Cross-Dressers on TV & Film - why it won't happen.

[KlaireLarnia]

We long for acceptance from friends; family; our peers & those around us. No matter how far we take our dressing, it is a key element in dictating what degree it plays it our lives.

A recent post suggested that we should see [more] transsexual and cross dressing characters in TV and movies because we regularly get characters of different races and sexual orientation in both main and supporting roles. I cannot see this happening in the mainstream as I will explain...

History shows us that humans by nature have a number of bad traits. In the East and the West we have spread out, taking what we want from others
and overpowering those in our way – survival of the fittest as it where. We have imposed our will on others because we consider them weak, less educated, inferior and often because they have things we want such as resources. Within our own population, survival of the fittest has shown men rule as they are stronger and faster than women meaning they have been the hunters, the workers, the fighters etc. Women have been held back and limited to largely domestic duties until recent history where this has changed dramatically. They were held back due to ingrained beliefs & social opinion based on their sex. Our human expansion has bread xenophobia on many levels. Those who conquer see other people, their ways, religion, beliefs and customs as a danger to their own society and perceived superiority. Those who are potential targets see forces with the power to shape the lands and distrust them, seeing no reason they should change or mould to their ways or why these people need to interfere or take over what is rightfully theirs.

If a population fights back, it is quelled (and history has shown us often with brutal and deadly force), thus peace prevails. But always peace as defined by the victor. What this has led to is oppression. We commonly think of it as racial or sexual oppression. Because you are dark you are inferior. Because I am male and you are female, you are inferior. Thankfully we have largely moved past this – though not fully as recently events in France this past week have sadly shown. How a subsection of society is seen is reflected in our media and use of language. You can watch almost any movie or soap opera now and you will see (at some point) at least one strong female character, at least one strong character of a racial colour/heritage outside the show’s normal. You will often see homosexual characters or their relationships. The reason these are all there is because they are part of our accepted society – things we know and see every day. Where once they were hidden or oppressed they are now openly there, people see them in everyday life and media reflects this because it has to.

Now move to people who cross-dress. Walk down your street, into your local town/city and sit for an hour or two. How many do you see? 1? None? Why? Because cross-dressing has a stigma attached to it, it is socially oppressed. Women have a freedom to dress as they want because it is socially acceptable for them to do so, by men do not have that same freedom (I firmly believe this is because women drive social change and fashion but that is another post for another day). Most of us dress in private or places where we are shielded from the general public. Those who venture out do so in a way to protect yourself. If you and I were to pass each other at Buckingham Palace in London public on a warm June lunchtime, the chances are you would be dressed in a way that I would not know you cross-dressed, as would I. This is because we dress to fit it and protect ourselves.

Even those of us who do dress openly like me do so in a balanced way. Good example was yesterday I had to give blood (something now do regularly). I made a point of changing my top and jumper for something more “normal” and which I could cover up with because of the public setting I was going to. I still had my bra, forms and wore wedged shoes but I toned back so I would blend in easier. I would not dream of going there in the top and jumper I had on during the day at home or wearing a skirt or women’s coat because of the attention it would bring me. I also did this because my daughter had to come with me as her mum was working, so this was a question of ensuring she was comfortable and not exposed in a way she would not appreciate as well.

The fundamental difference between cross-dressing and almost any other part of society which has been oppressed is that it still remains private. People are open about where they come from now, their religion, their sexual orientation because they are largely not stigmatised for it. We are not by and large open so why then would Eastenders, Coronation Street, Neighbours or the latest Brad Pitt blockbuster feature a cross-dresser? Because if they did 99% of the time they would be wearing male clothes when on screen because that is still our default presentation and further the chances are they would be made out in a negative light as this is often how we are seen. Sadly in the UK I feel there is still an attitude that cross-dressers are deemed to be child molesters or a danger to children by default .

You could argue that media has the power to change perceptions and it does, but only when there is enough momentum and social interest to move that change. Many years ago the sexual movement started this for homosexual and bisexual people and with good media coverage and a lot of hard work, a change in attitude came about and you can see men walking down the street holding hands or kissing, men and women can now marry people of their own sex and I have no issue with this because I think they deserve the same freedom, happiness and benefits of the marriage I have to my wife.

