Personally, I grew up with a lot of freaks in the television/film/music world, I never really felt out of place no matter how much my family thought I was. With (very talented) singers like Marilyn Manson, Jeffree Star, Adam Lambert, Emilie Autumn, and (very talented) actors like Johnny Depp, Cillian Murphy, and all that, I've never felt out of place being someone who gender bends and makes extreme transitions. Even before my time, there were plenty of downright weird people starting with the 70's. I do find it all a big inspiration, as in the end, what is popular and successful in the media world is truly what is the vote of the people. People like freaks, they just don't want to admit it.
For instance my first favorite music video was Marilyn Manson's The Dope Show, where he's wearing an alien/woman skin suit with boobs and no genitalia. To me, it's inspirational that at least someone out there is breaking gender conventions in the media world, giving a young audience the open minds to accept a guy that looks like he has boobs. Not sure it ever worked, but it sure didn't hurt IMO. It only helped that Marilyn Manson's band always has been extremely talented musically, I probably would have been less partial to his gender bending if his music sucked; however, I've always felt that his shock value and aesthetic promotion was actually one step behind how entertaining his musical albums have been.
