men's clothing exclusively. In her autobiography, she explains in length the various aspects of how she experienced cross-dressing.

★ Dorothy Lawrence was an English war reporter who disguised herself as a man so she could become a soldier in World War I.

★ Rrose Sélavy, the feminine alter-ego of the late French artist, Marcel Duchamp, remains one of the most complex and pervasive pieces in the enigmatic puzzle of the artist's oeuvre. She first emerged in portraits made by the photographer Man Ray in New York in the early 1920s, when Duchamp and Man Ray were collaborating on a number of conceptual photographic works. Rrose Sélavy lived on as the person to whom Duchamp attributed specific works of art, Readymades, puns, and writings throughout his career. By creating for himself this female persona whose attributes are beauty and eroticism, he deliberately and characteristically complicated the understanding of his ideas and motives. More contemporary artists like J. S. G. Boggs, Yasumasa Morimura, and Grayson Perry have also explored cross-dressing.

★ Billy Tipton was a notable jazz pianist and saxophonist in the United States during the Great Depression. He was born Dorothy Lucille Tipton in 1914, but began living as a man in the 1930s. He was married five times to women, and adopted three boys. He led a full career as a musician and, in later life, as an entertainment agent. Other than his birth family, no one knew of his birth sex or cross-living until after his death in 1989.

★ Willmer "Little Ax" Broadnax was a lead singer in several important gospel quartets, most famously the Spirit of Memphis Quartet. When he died in 1994, it was discovered that he was female bodied.

★ Because female enlistment was barred, many women fought for both the Union and the Confederacy during the American Civil War while dressed as men.

★ Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, colonial governor of New York and New Jersey in the early 1700s is reported to have enjoyed going out wearing his wife's clothing, but this is disputed. ^[9]

★ Eddie Izzard, a British stand-up comedian, claims to have cross-dressed his entire life. He often performs his in feminine clothing, and has discussed his cross dressing as part of his act. He calls himself an 'executive transvestite'.

Cultural examples of cross-dressing

Cross-dressing is the subject of many works of literature and plays a significant role in popular culture. References to cross-dressing are frequently used for comic effect. And some established events are centered around cross-dressing, such as Southern Decadence in New Orleans, where the official festivites are coordinated by the Grand Marshals, who are traditionally cross-dressers. ^[10]

Folklore

Ballads have many cross-dressing heroines. While some (''The Famous Flower of Serving-Men'') merely need to move about freely, many do it specifically in pursuit of a lover (''Rose Red and the White Lily'' or ''Child Waters'') and consequently pregnancy often complicates the disguise.
Occasionally, men in ballads also disguise themselves as women, but not only is it rarer, the men dress so for less time, because they are merely trying to elude an enemy by the disguise, as in ''Brown Robin'', ''The Duke of Athole's Nurse'', or ''Robin Hood and the Bishop''. According to ''Gude Wallace'', William Wallace disguised himself as a woman to escape capture, which may have been based on historical information.
Fairy tales seldom feature cross-dressing, but an occasional heroine needs to move freely as a man, as in the German ''The Twelve Huntsmen'', the Scottish ''The Tale of the Hoodie'', or the Russian ''The Lute Player''. Madame d'Aulnoy included such a woman in her literary fairy tale, ''Belle-Belle ou Le Chevalier Fortuné''.

Literature

In Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso'', Bradamante, being a knight, wears full-plate armor; similarly, Britomart wears full-plate armor in Edmund Spenser's ''The Faerie Queene''. Intentionally or not, this disguises them as men, and they are taken as such by other characters. In ''Orlando Furioso'', Fiordespina falls in love with Bradamante; her brother Ricciardetto disguises himself as his sister, dressing as a woman, persuades Fiordespina that he is Bradamante, magically changed into a man to make their love possible, and in his female attire is able to conduct a love affair with her.
In ''Arcadia'', Sir Philip Sidney had one of his heroes, Pyrocles, disguise himself as an Amazon and call himself Zelmane, in order to approach his beloved Philoclea.
Lord Byron in his ''Don Juan'', had Don Juan disguised as a woman in a harem.
In Terry Pratchett's novel ''Monstrous Regiment'', he has an entire regiment of females (of assorted species) dressing as males to join the army, satirizing the phenomenon of crossdressing during wartime.

