Pirates of the Caribbean, and yet another "label"

[Anne2345]

I recognize that “labels” are controversial on this forum. But please indulge and humor me here, as I truly humor myself with this post . . . . :)

My daughter is at an age that she enjoys going to the movies, so I occasionally check out what movies are currently showing. Today, I noticed Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is currently playing. My daughter is probably too young to watch it, but a thought I found interesting, if not a little odd, occurred to me – are crossdressers pirates of a sort?

Piracy, after all, at its root base, involves the unauthorized use or taking of goods or services. As children envision pirates, pirates sailed the seven seas, plundering wealth and riches by sword fight and cannon fire.

But are we crossdressers a different kind of pirate? Perhaps maybe gender pirates? Although we crossdress, society clearly has not authorized us to engage in our crossdressing activities, yet we do so anyways. Instead of plundering gold and material wealth, we plunder the world of the feminine, acquiring without the consent of society such treasures as precious lipsticks, sparkly jewelry, prized fine silky lingerie and clothing, and a wide assortment of other feminine riches. We acquire and use these feminine treasures for reasons society considers (although wrongfully so) nefarious or perverse. In essence, we are engaging in the unauthorized use and taking of feminine characteristics, clothing, and makeup.

So does this make us pirates? I know, it's a silly thought, and perhaps a large stretch, even for me. :) But if pirates in such movies as Pirates of the Caribbean can be romanticized (by the way, Johnny Depp does wear a LOT of eyeliner in the PoC movies - lol), why not romanticize the piracy of gender, at least within our own minds, and add a little swashbuckling excitement to it all?

[Persephone]

Hey, Anne, anything that floats your boat (a Pirate metaphore if ever there was one!), unless it means that we have to run around saying "Aargh!"

Personally, I've always thought of us as ultimate magicians. After all, the great magical effects are all about creating and shaping life -- making doves appear from nowhere, for example.

Even the "sawing a woman in half" that many magicians perform incorrectly because they seem to think the emphasis is on the sawing, when the real magic occurs when she is restored to her entire self -- is all about bringing someone back from hopeless death, restoring life.

Other than bringing someone back from the dead, what could possibly be more magical than changing gender?

Perhaps that is why the shamans who "shapeshifted," who could turn into animals or into persons of the opposite gender, were so revered?

My spouse had a day planned for tomorrow that, if we do it all, will require me to do three shapeshifts, starting out as a woman for a women's event, switching for the afternoon to attend an event where I'm known as a guy, and then back to woman for an evening event in a place where I'm known as a woman. Passing completely through those portals requires magic.

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Tina B.]

OK Anne, but I'm not going into the cosmetic department swinging my cutlass, Well maybe the last three letters of that might work. As you can tell from the bottom of my post, I have to agree with Persephone, about the magic part.
Tina B.

[celeste26]

I'm sorry Anne but pirates steal things and we add to society so try a different analogy.

[Sarah Doepner]

I kind of like it, if for nothing else but the attitude. Take it or leave it, this is who I am.

[Anne2345]

I'm sorry Anne but pirates steal things and we add to society so try a different analogy.

Hi Celeste! It was not my intent that you or anyone else take this post seriously. I was attempting, in my own, sometimes odd way, to be humorous. Pirates of the Caribbean and pirate crossdressing analogies? I was hoping it would be fun.

In fact, within the first paragraph of my post, I stated "But please indulge and humor me here, as I truly humor myself with this post . . . ." I did humor myself with the post, I was hopeful that I might humor others, as well.

As to the magic of crossdressing, anybody that has read my other posts know that I am a firm believer in the magic and wonder of crossdressing. I do not take it lightly. It is quite important to me. It is a part of who and what I am. But can't a girl also try to have a little fun and add some humor to it all along the way?

[Sophie86]

I've heard it said that pirates were crossdressers, but this is the first time I've heard the theory that crossdressers are pirates. :)

I think the same idea is covered by the phrase "gender outlaw." That's how I think of it. The pirate analogy is a bit more colorful, and colorful is always good.

[RachelOKC]

Since the post was intended to be humorous, I won't be too critical but I do agree with Celeste. We're not stealing anything so the analogy is a bit difficult to bite on. I suppose that someone like Janice Raymond (Google if you don't know the name) might think so, but that old-school, anti-trans brand of feminism is long out of vogue.

