About Cross-Dressers

Cross-dressers have been seen throughout history in all parts of the world, from heroes of ancient mythology dressing in disguise to historical figures masquerading as members of the opposite sex in order to perform tasks they weren't allowed to do. Here is some information about cross-dressers.

Significance

Cross-dressers wear clothing commonly associated by color, style, design and type with the opposite gender.

History

Cross-dressing has existed throughout history and mythology. In ancient Greek mythology, the hero Hercules was forced to dress as a woman while in servitude. Another hero, Achilles, dressed as a woman to sneak into an audience with Odysseus. Cross-dressing in ancient Greece was not just done by men and mortals either. The goddess Athena supposedly dressed as a man in order to help out her followers, as told in the epic poem "The Odyssey." Ancient Norse mythology also included several stories of cross-dressing, including tales of the hero Frotho dressing as a warrior maiden during battle and the god Odin dressing as a female healer to perform a seduction.

Factual historical cross-dressers include Hua Mulan (made famous by the Disney animated feature "Mulan"), who disguised herself as a man to become a soldier so her ill father did not have to serve in the Chinese army. Joan of Arc led the French armies against the English while dressed as a male warrior, and Anne Bonny was a seventeenth-century pirate who dressed as a man aboard her ship. The French novelist Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, a.k.a. George Sand, chose to write under a man's name and wear men's clothing. And women who wished to fight in the American Civil War disguised themselves as men in order to enlist, since women were banned from joining up.

Types

There are people who use cross-dressing to disguise their gender identity in order to work in a culture that does not allow certain genders to perform certain jobs. There are also some who use it to hide from law enforcement or from criminal elements. Performers have used cross-dressing for centuries in order to act out roles in plays, movies, TV, opera and musical performances. Drag queens and kings are popular performing cross-dressers who dress as exaggerated forms of the opposite gender or as famous members of the opposite gender for performance reasons. Of course there are also fetishists who cross-dress as part of a sexual fetish, though these are not a majority of the group. Some people will wear just the undergarments of the opposite sex under the clothing of their sex, while other cross-dressers will wear both the undergarments and outer garments of the opposite sex. Some cross-dressers adopt a different persona while cross-dressing that might include a different name, attitude and even background than the one used for the normal gender, while others maintain the same name and attitude, and are only adopting the fashions of the opposite gender.

Time Frame

Many cross-dressers begin doing so as children by wearing the clothes of their opposite gender parents or siblings. While some do it in secret for their whole lives, others begin by hiding their cross-dressing as children but then start allowing others to see them doing so when they become adults.

Misconceptions

Cross-dressers do not always associate their gender with the gender opposite of that they were born with and so are not necessarily considered "transgendered." Cross-dressing does not mean a person has a mental disorder or gender issues. In many cases it just means the person prefers a style of clothing that is commonly associated with the gender opposite of their own. Not all cross-dressers are homosexuals. In fact, many are heterosexual and are often married with families.

Resources

• Cross-Dressers Secret Garden: Resources for Cross-Dressers