Theater

Cross-dressing characters

William Shakespeare made substantial use of cross-dressing for female characters, who take on masculine clothing in order to carry out actions difficult for women. In Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'', Portia and her maid dress as men to plead in court on the merchant's behalf, and are quite successful in their ruse; in the same play, Shylock's daughter Jessica dresses as a man in order to elope with her Christian lover. ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' deals extensively with cross-dressing through the female protagonist Viola. She disguises herself as Cesario, and immediately finds herself caught up in a love triangle. She loves Duke Orsino who loves Countess Olivia who loves Cesario. Luckily, all is resolved when Viola's presumed dead twin brother Sebastian comes along. We only see Viola as Viola in one scene; for the rest of the play she is dressed as Cesario. When Rosalind and Celia flee court in ''As You Like It'', Rosalind dresses, for their protections, as a man. However, as a way to further complicate the situation for comedic affect, Shakespeare has Rosalind's male character dress as a woman to help a male friend practise wooing the girl he is smitten with. In other words, it is a man (the actor) dressing as a woman dressing as a man dressing as a woman.
David Henry Hwang's 1988 play ''M. Butterfly'' focuses on a love affair between a French diplomat and a male Beijing opera singer who plays ''dan'' (旦), or female, roles.
In the musical ''Rent'', Angel is an example of a modern drag queen.
Although there is some dispute as to whether the character is transgendered or simply a cross-dresser, the character of Hedwig from the musical and subsequent movie ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' is another modern drag queen (the musical also features a male character played traditionally by a female actress, although the character's true gender is deliberately left with slight ambiguity).

Cross-dressing actors

In Renaissance England it was illegal for women to perform in theatres^[11], so female roles in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporary playwrights were originally played by cross-dressing men or boys. (See also ''Stage Beauty''.) Therefore the original productions of the above-mentioned Shakespeare plays actually involved double-cross-dressing: male actors playing female characters disguising themselves as males.
All roles in Japanese Noh dramas are traditionally played by male actors. Actors playing female roles wear feminine costumes and female-featured masks.
Japanese Kabuki theatre began in the seventeenth century with all-female troupes performing both male and female roles. In 1629 the disrepute of kabuki performances led to the banning of women from the stage, but kabuki's great popularity inspired the formation of all-male troupes to carry on the theatrical form. In Kabuki, the portrayal of female characters by men is known as onagata.
In ancient China, nearly all the characters in Chinese Opera were performed by men, so that all the male actors, who played the role of a female were crossdressing. A famous cross-dressing opera singer is Mei Lanfang.
The Monty Python troupe have been known to cross dress for comedic purposes in their TV series and films. The troupe usually dress up as older, more unarousing women referred to by the troupe as "pepperpots". Although member Terry Jones was most famous for his female characters, all the members have been seen in drag in one sketch or another; members Michael Palin and Eric Idle have been said to look the most feminine, Graham Chapman specialized in screeching, annoying housewives and John Cleese, whom the troupe has said is the most hilarious in drag, appears so extremely unfeminine that it is funny. For more information about cross-dressing in movies and television, see the article ''Cross-dressing in film and television.''

The mainstream Australian film ''Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' includes transvestism and transsexuality (qcinema.com)

The Takarazuka Revue is a contemporary all-female Japanese acting company, known for their elaborate productions of stage musicals. Takarazuka actresses specialize in either male or female roles, with male role actresses receiving top billing.
In pantomime, plays which are traditionally adaptions of fairy tales and performed around Christmastide, the role of lead male was once commonly played by a principal boy - a young, attractive, female. Though this practise has fallen out of favour somewhat recently with the rise in popular male television and pop stars taking these roles. Conversely the role of a pantomime dame, a middle aged woman played by a man for comic relief, is still one of the mainstays of the Pantomime.
In , the male alien bounty hunter Greedo was portrayed by a female actress.

Opera

An entire cross-dressing genre of operatic roles, called "pants roles", "trouser roles", or "travesty roles". These are male roles performed by women, typically mezzo-sopranos but occasionally by sopranos. Some female opera singers specialize in these types of roles.
A major artistic reasons for "pants roles" was that some storylines required young boy characters, but the actual performance required an adult's vocal strength and stage experience in addition to a high, boyish voice. Women were thus better suited to these boy roles than actual boys. Some examples of these boyish pants roles are Cherubino in "The Marriage of Figaro" and Hansel in "Hansel and Gretel". Other pants roles were created due to the need for an adult male character to seem other-worldly (Orpheus in "Orfeo ed Euridice") or unmanly (Prince Idamante in "Idomeneo," respectively). In some cases, the casting of a woman in a "pants role" may have been just an excuse to have an attractive actress appear in tight-fitting trousers. During the Grand Opera era, women typically worn voluminous dresses onstage.
Beethovens' only opera, ''Fidelio'', is unusual in that it features a female character who cross-dresses as part of the plot. ''Fidelio'' involves a woman who disguises herself as a young man as part of a plan to rescue her husband from prison.
In the early 20th century, German composer Richard Strauss included a major trouser role in two operas: the Composer in "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier."