Remember 50 years ago black people where little more than background or comedy characters, now they take on major if not starring roles and rightly so. Cross-dressing is where they were 50 years ago, only difference is it will take more than 50 years for us to get to the point they are at and until the media and public loose the perception we are a danger to children this is not going to change. Add this to the fact we all dress to different degrees and for very different reasons, and with very different aims/goals and we are at a situation akin to trying to dig through a mountain using a teaspoon.

So my point is that we are in a catch 22 scenario. We need to see mainstream characters on TV and film which reflect what we do in a positive way, but we won’t get them because publicly we hide and are not a part of open normal day life, but without the positive media coverage we won’t come out and be more open and so we go round in circles.

Sorry that is long but I hope that makes sense and remember this is just my thoughts on it and I suspect a number of you will have differing views or possibly take this the wrong way. But I think it is worth saying all the same.

[Erika Lyne]

... we all dress to different degrees and for very different reasons, and with very different aims/goals and we are at a situation akin to trying to dig through a mountain using a teaspoon.

The opposite can be seen as the driving force to victory in mainstream in so may recent historical movements: women's sufferage, women in the workforce, Sexual Revolution, gay & lesbian acceptance in mainstream media, same sex marriage and I am sure the list continues. I've said it before in other posts with a different analogy. "Our views and personal goals are too varied to ever be accepted, we want to be but but we seem to be all pulling in different directions. It is like hurding cats."

-E

PS: Great post by the way.

[Nikkilovesdresses]

I think you make some underestimations Klaire. I think the only reason CDs haven't achieved the same legal and social acceptance that homosexuals, non-whites, and women have achieved over the last century, is because we are a very small minority, and we've lacked the voting power: we simply don't show up on the radar. If you're going to give child-molestation as an instance of public prejudice preventing equality, then how do you explain homosexuality becoming legalised and widely accepted?

In the UK, crossdressers have long been a staple of the entertainment world. My ultra-conservative grandparents were much amused by Hinge & Bracket, male stage performers who sang, danced and performed sketches, while dressed, bewigged and very heavily made up to look like 2 Edwardian ladies- I'd guess their act started in the 1930s or thereabouts. Music Hall, which I think was like Vaudeville, grew out of theatre and became a popular TV program, and often included CD elements- the public of all classes adored it. In the '70s my grandparents also watched It Ain't Half Hot Mum, a TV series about a crossdressing army concert brigade set in colonial India. Nowadays we have Eddie Izzard, Little Britain, Dame Edna Everidge, god knows how many others. There's a US TV series 'Transparent' starring a transitioning TS male with a gender-fluid daughter, and Eddie Izzard made 2 series of The Riches, which features a crossdressing son.

We're a less noticeable element of the LGBT spectrum, but give it a while- we already have rights in the workplace, I think acceptance is coming.

May I also point out that for many people, the most memorable British monarchs are Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, and our present Elizabeth II, while our most memorable Prime Ministers certainly include Margaret Thatcher. The US is hovering ever closer to public acceptance of a female President- I'd bet good money that we'll see a female Vice-President very soon. Many, many countries have now had or currently have female heads of state or government- it's become almost common.

Western social values have changed beyond recognition within living memory- I see no reason for that trend not to continue.

[pamela7]

Thank you Klaire for putting the time and effort into an interesting post.

I checked out amazon.co.uk, and it has 75 pages of books listed for cross-dressing, which is probably over 1000 books. We're a larger demographic than we realise, than I realised, with statistically in the USA 3-5% of males cross-dressing at some stage in their life - that's almost as big a % as homosexuality.

I would say it is up to us to:

1. get together, create a pilot episode for a sitcom series about CDing
2. find a channel willing to give it a try
3. create a wider community engagement around that

that's only one idea, i think to show the mainstream that CD is also mainstream - 90% hetero
the dominant political group are mostly S&M people (cos they're into crime and punishment, long story), so they have their own dirty secrets as it were

the other idea, a bit more "out there", would be to show the world's real superheroes ARE the CD'ers, this is something i see so clearly, and feel would bring others out of the closet.

I'm happy to help break the C22 circle.

xxx Pamela

[Katey888]

Really thoughtful and well-argued post and points Klaire... I have to say I'm on the same page as you with a lot of this. Few things I'd like to touch on:

Where once they were hidden or oppressed they are now openly there, people see them in everyday life and media reflects this because it has to.

