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Thread: TV/media depictions of drag or crossdressing that had an impact on you growing up

  1. #1
    The non-Mint Starla Starla's Avatar
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    TV/media depictions of drag or crossdressing that had an impact on you growing up

    Was there a particular depiction of crossdressing in the media that really made an impression on you early in your life -- something that really gripped you and stirred up your budding interest? Especially if you, like me, grew up long before the Internet's barrage of trans images, and only had a few fleeting insights into that world through TV, film, or print.

    Three examples come to mind. I grew up in the 60's and 70's, and remember being fascinated by Flip Wilson's "Geraldine" character on his variety show. He looked quite fetching in drag, and created a very believable (and funny as hell) character. One sketch in particular wowed me -- when Geraldine became a Playboy Bunny. Being naive and as yet unacquainted with things like falsies, waist-cinchers, and the art of "tucking," I was mesmerized at just how he managed to achieve such a curvy, feminine shape.

    The second was an article in Life magazine titled "The Boys in the Bank." This was about the botched bank robbery that was later dramatized in the movie "Dog Day Afternoon." Included in the article was a photo of John Wojtowicz's ("Sonny" in the movie) crossdressing gay boyfriend Ernest Aron ("Leon" in the film) en femme. That little, blurry black-and-white photo fascinated me. This issue of Life was one of several amongst a ragtag collection of magazines available for perusal in one of my high school classrooms, and I took every opportunity during down time to casually wander over and get another glimpse of that picture.

    Finally, there was an episode of the old game show To Tell the Truth. The challenger was a young man who had been jokingly dressed as a woman by some of his female friends and entered in a local beauty contest as a joke....only to actually win the damn thing! Both the real subject and his two "imposters" on the panel were in full drag. I was not only drawn to how good they all looked, but by the notion that this had been done to him by girls (I always had fantasies of being dressed up by a female friend), and could actually look so convincing as to beat out real girls in a beauty contest!
    "Television is very educational. Whenever somebody turns it on, I go into another room and read a book." -- Groucho Marx

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    Miss Conception Karren H's Avatar
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    Not anything on TV but I also read a Life article on transvestites in NYC... And it made me aware that I wasn't alone....
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    Time Lady JiveTurkeyOnRye's Avatar
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    There were a few things for me, I think it was more like it was for Karren though, where it made it seem like "ok so this isn't just me."

    Nickelodeon had a show called "You Can't Do That on Television," which was this oddly subversive kid's show originally from Canada, that had a lot of weird things on it like people having slime dropped on them whenever they said "I Don't Know," but also once in a while they'd do jokes about boys wearing dresses, or being dressed like girls, and I remember being a little kid and watching that stuff and whenever a boy wearing girls clothes would be used in a sketch, I'd feel excited, like I can remember even having butterflies in my stomach the way you do when you're anxious or excited about something coming up. I remember wanting *so* badly to be on that show just so I could wear a dress sometimes.

    There was also a movie called Ladybugs with Rodney Dangerfield and the late Jonathan Brandis where Brandis played a a teenage boy who Dangerfield's character had dress as a girl to play on the girl's soccer team he was being forced to coach for work. Another "I wish I'd been in that" moment.

    Like Karren I remember being so relieved the first time I came across the word Transvestite, but mine was actually in a MAD Magazine. It was their parody of the Tim Burton Batman movie, and there was a panel where Bruce Wayne was revealing himself to someone as Batman, so he stepped out dressed in the suit and someone said "Oh you're a transvestite." I asked my mom what transvestite meant and she explained that there are some men who dress in women's clothes. She said it very disapprovingly, like it was a bad thing, but by that point I was 8 or 9 years old and I already knew I very much wanted to wear girl's clothes, so even though she said it like that, I remember feeling so happy that there were enough people that felt like me that there was a word for it.
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    Member Christinedreamer's Avatar
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    My formal awakening came from a newspaper article in DC about a female impersonation nightclub that had the line "These gorgeous young men floating about in diaphanous chiffon gowns are quite fetching". I vowed that as soon as I was able to drive THAT would be a spot to visit and I did. That was followed by several other nightspots and eventually I got hired as the sound and light guy for a few clubs in and around DC in the 70's. That afforded me a LOT of opportunity to meet and talk with the performers, befriend a couple, and learn a LOT of the tricks of the trade.

