ABSTRACT

The answers to these questions - and much, much more - are to be found in The Changing Room , which traces the origins and variations of theatrical cross-dressing through the ages and across cultures. It examines:
* tribal rituals and shamanic practices in the Balkans and Chinese-Tibet
* the gender-bending elements of Greek and early Christian religion
* the homosexual appeal of the boy actor on the traditional stage of China, Japan and England
* the origins of the dame comedian, the principal boy, the glamour drag artiste and the male impersonator
* artists such as David Bowie, Boy George, Charles Ludlam, Dame Edna Everage, Lily Savage, Candy Darling, Julian Clary and the New York Dolls.
Lavishly illustrated with unusual and rare pictures, this is the first ever cross-cultural study of theatrical transvestism. It is a must for anyone interested in cross-dressing, theatre, and gender.

chapter |13 pages

Introduction

part |1 pages

Part I Acting out

chapter |20 pages

The sham in shaman

chapter |18 pages

Skirting Christ

part |1 pages

Part II Stages of sodomy

chapter |25 pages

Orientations

chapter |20 pages

China trade

chapter |28 pages

Playboys and boy players

part |1 pages

Part III The mannish and the unmanned

chapter |19 pages

Arms and the woman

chapter |21 pages

Breeches birth

chapter |29 pages

Beldames sans merci

part |1 pages

Part IV Subcultures surface

chapter |29 pages

Putting on the drag

chapter |22 pages

teen: Amateur hour

part |1 pages

Part V Children of the ghetto

chapter |31 pages

Queens of clubs

chapter |32 pages

teen: Alternatives

chapter |19 pages

A gender of their own