Editing Cross-dressing (section)

=== Journalism and culture ===
In some instances, women in journalism deem wearing the identity of a man necessary in order to gather information that is only accessible from the male point of view. In other cases, people cross-dress to navigate certain cultures and/or specific circumstances that involve strict gender norms and expectations.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chapter seven: Gender Expression and Cross-dressing |url=https://www.icj.org/sogi-casebook-introduction/chapter-seven-gender-expression-and-cross-dressing/ |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=International Commission of Jurists |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Norah Vincent ====
[[Norah Vincent]], author of the book ''[[Self-Made Man (book)|Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back Again]]'', used gender disguise in order to go undercover as a man to penetrate men's social circles and experience life as a man. In 2003, Vincent put her life on pause to adopt a new masculine identity as Ned Vincent.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Bac… |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29434.Self_Made_Man |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Goodreads |isbn=978-0-670-03466-6 |oclc=62089984 |language=en |last1=Vincent |first1=Norah |date=2006 |publisher=Viking }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2025}} She worked with a makeup artist and vocal coach in order to convincingly play the role of a biological man. She wore an undersized sports bra, a stuffed jock strap, and size 11½ shoes to deceive those around her. In her book, Vincent makes discoveries about socialization, romance, sex, and stress as a man that leads her to conclude that, "[Men] have different problems than women have, but they don't have it better",<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=January 20, 2006 |title=A Self-Made Man |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/Entertainment/story?id=1526982 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=2007-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008172430/http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Entertainment/story?id=1526982 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Vincent developed controversial opinions about sex and gender, claiming that transgender people are not legitimate until they undergo hormone therapy and surgical intervention. After writing ''Self-Made Man,'' Vincent became a victim of depression; she died by medically assisted suicide in 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Penelope |title=Norah Vincent, Who Chronicled Passing as a Man, Is Dead at 53 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/obituaries/norah-vincent-dead.html |work=The New York Times |date=18 August 2022 |access-date=10 October 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818190111/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/obituaries/norah-vincent-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Bacha posh ====
[[Bacha posh]], an Afghan tradition, involves the crossdressing of young Afghan girls by their families so that they present to the public as boys. Families without sons, or whose sons are heavily outnumbered by daughters, may choose to raise one of their daughters bacha posh for a number of reasons. Having a bacha posh daughter may ease financial burdens, as girls and women are generally prohibited from work in contemporary Afghanistan,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-24 |title=Taliban bans women from working for domestic, foreign NGOs in Afghanistan |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/taliban-ban-women-from-working-for-domestic-foreign-ngos-in-afghanistan |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{cite book |last1=Billaud |first1=Julie |title=Kabul Carnival: Gender Politics in Postwar Afghanistan |date=2015 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-4696-4 |jstor=j.ctt13x1pdw }}{{page needed|date=November 2023}}</ref> and improve their social status, as families with boys tend to be more well regarded in Afghan society.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hamidi |first1=Nilab |last2=Bohren |first2=Meghan |date=March 3, 2022 |title=Girls forced to act as boys in Afghanistan |url=https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/news/40573-girls-forced-to-act-as-boys-in-afghanistan |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au |archive-date=2023-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012023927/https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/news/40573-girls-forced-to-act-as-boys-in-afghanistan |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":02" /> While there is no law that prohibits [[bacha posh]], girls are expected to revert to traditional gender norms upon reaching [[puberty]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keerthana |first1=R |last2=Jayanthi |first2=S |title=The Unjust Twisting: Bacha Posh custom of the Invisible Girl Children in Afghanistan from Nadia Hashimi's work |journal=European Chemical Bulletin |date=2023 |volume=12 |issue=10 |url=https://www.eurchembull.com/issue-content/the-unjust-twisting-bacha-posh-custom-of-the-invisible-girl-children-in-afghanistan-from-nadia-hashimi-s-work-8214 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105132541/https://www.eurchembull.com/issue-content/the-unjust-twisting-bacha-posh-custom-of-the-invisible-girl-children-in-afghanistan-from-nadia-hashimi-s-work-8214 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |ssrn=4383274 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Autonomy, Post-puberty Bacha Posh and Third World Feminism in Selected Afghan Fiction |journal=Journal of International Women's Studies |date=3 February 2023 |volume=25 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|2778390671}} |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol25/iss1/13/ }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2022-01-16 |title=Afghan girls live as boys until they hit puberty, a temporary chance at freedom |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/afghanistans-bacha-posh-tradition-allows-girls-freedom-boys-rcna12216 |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> According to Thomas Barfield, an anthropology professor at [[Boston University]], bacha posh is "one of the most under-investigated" topics in the realm of gender studies, making difficult to determine exactly how common the practice is in Afghan society.<ref name=":1" /> However, some prominent female figures in Afghan society have admitted to being [[bacha posh]] in their youth. A more famous example of this is Afghan parliament member Azita Rafaat. Rafaat claims that [[bacha posh]] was a positive experience that built her self-confidence in Afghanistan's heavily patriarchal society and gave her a more well rounded understanding of women's issues in Afghanistan.<ref name=":02" />