Editing Cross-dressing (section)

==Varieties==
There are many different kinds of cross-dressing and many different reasons why an individual might engage in cross-dressing behavior.<ref name="eucwqo">''Rainbow Reader'', Fort Wayne, Indiana</ref> Some people cross-dress as a matter of comfort or style, a personal preference for clothing associated with the opposite gender. Some people cross-dress to shock others or challenge [[Norm (sociology)|social norms]]; others will limit their cross-dressing to underwear, so that it is not apparent. Some people attempt to pass as a member of the opposite gender in order to gain access to places or resources they would not otherwise be able to reach.

===Theater and performance===
Single-sex theatrical troupes often have some performers who cross-dress to play roles written for members of the opposite sex ([[Travesti (theatre)|travesti]] and [[trouser role]]s). Cross-dressing, particularly the depiction of males wearing dresses, was historically used for comic effect onstage and on-screen.

[[Boy player]] refers to children who performed in [[Medieval theatre|Medieval]] and [[English Renaissance theatre|English Renaissance]] [[playing companies]]. Some boy players worked for the adult companies and performed the female roles as women did not perform on the English stage in this period. Others worked for children's companies in which all roles, not just the female ones, were played by boys.<ref name="Chambers-1923">{{cite book
 |last=Chambers |first=E.K. |author-link=Edmund Kerchever Chambers
 |year=1923
 |title=The Elizabethan Stage
 |volume=2
 |place=Oxford, UK
 |publisher=Clarendon Press
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 1–76}} <ref name="Halliday-1964">
{{cite book
 |last=Halliday |first=F.E. |author-link=F. E. Halliday
 |year=1964
 |title=A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964
 |place=Baltimore, MD
 |publisher=Penguin Books
 |pages=35, 71, 98–101
}}
</ref>

In an effort to clamp down on [[kabuki]]'s popularity, women's kabuki, known as {{transliteration|ja|onna-kabuki}}, was banned in 1629 in Japan for being too erotic.<ref name="An Outline History of the Japanese Drama">{{cite book | url=http://www.theatrehistory.com/asian/kabuki001.html | title=An Outline History of the Japanese Drama | publisher=George Allen & Unwin LTD | author=Lombard, Frank Alanson | year=1928 | location=London | pages=287–295 | isbn=978-1-138-91983-9 | access-date=2022-06-15 | archive-date=2022-03-20 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320073931/http://theatrehistory.com/asian/kabuki001.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Following this ban, young boys began performing in {{transliteration|ja|[[wakashū]]-kabuki}}, which was also soon banned.<ref name="An Outline History of the Japanese Drama" /> Thus adult men play female roles in kabuki.

[[Dan role|Dan]] is the general name for female roles in [[Chinese opera]], often referring to leading roles. They may be played by male or female actors. In the early years of [[Peking opera]], all {{transliteration|zh|dan}} roles were played by men, but this practice is no longer common in any Chinese opera genre.

Women have often been excluded from [[Noh#Women in Noh|Noh]], and men often play female characters in it.<ref name="Nohauto">{{Cite web|url=https://thetheatretimes.com/living-breathing-history-noh/|title=Living And Breathing History, Through Noh|date=March 24, 2018|access-date=June 15, 2022|archive-date=June 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618180243/https://thetheatretimes.com/living-breathing-history-noh|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Drag (clothing)|Drag]] is a special form of [[performance art]] based on the act of cross-dressing. A [[drag queen]] is usually a [[Sex assignment|male-assigned]] person who performs as an exaggeratedly feminine character, in heightened costuming sometimes consisting of a showy dress, high-heeled shoes, obvious make-up, and [[Wig (hair)|wig]]. A drag queen may imitate famous female film or pop-music stars. A [[faux queen]] is a female-assigned person employing the same techniques. A [[drag king]] is a counterpart of the drag queen – a female-assigned person who adopts a masculine persona in performance or imitates a male film or pop-music star. Some female-assigned people undergoing [[Gender-affirming surgery]] also self-identify as 'drag kings'.[[File:Lady Bunny and Sherry Vine by David Shankbone.JPG|thumb|[[Drag queen]]s [[Lady Bunny]] (left) and [[Sherry Vine]] (right) in 2008. Drag is a form of cross-dressing as [[performance art]].]]The modern activity of [[battle reenactment]]s has raised the question of women passing as male soldiers. In 1989, Lauren Burgess dressed as a male soldier in a [[U.S. National Park Service]] reenactment of the [[Battle of Antietam]], and was ejected after she was discovered to be a woman. Burgess sued the Park Service for [[sexual discrimination]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=Lynda |date=September 30, 1991 |title=Battle re-enactor finds herself at war with U.S. Park Service |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/09/30/battle-re-enactor-finds-herself-at-war-with-us-park-service/ |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |issn=1930-8965 |oclc=244481759 |publisher=Trif Alatzas |access-date=13 August 2018 |archive-date=2018-08-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815024639/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-09-30/news/1991273008_1_re-enactors-civil-war-burgess/2 }}</ref> The case spurred spirited debate among Civil War buffs. In 1993, a federal judge ruled in Burgess's favor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Meyer |first1=Eugene L |date=March 18, 1993 |title=Woman Wins Fight Over Civil War 'Battle' Garb |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-18-mn-12369-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=14 August 2018 |quote=U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that... the Antietam park policy of 'categorically barring women from portraying male soldiers... constitutes unconstitutional discrimination against women.' |archive-date=2024-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718121042/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-18-mn-12369-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