Internet

The explosion of the Internet and the World Wide Web has provided new opportunities for cross-dressing people to express themselves. Numerous websites cater to cross-dressing men by providing dresses, shoes, and other feminine accessories in larger men's sizes. In addition, the Internet has given many cross-dressers a safe forum for sharing contact details, photos and stories. Fictionmania is an example of this type of story site. Jeffree Star is an internet celebrity who advertises crossdressing on Myspace.

Animation and Anime

Bugs Bunny occasionally engages in cross-dressing, usually to confound a foe. His transformation is typically so effective that his adversaries (especially Elmer Fudd), who moments earlier had been trying to kill him, are smitten by his "feminine charm." Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck have also cross-dressed in some Warner Brothers cartoons. ^[12]
Genesis Climber Mospeada was perhaps the first anime series to feature a regular crossdresser amongst the main protagonists. Yellow Belmont, a former soldier, crossdressed to avoid anti-soldier reprisals by the Invid and others, and eventually became an accomplished pop singer. Many were a fan of Yellow's, without realizing that Yellow was really a male.
The series Revolutionary Girl Utena (also known as 少女革命ウテナ　''Shōjo Kakumei Utena'') is perhaps one of the best-known examples of Japanese animation involving cross-dressing. The female protagonist, Utena Tenjou, cross-dresses as a result of her desire to be a heroic prince. Revolutionary Girl Utena is inspired by an earlier popular anime - The Rose of Versailles or ベルサイユのばら (''Berusaiyu no bara'') - in which the one of the main characters, the commander of the Royal Guard, is a woman named Oscar. She was raised like a boy by her father and consistently wears male attire.
Also "The Rose of Versailles" was inspired by an earlier series, "Ribon no Kishi" (Princess Knight), by Osamu Tezuka. In this comic (and anime), Princess Sapphire was a girl who must pretend to be a boy.
This theme is very present in the anime imaginary; it was parodized in ''Urusei Yatsura'' by Rumiko Takahashi, where Ryunosuke Fujinami is an (attractive) girl, but her father insists, against any evidence, that she is a male, and she has to wear only male attire.
In ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', SpongeBob in four episodes is briefly portrayed in women's clothing. In the episode "That's No Lady", his friend Patrick Star disguises himself as a woman named Patricia. Also in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Patrick can be seen crossdressing several times.
In "Pokemon"'s episode Beauty and the Beach, James dressed up in a bikini with exaggerated breasts to enter in the beauty competition taking place in the episode.
In ''The Fairly OddParents'', Timmy Turner, Cosmo, Timmy's Dad, and Denzel Q. Crocker have cross dressed in various episodes.
In ''One Piece'', a member of the fictional organization, Bon Clay dresses up in femal ballerina's clothing. It's unknown at the time if he is homosexual seeing as ow he flirted with Nefertair Vivi when he was brought onto the ship.
James of Team Rocket from the anime ''Pokémon'' frequently cross-dresses when in disguise. His partner, Jessie, also cross-dresses on occasion, but only about half as much as James. One of the most notable instances of James cross-dressing is in the banned episode ''Beauty and the Beach!'' where he got inflatable breasts to enter a beauty pageant. An early example of this is in ''Battle Aboard the St. Anne!'' where James cross-dressed as a stereotypical teenage girl to hand out tickets to a boat. Also in the episodes "Pokémon Scentsation!" and "Love at First Flight", Ash Ketchum, the protagonist is portrayed in women's clothing.
In the ''Naruto'' series, Haku, an underling of Zabuza, dresses like a woman and has voice like a woman, but is in reality a man. This sparks some confusion as to whether he is a crossdresser or transsexual for both fans and characters alike.
''Disney's Robin Hood'' (1973) featured a sequence where Robin Hood and Little John went into drag as female fortune tellers in order to steal Prince John's loot, while Robin distracted him with his fake fortune-telling talents. Little John sports big fake breasts, wherein he hides his plunder, and also flirts with one of the guards.
''Sailor Moon'' featured two cross-dressers: Zoicite in episode 36 in the first season, and Fish-Eye in the "Sailor Moon Super S" season (he looked like a woman and preferred men to be his victims, while his partners, Tiger's-Eye and Hawk's Eye preferred girls at certain ages, where Tiger's-Eye went after younger girls and Hawk's Eye went after older women). However, in the English dubs of these two seasons, Zoicite and Fish-Eye were changed into women.