While society may not have "authorized" our transgressions against the gender norm constucts, that doesn't mean that we "plunder" when we do transgress those norms. We're not taking property that belongs to someone else; we're taking liberty and that belongs to all of us.

[Sophie86]

We're not taking property that belongs to someone else

Not anymore, lass, but arrrgh! I remember the good ol' days o' plunderin' me mother's lingerie drawer. Them was good times! :heehee:



Lends a whole new meaning to the phrase "pirate booty."

[RachelOKC]

Not anymore, lass, but arrrgh! I remember the good ol' days o' plunderin' me mother's lingerie drawer. Them was good times! :heehee:



Lends a whole new meaning to the phrase "pirate booty."

Avast, ye have made a salient point and me parrot concurrs. When I was but a wee tranny scalliwag, I did indeed plunder objects in physicality from me dearest mum.

[Lorileah]

Maybe rebel is more accurate since pirates were criminals (unless you say we are privateers where upon we work for the queen which is true in a sense because there are queens here). On a broad basis and taking pirates as romantic characters instead of villainous, mean, cruel, dirty, and many other things we really don't want to be type people, I would say yes. Especially since the character Johnny Depp lays wears make up and a billowy top.

We could be Robin Hood because we wear tights.

[Jess Marie]

In the new POTC, Penelope Cruz is introduced as a man imitating Jack. So, there is cross dressing involved in the movie. Also, if you think about it, I am sure a few women dressed as men to become pirates.

[PretzelGirl]

We could be Robin Hood because we wear tights.

Tight tights! :whistling:

[NicoleScott]

I don't actually steal another gender, I just borrow it now and then.

[Claire Cook]

Lends a whole new meaning to the phrase "pirate booty."

Loved this line!:heehee: BTW, here are some quotes from the Washington Post's review of the movie:

Anchored by a playfully androgynous Johnny Depp as the ever-cheeky Captain Jack.....

The result, rather than a series of “watch out!” stunts, is a movie that more closely resembles a spiffy child’s pop-up book, which is altogether appropriate considering its childlike tone and Peter Pan-like protagonist. Actually, make that Peter Pan with a dash of Keith Richards and the flouncy sashay of a “La Cage aux Folles” refugee.

[GingerLeigh]

Arrrgh shiver me crinoline! Avast you scurvy CDdog! You-ho-ho and a bottle of chanel#5! Arrrgh, hand over your brassiere or I'll keel-haul ya! Arrrgh, ye wretched English tar, time to walk the catwalk er' I mean plank! Arrrgh, does this sword clash with my earring? I really love these heels, but they don't come in peg-leg sizes....

No, I don't know too many women that say Arrrrgh, nor pirates that fancy corsets. Crossdressing pirates? Cute but uhhhh, nah.

Ginger

[Elena Ornamental]

Something about pirates: Have you ever wondered that many pirates might have been homosexual. I expect attitudes about homosexuality were just as repressive in the 1600s as later and by rejecting normal society as pirates that would allow them a place to live. Of course, there were a few famous women pirates but generally how many women would there be in the crew of a pirate ship if sexual activity was necessary for some guys. Credit S.Clay Wilson for inspiring this thought.

[TGMarla]

Arrrr! Me hemline is straight, and me lipstick looks great. Pass the rum! Me ship has runners and me pantyhose don't!

[docrobbysherry]

Simply a buccaneer in the service of the Queen!:winkp:

159016

[Lacy PJs]

You might have a bit of a point there IF we, posing as females, got things that weren't rightfully ours as males. But I think that most respondents agreed that since we don't typically steal what we get, the pirate analogy is more than a bit of a stretch.

Lacy PJs

[VioletJourney]

pirate |ˈpīrət|
noun
a person who attacks and robs ships at sea.
• a person who appropriates or reproduces the work of another for profit without permission, usually in contravention of patent or copyright : [with adj. ] software pirates.
• a person or organization that broadcasts radio or television programs without official authorization : [as adj. ] a pirate radio station
Nah.

Although crossdressing does often lead to fantastic adventures that others can only dream about.

[Alice Torn]

I look at like we may be artists, and decorators!