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Crossdresser: Difference between revisions
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In short, this trope is about "dressing in the clothing of the opposite sex." The long version can get a little more complicated.
'''Crossdressers''' may be men dressing as women, or women dressing as men. Contrary to popular belief, crossdressing does not necessarily imply homosexuality. Sexuality being a fluid, confusing and often contradictory thing, no hard and fast rules can be drawn about crossdressers and transvestites. An element of sexual arousal ("transvestic fetishism") may be involved in dressing, but not necessarily. And sometimes the primary purpose for crossdressing is simply disguise. This supertrope covers all the various possibilities and permutations.
Distinguished from [[Drag Queen]], which tends to be strongly associated with gay men and has an inherent aspect of "performance." Also not to be confused with [[
"Crossdresser" and "Transvestite" aren't necessarily synonymous in [[Real Life]]. Many different (and often contradictory) definitions for each term can be found. This trope is intended to encompass ''all'' of them—at least for purposes of troping.
Note that, since the 1960s or so in western culture, there tends to be little or no social stigma attached to women wearing "traditionally male" clothing. Once upon a time, however, a woman dressing like a man (e.g., wearing trousers) would be frowned upon, or even ''illegal'' in some jurisdictions - this was one of the crimes that the English charged [[Joan of Arc]] with after they captured her.
This trope is about the clothing that someone wears, not the person inside the clothing, and thus should not be confused with [[Transgender]].
{{tropelist|The following are subtropes of Cross Dresser}}▼
== Tropes about characters and their clothing choices ==▼
* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]: Crossdressing characters (of either sex) presented in a positive (or at least neutral) way. Often presented as [[Attractive Bent Gender|physically attractive]].
* [[Creepy Crossdresser]]: Crossdressing characters (nearly always men) played for weirdness, creepiness, [[Squick]] value, or to show that a character is evil or deranged.
* [[Disguised in Drag]]: Men disguise themselves as women.
* [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]: Women disguise themselves as men. See [[Samus Is a Girl]] for the reveal.
* [[Recursive Crossdressing]]: Women disguise themselves as men disguised as women, vice versa, or any permutations thereof.
* [[Dragged Into Drag]]: Girls love helping boys dress as girls.
* [[Sweet on Polly Oliver]]: Straight guys find another guy disturbingly attractive... because "he" is actually a girl.
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See Also [[Ambiguous Gender]], [[Viewer Gender Confusion]], [[Bifauxnen]], and [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]], tropes which share some common aspects with the above but generally are not about deliberate crossdressing. Like [[Drag Queen]], [[Crosscast Role]] involves crossdressing, but only in the context of an actor playing a part.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
* Xiao Meng the eunuch assassin from Chinese [[Manhua]] ''[[Ravages of Time]]'' insists he's a man, but specializes in disguising himself as a woman.▼
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Parodied on ''[[Little Britain]]'', which featured Emily and Florence, who would dress and attempt to act [[Born in the Wrong Century|like 19th century women]] and insisted that they were ''lay-dees''. Florence has a mustache.
* Mr. Richard McCourt dancing the tango in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06szyd9ccOQ&t=5m50s very fetching dress] on ''[[Dick and Dom in da Bungalow]]''
* British television has a proud tradition of men dressing as women for comedy. It probably goes back to how men (or boys) played female roles in Shakespeare's day.
** ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' did this in every episode. It probably helped that the troupe didn't have any women (or just one woman, Carol Cleveland), so at least some of the crossdressing was actually necessary. It mostly served to make the character appear middle-aged and frumpy.
** [[Benny Hill]] did it regularly.
** ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'' did this all the time, too.
* ''[[Noah's Arc]]'': Romeo borders between this and a
* ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' reveals that main character Shawn Hunter is a wannabe crossdresser. In
==
▲* Xiao Meng the eunuch assassin from Chinese [[Manhua]] ''[[Ravages of Time]]'' insists he's a man, but specializes in disguising himself as a woman.
== [[Theatre]] ==
* Common on the [[Vaudeville]] circuit.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Costume Tropes]]
[[Category:Gender Blending Tropes]]
[[Category:Turn-On Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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