''Mulan'' featured the main character cross-dressing to fight in place of her aging father.
In ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', Don Patch and Bobobo frequently cross-dress (example, episode 29).
In I My Me! Strawberry Eggs, another Japanese anime, a man dresses as a woman with the help of his landlady in order to get a job at an all-girls' school.
Another Japanese title, High School! Kimengumi regularly features crossdressing antics from the five main characters.
In Slayers, most male characters are seen crossdressed to aid plot devices.
In ''Ranma ½'', the character Ranma Saotome is a male, who changes gender when splashed with hot and cold water due to a Chinese curse. Since this transformation is a common focus of the series, he is often—by way of a random splash of water—left wearing clothing considered inappropriate for whichever gender he happens to have transformed to. Also, as he has a strong male gender identity and rarely changes his gender roles or speech to be congruent with his body, the series usually depicts him as crossdressing even when he has a female body. Another character from the series, Tsubasa Kurenai originally presented and presumed to be a homosexual female, is later discovered to actually be a heterosexual male crossdresser.
In Inuyasha, the character Jakotsu, one of the members of The Band of Seven, is male, but dresses up as a woman, so he can flirt with men. He detests women and is considered a homosexual.
In Fruits Basket, the character Ritsu, is a male, but dresses up as a woman. He dresses in this manner, because he feels that he can't live up to his parents' expectations as a man, so he dresses up as a woman making him feel better about himself.
In Dual Parallel Trouble Adventures (yet another Japanese anime), Kasuki, the main character, has to dress up in disguise as a girl in order to pilot the robot that "only women could pilot", Harusime.
In the ''Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'' episode ''Sonically Ever After'', Sonic the Hedgehog and his comrade Miles "Tails" Prower are sucked into a fairytale (''Hansel and Gretel'') with Sonic playing Hansel, Tails as Gretel and Dr. Robotnik as the witch. About a minute after being sucked in, Tails finally notices his girl-like features. Sonic, who has a habit of disguising himself in this series, occasionally cross-dresses as a disguise.
In the Canadian animated series ''Being Ian'', Sandi cross-dresses as a boy named "Sammy Rocker" to enter a boxing tournament. Later, in ''Out-of-Focus Group'', Ian takes Vicki's place in a dancing contest, disguising as a girl.
In ''The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers'', the short "Cape of Majesty!" has Adi stumble upon Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe and wears her clothes and a wig.
In ''Happiness!'', Jun Watarase, one of the main protagonist's best friends, is a cross-dressing boy despite his feminine appearance and a girlish crush on the latter.
In ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Dee-Dee sometimes dresses Dexter up as a girl. One notable episode is ''Remember Me?'' This is where Dexter has an accident and gets amnesia, but Dee-Dee messes up his mind and dresses him up as a girl.
In ''You're Under Arrest'', Aoi Futaba was a man who disguised himself as a female for the Anti-Chikan squad. Over time, his mannerisms changed from a male to a feminine one despite earlier rejection from Bokuto Station's female personnel, they grew to accept him for who he is.
In ''Gankutsuou'', Peppo is a boy who dresses as a girl and succeeds in fooling one of the male characters, Albert, who thinks he has fallen in love with her.
In ''South Park'', Eric Cartman usually crossdresses to get something he desperately wants for example in "Freak Show" he crossdresses as an out of control girl to go on the Maury show. Butters Stotch also crossdresses but usually in less frequency but for a longer period of time for example in the episode "Marjorine" Butters crossdresses as a girl for 3/4 of the episode.
''Ouran High School Host Club'' - Slight Spoiler
In ''Ouran High School Host Club'', the entire host club dresses up as a group of women in an attempt to get Haruhi to not want to go with the Zuka club, believing that rather than a group of men, she would like a group of 'sisters' at school with her.
The Whammy animation based on Boy George, a cross-dresser, cross-dresses or a moment before getting nailed with a hammer on Press Your Luck.

