Interview with Jon Rashawn
Who Wears the Dress or the Pants????
By: Teronce Styyles
mrstyyles@excapethematrix.com
Now that we are in the 21st century, times, change of style and beliefs have definitely become the focal point in this generation. We are in a time that men and women dress in ways that may seem weird and out of the norm to the naked eye but to others it’s a way to express themselves. It really has become more noticeable that men dress as women for entertainment performances, pleasure or because they are transgendered, just as women dress as men for most of the same reasons.
Is it really our business who wears the pants or dress?
Most will frown upon,
make jokes and even conduct hate crimes on individuals who decide to dress as
the opposite sex. Dressing a
s
the opposite sex may be comfortable for those that do it because they aren’t
comfortable dressing as their own sex. This is where the term “cross-dressing”
will come into place, which is the act of wearing clothing commonly associated
with another gender within a particular society. Genders have been
distinguished by style, color and type of clothing that is worn, and sets views,
guidelines and even laws defining what is appropriate fore each gender.
Cross-dressing is a behavior which counters the norm of what people and society are used to. It does not necessarily indicate transgender identity, and a person who cross-dresses does not always identify as being a gender other than what was assigned at birth. Cross-dressing isn’t something that existed overnight; it has been around for many years, centuries even. There are some famous historical cross-dressers that have existed, such as the legend, Pope Joan in the 13thcentury, Joan of Arc in the 15thcentury and Billy Tipton, a notable jazz pianist and saxophonist in the U.S. during the Great Depression who was born a woman by the name of Dorothy Lucille Tipton in 1914, but began living as a man in the 1930’s.
Men and women
cross-dressed in order to disguise their true identity.
Some women have cross-dressed in order to take up male dominated or male
exclusive professions, such as the military service. Females enlisted as men in
order to fight both the Union and the Confederacy during the American Civil War
because women weren’t allowed to enlist in the military. Some men have
cross-dressed in order to escape from mandatory military service.
Dressing as the opposite sex may be comfortable for those that do it because they aren’t comfortable dressing as their own sex.
Cross-dressing has also been around throughout theatrical history such as William Shakespeare, whose male actors would portray female characters that would wear masculine clothing in order to carry out actions that were difficult for women. Because in Renaissance England it was illegal for women to perform in theatres, the female roles in Shakespeare’s plays, as well as his contemporary playwrights, were originally played by cross-dressing men or boys. Therefore, the original productions of Shakespeare plays actually involved double cross-dressing: male actors playing female characters disguising themselves as males.
Cross-dressing is
also affiliated in operas and music. In the music industry there are men who
impersonate women, such as the famous RuPaul and New Yorker, Kevin Aviance. The
term that may be used for them would be men
dressing
in “drag,” which is a special form of performance art based on cross-dressing.
A male bodied person who performs as an exaggeratedly feminine character in an
elaborate costume, which usually consists of a gaudy dress and high-heel shoes,
heavy make-up and extensions and/or wigs which is a “drag queen.” A female
bodied person who adopts an exaggerated masculine persona in performance or who
imitates a male is known as a “drag king.”
Now that I have given some clarification and knowledge of cross-dressing, female/male impersonators and drag queens/kings, can you tell me if it really matters who wears the pants and dress in this world? Is it really our business who wears the pants or dress? Just fashion for thought.
Fashionably yours,
Teronce Styyles