"Wigging" refers to the practice of male [[stunt double]]s taking the place of an actress, parallel to "[[blackface|paint downs]]", where white stunt doubles are made up to resemble black actors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robb |first1=David |title=Stuntwomen Panel: Evangeline Lilly Says She Was Intentionally Injured While Filming 'Lost' |url=https://deadline.com/2018/05/stuntwomen-panel-evangeline-lilly-deven-macnair-1202393558/ |access-date=12 December 2018 |work=Deadline |date=17 May 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Female stunt doubles have begun to protest this norm of "historical sexism", saying that it restricts their already limited job possibilities.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carroll |first1=Rory |title='It's historical sexism' – the fight to end stuntmen doubling for women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/10/wigging-stuntmen-doubling-for-women-lawsuit |access-date=12 December 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=10 February 2018 |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718121100/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/10/wigging-stuntmen-doubling-for-women-lawsuit |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lavelle |first1=Daniel |title=Why stuntwomen are angry about 'wigging' – and are changing the industry from within |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/27/why-stuntwomen-are-angry-about-wigging-and-are-changing-the-industry-from-within |access-date=12 December 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=27 November 2018 |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718121101/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/nov/27/why-stuntwomen-are-angry-about-wigging-and-are-changing-the-industry-from-within |url-status=live }}</ref>

====British pantomime, television and comedy====
[[Image:1896 DanLeno-WidowTwankey.jpg|thumb|upright|Comedian [[Dan Leno]] as [[Widow Twankey]] in the 1896 [[pantomime]] ''Aladdin'' at [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]], London]]
Cross-dressing is a traditional popular trope in [[British comedy]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Brits and Cross-Dressing: A History |url=http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/11/brits-cross-dressing-history |access-date=26 April 2019 |agency=BBC America |archive-date=26 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190426175832/http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/11/brits-cross-dressing-history |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[pantomime dame]] in British [[pantomime]] dates from the 19th century, which is part of the theatrical tradition of female characters portrayed by male actors in drag. [[Widow Twankey]] (Aladdin's mother) is a popular pantomime dame: in 2004 [[Ian McKellen]] played the role.

The [[Monty Python]] comedy troupe donned frocks and makeup, playing female roles while speaking in [[falsetto]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Cross-Dressing and Fish-Slapping, One Python at a Time |newspaper=The New York Times |date=22 February 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/arts/television/crossdressing-and-fishslapping-one-python-at-a-time.html |access-date=26 April 2019 |agency=The New York Times |last1=Martel |first1=Ned |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718121109/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/arts/television/crossdressing-and-fishslapping-one-python-at-a-time.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Character comics such as [[Benny Hill]] and [[Dick Emery]] drew upon several female identities. In the BBC's long-running sketch show ''[[The Dick Emery Show]]'' (broadcast from 1963 to 1981), Emery played Mandy, a busty peroxide blonde whose catchphrase, "Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!", was given in response to a seemingly innocent remark made by her interviewer, but perceived by her as ribald double entendre.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Dick Emery Show |url=https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/ooh-you-are-awful-but-i-like-you |access-date=26 April 2019 |agency=British classic comedy}}</ref> The popular tradition of cross dressing in British comedy extended to the 1984 music video for [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s "[[I Want to Break Free]]" where the band parody several female characters from the soap opera ''[[Coronation Street]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=10 things you may not know about Queen's biggest 80s hits |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4C6GqGSRcDydqhJNh5xpgyZ/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-queens-biggest-80s-hits |first=Fraser |last=McAlpine |date=29 November 2018 |agency=BBC |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718121446/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4C6GqGSRcDydqhJNh5xpgyZ/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-queens-biggest-80s-hits |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Sexual fetishes===
[[File:Luzi Wuzi.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria]] liked to dress and be photographed as a woman]]
[[Transvestic fetishism]] is a psychiatric diagnosis applied to people who are sexually aroused by the act of cross-dressing and experience significant distress or impairment – socially or occupationally – because of their behavior. The limit to [[gynephilic]] men in the fourth edition of ''[[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]]'' was abrogated with the passage of the DSM-5.<ref>http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Paraphilic%20Disorders%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123042559/http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Paraphilic%20Disorders%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf |date=2016-11-23 }} DSM-5 Documents: Paraphilic Disorders Fact Sheet</ref>

Sometimes either [[cisgender]] member of an [[androphilic]] and gynephilic couple will cross-dress in order to arouse the other. For example, the male might wear skirts or lingerie and/or the female will wear boxers or other male clothing. (See also [[forced feminization]])

===Passing===
{{Main|Passing (gender)}}
Some people who cross-dress may endeavor to project a complete impression of belonging to another gender, including mannerisms, [[Speech communication|speech]] patterns, and emulation of [[Sex-determination system|sexual characteristics]]. This is referred to as passing or "trying to pass", depending how successful the person is. An observer who sees through the cross-dresser's attempt to pass is said to have "read" or "clocked" them. There are videos, books, and magazines on how a man may look more like a woman.<ref>''Transformation'' magazine; interviews for ''Rainbow Reader'', Fort Wayne, Indiana</ref>

Others may choose to take a mixed approach, adopting some feminine traits and some masculine traits in their appearance. For instance, a man might wear both a dress and a beard. This is sometimes known as "[[Gender bender|genderfuck]]". In a broader context, cross-dressing may also refer to other actions undertaken to pass as a particular sex, such as [[Packing (phallus)|packing]] (accentuating the male crotch bulge) or, the opposite, [[tucking]] (concealing the male crotch bulge).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rankin |first1=Sue |last2=Beemyn |first2=Genny |title=Beyond a Binary: The Lives of Gender-Nonconforming Youth |journal=About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience |date=September 2012 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=2–10 |doi=10.1002/abc.21086 |s2cid=145529045 }}</ref>