Comics and Manga

In the Japanese manga series Urusei Yatsura (1978-1987), created by Rumiko Takahashi and published by Shogakukan, a female character called Ryuunosuke wears a white shirt with the Chinese ideogram for "male" on the back (as well as on her pants), along with other male attire, as part of her father's misguided insistence that his child is a male. More recently, in the Japanese action manga Gunslinger Girl (2003), published in the United States by ADV, one female character, Triela, prefers wearing men's clothes such as a men's-style suit and tie. Another manga, Yubisaki Milk Tea, features Yukinori, a high school student who has crossdressed and taken pictures of himself under the name "Catherine" (given to him by another character, originally he tried to pass using another name).

Politicians

When he was Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani appeared in women's clothing on multiple occasions.^[13]

Giuliani and Donald Trump in 2000.

Music

Pete Burns, the lead singer in the New Wave band Dead or Alive, crossdressed in the bands' music videos, performances, and in his appearances on TV.
Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (actor), crossdressed in the movies he's in due to the part he plays, which is usually a woman. He also crossdresses in his music videos.
Marilyn Manson (band) often used crossdressing in their performances, music videos and public appearances.
Kurt Cobain The lead singer of the American grunge band, Nirvana often cross-dressed at home and on stage.

Video games

In the game Metroid, Samus Aran is portrayed as being male by the American version of the instruction manual. The fact she is female is largely disguised by her suit of armour (however later games make her gender more obvious).
In the video game ''Final Fantasy V'', the character Faris is the captain of a crew of pirates, dressing and presenting herself as a man.
In one of the more humorous scenes in the video game ''Final Fantasy VII'', the protagonist, Cloud Strife, had to disguise himself as a woman in order to infiltrate a brothel.
In the first game of the ''Art of Fighting'' series, King, who later would become a household character and player's favourite, dressed up as a man in order to hide her real gender, because of a shameful loss she suffered in a martial arts tournament she entered in the guise of a man. It can be revealed that King is a woman if the player finishes her off with a special move, tearing up her shirt. Later on, it was no longer unknown to anyone that King is in fact a woman, but she keeps on using men's typical outfits.
In the ''Guilty Gear'' series, Bridget is a boy who looks like, is named after and dresses up as a girl, because the village in which he was born has a belief that male twins bring bad luck. As Bridget himself is a male twin, he underwent this makeover since his childhood.
In the ''Angelique'' series, the character Olivie is always seen in elaborate, flamboyant women's clothing, often accompanied by cosmetics and fancy nail art.
In ''Tokimeki Memorial'', the character Rei crossdresses and attends school as a male. Her secret can be revealed in her love ending.
In ''StarTropics'', Mike must crossdress to enter an all-women's kingdom.
In ''Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time'', Zelda presents herself in a male form known as Sheik.
In '', Guybrush dons a pink gown to get into a costume party.
Near the end of '', Luigi disguises himself as Princess Peach. He also does the same thing in the ''Super Mario Adventures'' comic, leaving Peach in his own clothes.
In ''RuneScape'', to do Wanted Quest, if you are a male, you need to change your gender. Prince Ali has to crossdress as Lady Kali.
In '' When Cortez and Harry Tipper have to sneak into a compound Harry must wear a female outfit to get and even get reaction from male security guards thinking he is a woman despite an obviously visible moustache
In ''Dead Rising'' you may have the main character, Frank West dress up as a woman in one of the many women's clothing stores.
In Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal, there is a girl known to many as Copycat who if you are a boy on crystal, will crossdress as your character. Also, on Pokemon Crystal, if your character is a girl and is about to go in the trading or battle room, then the woman who lets you in makes you crossdress as the boy character, because Pokemon Gold and Silver does not contain the female antagonist.
In ''Osu Tatake Ouendan 2'' on the 3rd level there a crossdresser who tryyed to sneek into a private school for girls.
In the Playstation Portable game , the player can equip a costume item that is intended for the opposite gender he's playing as.

Notes

1. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0207/09/cf.00.html
2. ''Rainbow Reader'', Fort Wayne, Indiana
3. See the television series ''M.A.S.H.'' for an example of a cross-dresser who didn't want to be in the military (Klinger); although, the character was played for laughs, this is based on military regulations prohibiting cross-dressers.
4. ''Transformation'' magazine; interviews for ''Rainbow Reader'', Fort Wayne, Indiana
5. www.pettipond.com
6. ''Rainbow Reader'', Fort Wayne, Indiana
7. Sexual Inversion
8. http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_male_clothing.html
9. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020125.html
10. Southern Decadence Official Website
11. Globe Theatre Female Roles
12. http://www.mindspring.com/~karen.anne.taylor/bugs.html
13. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/giuliani-the-transvestite_b_42290.html

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