    This also gave me a much better understanding of the gay world and as such, I am a strong supporter of gay rights.

  5. #5
    Why so serious? spotlessMind's Avatar
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    I've been most inspired/impacted by people involved in music. The list is too long to recite, but people like Bowie, Trent Reznor, Freddy Mercury, etc etc. They've all had their influence on me over the years. Even if it was just dabbling in androgyny. Rocky Horror Picture Show of course... except my fascination with it has always peaked when it wasn't just cross-dressing, but the transformation from man to woman. So, more recently, people like Brian Molko catch my attention. Look up the video Pure Morning by Placebo on youtube and you'll see what I mean. He doesn't have to do much to look pretty /jealous lol! My grandmother was super intrigued by drag queens and such, which also played a huge role for me. I was very close to her and we spent a lot of time just talking over a bottle of wine when I lived with her. She was a very special woman in my life.
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    Chickie Chickhe's Avatar
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    Gee, that's long ago. I remember the movie 'Switch'. The main character wakes up as a female to re-live his life in a woman's shoes. I thought a lot about that movie.

    There was not much educational material in those days and I found a book in the library on transsexuals and I was way to scared to sign it out and secretly read most of it hidden inside another book. I was even too scared to be seen looking in that section of the library.
    Chickie

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    Member barbie lanai's Avatar
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    Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd occasionally seemed to have a segment that caught my eye. And back when it came out, the movie "Some Like It Hot".
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    Wanna-Be Girl Jenna Lynne's Avatar
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    The first media depiction I saw was "Some Like It Hot." I thought it was fairly horrible, and I was horribly embarrassed that I needed to watch it -- I can't say it inspired me, because it reflected what I was already secretly doing.

    All of the depictions of crossdressers in the media during those days seemed really gross to me. Maybe my reactions were colored by my own feelings of shame, but I can't recall a single positive depiction. Either the crossdresser was the butt of jokes, or if she actually passed as a woman, she was a psychotic killer. There seemed to be no other images being presented.

    Look at the end of "Some Like It Hot." There's a sort of veiled acceptance of crossdressing when Jack Lemmon says, "I'm a man," and Joey Lewis smiles and says, "Nobody's perfect." But it's the way Lemmon says it. He tears off his wig and says it angrily. If he had left his wig on, curled up beside Lewis, and whispered it in his ear, the effect would have been entirely different. And if they had done it that way, the film would never have been released. It would have been far too controversial.

    I hope there are better images in the media these days. I don't go to many movies or watch TV, so I don't know. I did like "The Crying Game" a lot, though. That was the only movie I've ever seen where the transgendered character was not a joke, not a psycho, and not a victim.

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    Wanna-Be Girl Jenna Lynne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chickhe View Post
    There was not much educational material in those days and I found a book in the library on transsexuals and I was way to scared to sign it out and secretly read most of it hidden inside another book. I was even too scared to be seen looking in that section of the library.
    That brings back a memory! I read "The Christine Jorgenson Story" that way, hiding in the back of the library because I certainly wasn't going to march up to the checkout desk with it!

  10. #10
    the happy camper
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    Geraldine was a very big influence, as was the show Bosom Buddies.

    I first learned about CD/TVs, though, from reading Ann Landers. I picked up two important data points from her: that crossdressers were primarily heterosexual, and that some wives accepted their husbands' crossdressing.

  11. #11
    Aspiring Member Cari's Avatar
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    Geraldine would be my first memory. Bosum Buddies was another one. They weren't negative just didnt really hit home. I would have loved to live in the building on Bosum Buddies but didnt really consider them to be like me.

    I remember some coverage of Christine Jorgensen and that seemed to connect more for me. I have never considered myself a TS but knew I wasnt a drag queen either. I think the fact that she was a real person and not a charachter kinda hit me.

    I do remember a talk show with Tula as a guest; that would be the first one that really connected. They discussed Crossdressing as opposed to Transsexualism. I remember her saying that there more out there than you know ect. It was the first time I saw a bigger picture and a place where I may fit in. Also she looked damn good and made me want to see how good I could look.