Here you're talking about other minorities and you're right - the media rarely goes against societal trends; most of the time it follows because it wants subscriptions, sales, followers, likes, etc. Some elements may be a bit 'avant garde' but they will pick up on what has already started happening - I don't believe that mainstream media does that. If anything, it tends to support the status quo.

If we talk about our incidence in the population I still think we kid ourselves because it's good to feel part of something larger. This is a table from Bolich's 2007 work 'Crossdressing in Context, Vol. 2: Today's Transgender Realities' and summarises past estimates which vary wildly.

Estimates of CD incidence Bolich.JPG

Take your pick as to which one you believe, but while I could accept that the higher percentages may have tried CDing, I still don't see vast numbers out on the street doing it after the initial experimentation. And if it's a higher number that will only ever do this privately, then they have no need of acceptance outside their closet door. They will never be a part of any movement because there is no incentive to be so.

People are open about where they come from now, their religion, their sexual orientation because they are largely not stigmatised for it.

I'd modify this slightly and say that people are open about these because they also have overt protection from abuse or discrimination through legislation. But that begs the question as to what legislation CDers would want? (I exclude TS from this because I think the need for protection of their rights is much more pressing and clear).

You could argue that media has the power to change perceptions and it does, but only when there is enough momentum and social interest to move that change.

I know I agreed with this earlier and it's an important point - don't look to the media to drive acceptance... they'll only ever back a horse already a couple of lengths ahead...

I look forward to more discussion around this...

Katey x

[pamela7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpa...28TV_series%29

this wiki post on that TV series Nikki mentioned - it's just won a golden globe for best musical or comedy TV series, and the lead actor won best actor.

I'd say this is important!

also read the wiki and it explains the series produced by a daughter of a TG person, and had TG consultants, crew and extras, seems mostly TG!!!

[Ineke Vashon]

Perhaps a point to remember is that in some, non-white, societies, men who dress in feminine clothes are honored as "twin spirits" and occupy a special place in these societies.

Ineke

[KlaireLarnia]

I know I agreed with this earlier and it's an important point - don't look to the media to drive acceptance... they'll only ever back a horse already a couple of lengths ahead...

I think you hit the nail on the head with the point of my post. The post I originally refered to (and I cannot remember who or under what thread it was to be fair) mentioned about the need for more TV/Movies to feature strong CD characters which in essence I would agree with.

But as media will only show characters which are considered mainstream or "normal" to everyday life we simply won't get what we want to see. And this then beggars the question of what we would want to see as well? Let's take a soap opera or "serial drama" as they like to call themselves these days such as EastEnders or Coronation Street. Let's introduce Mr James McAurthur who is a cross dresser and happy with this in his life. What do we expect or want to see from him? And please do NOT take what comes next as a dig at anyone because it is not:

1. Do we want a "normal" man who does a 9-5 job working as (for example) an insurance sales man - your a-typical Mr nobody who you would not give a second glance to. But in the Evening he sits alone, curtains closed and dresses to become Doris his feminine self?
2. Do we want a market trader, wide boy who in the evening goes to clubs doing a drag act, only to discover when he gets home the "act" doesn't end because it is his normal life which is the act?
3. Do we want someone who looks normal, does a mundane job but dresses with a feminine air and clothing?
4. Do we want someone who goes out fully En Femme at times because they feel they should be able to?
5. Does our character have a family? Children? Parents? Do they know of the dressing? What about their friends?
6. What story lines do we need? A voyage of discovery? An accidental discovery of their dressing? Being seen out in public? Them having a medical emergency and their female clothes being discovered under their clothes? A burglary where our character walks in with a friend/the police to find all his female clothes over the place, but who's are they as he lives alone?

You are right the media will not cover this as they want something popular or indicative of "real life". Yes we exist in real life but largely people don't see us or not to the extremes that would be needed in a soap opera to keep interest/story lines going. That said, without good press we cannot progress our cause or move for acceptance. To move forward we need the media to be on our side and show us in a good light, but they won't as there is no point and it doesn't sell or attract audiences because it is not a comfortable subject.

This is why we will not get the character(s) we need on TV/Media - other than in specific programmes or occasional movies which are based around our area of life and this specific interest. Whilst I think we represent a larger portion of society that many accept or studies show (because a lot of people would keep it secret), we are still not interesting or open enough to be of interest to the media and thus as I said original we are in our catch 22 position where we need them to attract interest to progress our cause but our cause is not mainstream enough to attract their interest.

