Cross-dressing is wearing the clothing of a different gender and taking on that gender’s appearance. Gender includes the beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that a specific culture associates with individuals based on their apparent sex. In every society, clothing strongly reflects cultural values about gender. Dressing in clothes that are considered appropriate for another gender, therefore, can affect how the wearer feels and how they are treated by others. Examples of cross-dressing are known from most every society throughout history.
Motivation.
Reasons for cross-dressing vary. People may cross-dress as a source of entertainment. In the United States, during the early 1900’s, for example, cross-dressing was a common theme in the live performance styles known as burlesque and vaudeville. Some individuals merely impersonated other genders in acts, whereas others cross-dressed both on and off stage. Gladys Bentley was an African American singer and pianist who became well known during the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 1920’s and early 1930’s. Bentley performed in a tuxedo and regularly wore traditionally men’s clothing in public.
Cross-dressing is also a common theme in literature and other creative works. For example, the plays of the English author William Shakespeare feature several female characters who disguise themselves as young men.
People may also cross-dress to move beyond narrow gender roles in a particular society. Historically, for example, some women have cross-dressed to gain rights that would otherwise be denied to them. These rights have included being able to enter traditionally male occupations, to travel freely, or to fight in wars. Deborah Sampson served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) disguised as a man. At the time, women were forbidden from serving in the military. Women who have disguised themselves in this way are said to have “posed” or “passed” as men.
Throughout history, some individuals have cross-dressed to cover up the pursuit of same-sex relationships. Other individuals may have identified with a gender different from the gender assigned to them at birth. Still other people may simply have felt more comfortable cross-dressing.
Perception.
In the past, researchers studying human sexual behavior believed that a man who desired to cross-dress did so for sexual gratification. They labeled such individuals transvestites and generally assumed them to be gay. Many, though, apparently did not pursue same-sex relationships.
By the late 1800’s, men in several large U.S. cities who were attracted to other men held masquerade balls where they could cross-dress without fear of harassment or arrest. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, these balls often brought together hundreds of cross-dressers, called “drag queens,” and even greater numbers of curious onlookers. In the 1960’s, private social clubs for men who cross-dressed were formed in the United States. These clubs helped cross-dressers overcome the sense of shame they often felt. For many of these men, cross-dressing was a way to express a different aspect of themselves and feel more at peace. Women who choose to cross-dress may do so for the same reasons. Female cross-dressers have become more visible in many societies in recent years.
Researchers today recognize that people cross-dress for a variety of reasons. In modern popular culture, however, cross-dressing remains largely seen as abnormal behavior. Many people still view cross-dressing as something that only men do and only for sexual gratification. In film, cross-dressing has long been portrayed as something to laugh at or fear. In popular Hollywood movies such as Some Like It Hot (1959), Tootsie (1982), and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), male characters are compelled by circumstances to temporarily masquerade as women for comic effect. Motion pictures rarely feature realistic images of cross-dressers. In films that do portray cross-dressers, such as Psycho (1960) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), they are often represented as psychopaths and serial killers.