  12. #12
    Member Polly R's Avatar
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    I suppose the first CD film I too saw was 'Some Like It Hot'. But at least it was a bit of a spoof and you knew exactly what was what. In recent years I suppose it was a couple of 'elderly' prim and proper dames - Hinge and Bracket who used to entertain us on UK TV - one played the piano whilst the other sang. At least they were a bit more prim and proper compared with the late great and outrageous Dani la Rue and more recently, the even more outrageous Lillie Savage or Dame Edna Everidge. But these latter are really drag artistes in comparison and not the more prim and proper me who prefers the smart casual or classic look...

    xx Polly

    PS. Although not CDing, Mrs Robinson in 'The Graduate' - very sexy and got me thinking a bit strangely...
    Last edited by Polly R; 12-20-2010 at 02:51 PM.
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  13. #13
    Loves ordinary miracles SuzanneBender's Avatar
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    Great question. For me there were many things that I wouldn't really call influence, but were more of a simple affirmation that there really could be others like me in the world. Growing up it was Flip Wilson. I even had a doll that had Flip on one side and Geraldine on the other. The TV show Soap meant a lot to me. There was a character on it that was actually portrayed a seemingly normal person. Well as normal as the characters on Soap were. Unfortunately most of what I found in my early youth painted the picture that I was destined to be some sort of freak or at the very least was going to grace the add pages of some porn mag with my face (and body) if I embraced the desire to be a woman.

    Then came my teen years and the fabulous androgynous 80's. Lets face it, most of the great pop stars of that era were cross dressing at some level. Who can argue with Mascara, tight leather pants, and hair that most women die for. Rocky horror was huge. What and opportunity for suburban kids to play with Gender every Friday night at midnight in their own local theater. What we wanted to do and be was at the cutting edge of pop culture.
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  14. #14
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    There was an episode of Magnum PI where a someone was a cross dresser.

    In hindsight Rocky Horror did nothing for my imporessions. Movies like I love you Guido, Birdcage, Philadelphia, Adventures of Pricsilla Queen of the Desert, Crying Game, and Just like a woman all helped shape my later impressions of myself.
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    Silver Member Tina B.'s Avatar
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    The Christine Jorgenson Story, in Life magazine was the first I remember, I kept that copy of life hidden in my room for ages, and read that story many times. Then it was "some like it hot", To me it was a story of forced crossdressing, they where in hiding remember. Having the excuse of "doing it because I had to", always appealed to me. Then there was Uncle Miltie, and Red Skelton, both got into and old granny dress for a least one skit every week, It was silly, and the clothes ugly, but again, at least it was a man in a dress. Christine was a woman trapped in a mans body, Jack, and Tony, where just actors playing at hiding in a funny way, and Uncle Milti and Red Skelton where clowns, just playing around, I was almost grown before I heard the word Transvestite, when I looked it up my old dictionary didn't even have a definition for the word, I had to break it a part as a great old English teacher had taught me to do, to learn if it meant what I thought it meant. Trans, to cross over, as crossing an ocean, desert or large body of land, such as transcontinental railroad. Vest. a form of clothing. Cross dress is pretty obvious from that. Then I read the book, Canary, about a transsexual and her story of how he became her, it was a painful story about a bad surgery job done in Mexico that almost killed her, because it was so hard to get it done here, but still I was inspired just knowing I was not the only one that fought with some female identity issues, and suppression is not the only way to deal with it. I never wanted to go all the way with it, just wanted to express myself from time to time, and not feel guilt, shame or any of that other stuff, and seeing all of those images made be feel like just one of a group, and not a stand alone freak, then of course many years latter along comes the inter net and I found out I'm just one of what must be millions world wide, so now I feel just plain normal, not special at all.
    Tina B.

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    Shy,very very shy Loveday's Avatar
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    I guess I was kind of slow, the first person I noticed doing drag or crossdressing was Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie). It was the first time I ever saw someone dressed as a women I guess (?) that was not doing comedy. If I look back at comedians I think of Milton Bearl or Flip Wilson's "Geraldine" character, but I never looked at them in a more serious manner since it was only for laughs. There was a movie where Jerry Lewis didn't dress, but played a father raising a child by himself, fulfilling the role of the father and mother. I guess that affected me alot since I later raised my child by myself.
    Last edited by Loveday; 12-16-2010 at 03:38 PM.