[Jeninus]

A measure of where we stand in the media is the coverage given to schools that make - or fail to make - girls/women's or neutral - bathrooms available to transgender students. Normally, those stories have comment sections in which you can see dozens or hundreds of vile, hateful, disdainful and generally hurtful comments by the Muggles at any suggestion that such facilities should even be available to TGs. Another measure would be the progress of legislation allowing TGs and TSs full access to the women's bathrooms in public facilities like malls and restaurants.

Given the known high level of potential for violence against us, how can female-presenting persons be required to use men's bathrooms, assuming that presenting as female is not illegal in the first place?

[bimini1]

Drew Carey Show had a storyline going once about his brother that is the closest I've seen get to us in a prime time series. The only movie I've seen that nails what we are is Just Like A Woman, and that was what, 25 years ago. There are a helluva lot of us out here I'm convinced.
You know there have gotta be other men we interact with on a daily basis that are CDs, gotta be. But you'll never know. Not ever. I've come to think of CD as a normal physiological part of the human mosaic, that has been abnormalized by culture.

[Kimonogirl]

I think it is as heretic as Vietnamese/Thai/Cambodian-Japanese people's appearance in Anime sadly.......

[Babbs]

There are plenty of shows with crossdressing. Remember "some like it hot", or "tootsie". The problem with those though is it is not crossdressing as we know and feel it but rather as disguises, a joke or to prove a point. Maybe a documentary first with honest content could possibly pave the way. You know, get the correct word out there about us.

One thing you said was very disturbing to me. That people look at crossdressers as child molesters?? I never have heard such a thing. I hope that is not the truth as to what people think.

[Lily Catherine]

In Singapore at least, cross-dressing isn't unheard of, but sadly is largely played solely for comedic value (http://sc2220.wikifoundry.com/page/M...g+in+Singapore) with the female persona being adopted full-time. In other words, cross-dressing actor, female character. I honestly don't trust the media to speak for us (even the source narratives that we tell will take on a new life in the media.), it's done more than enough damage. In the news, they sometimes make the CDing a part of an already existent problem – "Cross-dressing strangler gets jail", as opposed to "Strangler gets jail", anyone?

@Kimonogirl: Speaking of anime, cross-dressing is inexplicably treated as a massive form of social deviancy in-universe (largely NSFW, unfortunately.) I suffered 13 x 5 minute episodes of Himegoto, and barely tolerated the abuse and humiliation the CD protagonist alone faces. Not to mention the unfortunately implications. And the only reason why the premise interested me at all? Being a CD myself.

[Kimonogirl]

In Singapore at least, cross-dressing isn't unheard of, but sadly is largely played solely for comedic value (http://sc2220.wikifoundry.com/page/M...g+in+Singapore) with the female persona being adopted full-time. In other words, cross-dressing actor, female character. I honestly don't trust the media to speak for us (even the source narratives that we tell will take on a new life in the media.), it's done more than enough damage. In the news, they sometimes make the CDing a part of an already existent problem – "Cross-dressing strangler gets jail", as opposed to "Strangler gets jail", anyone?

@Kimonogirl: Speaking of anime, cross-dressing is inexplicably treated as a massive form of social deviancy in-universe (largely NSFW, unfortunately.) I suffered 13 x 5 minute episodes of Himegoto, and barely tolerated the abuse and humiliation the CD protagonist alone faces. Not to mention the unfortunately implications. And the only reason why the premise interested me at all? Being a CD myself.

You speak real truth. Those cute clothes and make-ups brought me anime. Other than those, I cannot stand that middle school sophomore syndrome and insult of crossdressers/traps by making fun of them or only considering them as sexual toys.....sometimes they make fun of masculine women with very gigantic and muscular girl character (Oogami Sakura from Dangan Ronpa)!

[docrobbysherry]

Sherry will be appearing as a guest host on the Hot Package TV show in 2 weeks.

They treated me like every other cast member before, after, and during the filming. And, even tho everyone saw the bearded guy that showed up and signed in before getting dressed, the director and advisors referred to "her" and "she" when discussing me, my lines, etc., while we were filming.

That may have been the highlite of the entire day for me! Things R CHANGING!

There were no jokes, cracks, or even any raised eyebrows on camera that I'm aware of. Of course, I haven't seen the show yet!