Saturday, August 15, 2015

Cross-dressing, Trasvesti and Drag

Today we have a Cross-dressing Party at T.R.A.C.S. 
It is not the first time we have a crossdressing party. In 2013, on Sunday February 10th to be exact, Club Satyricon, owner sevenarts Dreamscape, organized a special event to elect the first and magnificent "Second Life's Drag Queen", lady of all Sims and clubs 2013.
Here are a few links of posts:

Cross-dressing is the act of wearing items of clothing and other accoutrements commonly associated with the opposite gender within a particular society. Cross-dressing has been used for purposes of disguise, comfort, and as a literary trope in modern times and throughout history. It does not, however, necessarily indicate transgender identity.
Charlie Chaplin from 1914’s A Busy Day
Travesti (literally "disguised") is a theatrical term referring to the portrayal of a character in an opera, play, or ballet by a performer of the opposite sex. Some sources regard 'travesti' as an Italian term, some as French. Depending on sources, the term may be given as travesty, travesti, or en travesti. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English explains the origin of the latter term as "pseudo-French", although French sources from the mid-19th century have used the term, e.g. Bibliothèque musicale du Théâtre de l'opéra (1876), La revue des deux mondes (1868), and have continued the practice into the 21st century.

Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origins of the word are debated, but "drag" has appeared in print as early as 1870. One suggested etymological root is 19th-century theatre slang, from the sensation of long skirts trailing on the floor.
Queen in their “I Want to Break Free” garb, 1984.
"Drag queen" appeared in print at least as early as 1941. The verb is to "do drag". A folk etymology whose acronym basis reveals the late-20th-century bias, would make "drag" an abbreviation of "dressed as girl" in description of male transvestism. The opposite, "drab" for "dressed as boy", is unrecorded. Drag may be practiced by people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

A Drag Queen is a person, usually male, who dresses in drag and often acts with exaggerated femininity and in feminine gender roles. Often they will exaggerate certain characteristics such as make-up and eyelashes for comic, dramatic or satirical effect. While drag is very much associated with gay men and gay culture, there are drag artists of all sexualities. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly in dedication, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once, or those who simply prefer clothing and makeup that is usually worn by the "opposite" sex in their culture. Drag queens can vary widely by class and culture. Other drag performers include drag kings, women who perform in male roles and attire, faux queens, who are women who dress in an exaggerated style to emulate drag queens, and faux kings, who are men who dress to impersonate drag kings.
Jo Calderone, Lady Gaga's male alter ego. She introduced Jo to during the opening monologue
of the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of their routine. A typical show may incorporate dancing and singing, sometimes live or lip-synching to pre-recorded tracks. Drag kings often perform as exaggeratedly macho male characters, portray marginalized masculinities such as construction workers, rappers, or they will impersonate male celebrities like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Tim McGraw. In the late 1800s and early 1900s several drag kings became British music hall stars, and British pantomime has preserved the tradition of women performing in male roles. Starting in the mid-1990s drag kings have begun to gain some of the fame and attention that drag queens have known.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) Tony Curtis (1925–2010) Jack Lemmon (1925–2001) 

Annie Leibovitz made this portrait of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in 1995. In the photo, Curtis and Lemmon,
at that time both 70 years old, are wearing makeup reminiscent of Some Like It Hot, while Lemmon is wearing a nightgown and Curtis is in his underwear holding Lemmon’s hand.
The iconography is obvious, but the passing of time twists the context and creates a new way to see these two actors.

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