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    mini kilted chick t-girlxsophie's Avatar
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    Funny,that I first realised I wasn't alone when I read Agony Aunt Dear Dierdrie in the Sun Newspaper,was a story about a Crossdresser in the closet,It gave the phone number for a support group in my area,I havent looked back since
    As far as entertainment went It was Comedians that caught my eye,Scottish Comedian Stanley Baxter spent most of his Xmas specials in drag,also ppl like Danny La Rue and Dick Emery

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    The Crying Game did it for me, I totally wanted to crossdress ever since.

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    The first major information I was exposed to was in 1979. It was about that time I got a CompuServe Account and found the On line Gender Forum for the first time. I was 21 then and it was the first time I did not feel like I was alone.

  20. #20
    Member Crysten's Avatar
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    I forget the name of the picture...it was a british film about a soldier in WWII in England who didn't want to fight, so dressed up as a woman to escape service. Very convincingly, I might add, since he was pursued by a soldier and had to fend off his advances. Can't remember how it ended (probably with his getting caught) but that movie made an impression on me - a man can live his life as a woman!!! AWESOME!!
    Crysten

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  21. #21
    The non-Mint Starla Starla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tina B. View Post
    Then I read the book, Canary, about a transsexual and her story of how he became her....
    That book had a lot of influence on me, as well. I first saw Canary Conn on Phil Donahue's show, and was impressed by not just her beauty (I would have killed to have silky, long, blonde hair like hers), but the way she had overcome obstacles and trauma to become who she always wanted to be. Her tenacity and the way she discussed everything with a good dose of humor was admirable, too. I immediately started searching for her book, and finally found a used paperback copy. Read and re-read it many times.

    I wonder what ever happened to her. She had that brief bit of fame and notoriety, and was trying to get a musical career going, then she just disappeared off the radar. I hope things worked out for her -- maybe she just retreated to a happy, but quiet life away from the limelight.
    "Television is very educational. Whenever somebody turns it on, I go into another room and read a book." -- Groucho Marx

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    In the closet - for now. Shadeauxmarie's Avatar
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    There were no movies or TV shows about crossdressing that significantly impacted me. There were many movies that had women dressed in a manner that I thought sexy and provocative. I wanted to be dressed just the same. (Thanks RHPS). The epiphany for me was when I discovered the book "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex...." I'm sure my mother left it out so my brothers an I would not ask her questions. That book showed me I was a transvestite.
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  23. #23
    The non-Mint Starla Starla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Crysten View Post
    I forget the name of the picture...it was a british film about a soldier in WWII in England who didn't want to fight, so dressed up as a woman to escape service. Very convincingly, I might add, since he was pursued by a soldier and had to fend off his advances. Can't remember how it ended (probably with his getting caught) but that movie made an impression on me - a man can live his life as a woman!!! AWESOME!!
    That rang a bell, and I think this is the film you refer to:

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070835/
    "Television is very educational. Whenever somebody turns it on, I go into another room and read a book." -- Groucho Marx

  24. #24
    Complex Lolita...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Starla
    TV/media depictions of drag or crossdressing that had an impact on you growing up
    [SIZE="2"]Thank you VERY much for making a distinction between drag and crossdressing. For a moment I thought we were going to get into another long, drawn-out “discussion” about words…[/SIZE]

    Quote Originally Posted by JiveTurkeyOnRye
    There was also a movie called Ladybugs with Rodney Dangerfield and the late Jonathan Brandis where Brandis played a teenage boy who Dangerfield's character had dress as a girl to play on the girl's soccer team he was being forced to coach for work. Another "I wish I'd been in that" moment.
    [SIZE="2"]Yeah, I didn’t see this at the time, but I saw it recently on YouTube. I thought Brandis looked really excellent en femme – very convincing and downright vulnerable. Speaking of Rodney Dangerfield: “My wife’s cooking is so bad, the flies chipped in to fix the screen door!”

    Monty Python tweaked my curiosity about crossdressing when I was growing up. There were the usual over-the-top drag presentations, of course, but also, now and then, they would slip in a very believable example of MtF crossdressing. I would often say to myself, “That looks like fun – you can DO that?” One thing led to another, and I eventually expressed my hidden feminine desires…
    [/SIZE]

  25. #25
    Aspiring Member Cari's Avatar
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    Thanks for reminding me about soap
    That charachter was a CD who had a relatively normal life

    Forgot about that one.

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