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Why is cross dressing and gender bender so mainstream?
xfreidax:
--- Quote from: logos on April 05, 2012, 05:29:28 AM ---
--- Quote from: xfreidax on April 05, 2012, 05:15:17 AM ---If you look even deeper, at their traditional theater arts, it was normal for men to play female roles. Like in Kabuki for example. I believe the art is still practiced this way today, men performing as females. This same practice and tradition is also seen in certain forms of Chinese theater/opera. So it has deep roots in East Asian culture.
--- End quote ---
That's no different than in english culture...and crossdressing is still "frowned upon" by society
--- End quote ---
Really? I did not know this is common in English theater. Men playing women, often in an erotic or sexualised context. :o
vuzedome:
Definitely not what you think it is. Crossdressing is still unacceptable, even in Japan.
In the adult industry as well, it's still sort of niche, not everybody likes the idea.
abc cuz:
i'm not sure what the norm is in japan, but i know japanese guys and girls can look very alike so they can get away with cross-dressing most of the time as actually being believed to be that gender. that's where 'trap' comes from. i don't know, maybe because its easier in japan they exploit it more for comedy in their anime.
logos:
--- Quote from: xfreidax on April 05, 2012, 05:45:38 AM ---
--- Quote from: logos on April 05, 2012, 05:29:28 AM ---
--- Quote from: xfreidax on April 05, 2012, 05:15:17 AM ---If you look even deeper, at their traditional theater arts, it was normal for men to play female roles. Like in Kabuki for example. I believe the art is still practiced this way today, men performing as females. This same practice and tradition is also seen in certain forms of Chinese theater/opera. So it has deep roots in East Asian culture.
--- End quote ---
That's no different than in english culture...and crossdressing is still "frowned upon" by society
--- End quote ---
often in an erotic or sexualised context. :o
--- End quote ---
...since when does ANY "traditional theatre" display "erotic or sexualized content"?
In england up until ~1700ad women weren't allowed to perform in theatre..so you know thats like a long time that men were performing as females...
...sorry bout the offtopic
rostheferret:
As was said, in Shakespearean theatre right up to the 18th Century or so, women were not allowed to perform and so were instead played by young boys whose voices hadn't broken yet. I believe much the same was traditionally true for Japanese, though I wouldn't claim to have the foggiest of the details. I'm pretty sure it has roots - similar to British theater - that date back to the Edo period, used in a similar manner; all male troubadour's using young boys to play the female roles. I also know of "Kabuki" theatre which was a sort of interpretive dance (I think) and was performed entirely by females, even if the character was male.
As for the influence from V-Kei, that has roots in Glam Rock; the likes of KISS and Motley Crue which featured excessive make-up and feminine hair. If you look at the early V-Kei artists, X Japan, Malice Mizer and the like, you can see it's largely a continuation of this aesthetic style, which whilst fell out of favour in the West grew in popularity in Japan. In an effort to constantly 'up' the previous looks, excessive make-up and feminine hair gradually became cross-dressing, though it does help that something about their body shapes tend to make them more adept at it. I think there's also something of a rebellious attitude towards those who practice it in this context; that it is taboo and not the norm making it useful in sparking controversy. All that said, I do think you're either overstating how common it is in mainstream society, with modern practice being closer to 'metrosexuality' which is hardly uncommon in other countries, and/or you're subconsciously gravitating towards manga/animé featuring traps.
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