Why do gay men dress like girls for fun?

[GinaDouglas]

For starters, I think that the majority of trans people prefer not to draw attention to themselves.

[Mahsa Tezani]

For starters, I think that the majority of trans people prefer not to draw attention to themselves.

And yet they do....

The act of being trans definitely draws attention to oneselves, whether we want to admit it or not. We're not fully understood by the masses, and they notice no matter how well we pass.

But back to drag queens, being drag queens was a way many transsexuals became women. Candis Cayne, Calpurnia Addams, Jessica Savano, Amanda Leopore, Gia Darling, etc. are all prime examples and were a stepping stone for this gay men to discover their trueselves.

[Anatta]

I've always wondered why. But I have no idea who I should ask.

Btw, I meant some gay guys. Not all of them.

Kia Ora Mahsa,

Why do we all do things for fun[including gay men who for fun dress up like women] ? Well the most obvious answer....Wait for it......Drum roll..........TO BE HAPPY !  FUN=HAPPINESS...HAPPINESS=FUN....It's a no brainer 

Metta Zenda

[Shana A]

I know gay men that wouldn't be caught dead dressing like a girl. They are men. In fact, during transition I was uninvited to some gay gatherings, they thought my presence would draw attention to them and possibly out them to their rural neighbors.

Some (not all) who do drag are doing it as subversive commentary on stereotypical binary gender roles. Some who do drag are simply expressing a part of themselves, it is who they are. Why is someones' gender expression a problem?

Z

[Torn1990]

I dare say it, because I believe it.

Whites making fun of blacks, men making fun of women.  Same difference.  The roots of drag-queen shows and female impersonator shows go way back, and those roots are misogynistic.  It's less so now, just like Amos N Andy was less racist than the old minstrel shows, but it's a difference of degree, not of kind.  Drag-king shows are a more recent addition, and not so rooted in hatred/jealousy.

Sure there are some transgender people who do it for a job, but these exceptions are exceptional.

Yes, I know the woman in Priscilla was trans, but she is hardly representative of the majority.  That was my point about the movie.  That's the kind of image that sticks in the public mind, not something more realistic.

you have a lot of misguided passion in my opinion and your comparing something like black face to drag is so utterly offensive.
I have a hard time seeing that parallel so i'm going to leave it at that i affirm your perspective, i just don't get it. Two different legacies.
I just think nowadays instead of chastising people who are also marginalized we should work together.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Gay.jsp

Be happy you didn't live back then-back then was definately no fun if you got caught ...

Metta Zenda

[Mahsa Tezani]

Yes, I know the woman in Priscilla was trans, but she is hardly representative of the majority.  That was my point about the movie.  That's the kind of image that sticks in the public mind, not something more realistic.

Watch TransAmerica or whatever that movie was called. That was pretty realistic. I relate more to Priscilla than the woman in Transamerica.

Yeah, did you know "Ticked off trannies with knives?" had nothing to do with actual transwomen?

The drag queens aren't out to humiliate transwomen... Most of them hold transwomen in high regard.

[xXRebeccaXx]

I've always wondered why. But I have no idea who I should ask.

Btw, I meant some gay guys. Not all of them.

Most xdressers are straight and do it for a variety of reasons.

[lilacwoman]

I got an awful lot of flak for saying black face = drag queens.

simple reason so many are is beacuse practically all gays start out as little frillies then later on bury it and deny it while still being attracted to drag queens.

most TS start out as secret crossdressers not little Judy Garlands proto gays.

[tekla]

practically all gays start out as little frillies

Wow, you must have been a National Merit Scholar at the Institute for the Perpetuation of Absurd Stereotypes.  I bet you far more males got 'the ghey' on hunting trips - you know manly men out in the woods killing things and drinking beer - than on shopping expeditions.  If you were right - and you're not - the whole 'gay in the military' thing would be a non-issue since just about the last thing the Nancy Boys want is to join the Army or Marine Corps.  Nope, what worries the opponents (who, I hate to say it but...seem to be a bit more clued in than you are) is that lots of gay men, you know, manly men who want to run around killing things and drinking beer, like men for being men, and there are few places is no place more packed with manly men then a Marine Corps barracks or a Navy warship.  Wasn't it Lord Winston Churchill who said that the Royal Navy runs on 'rum, buggery and the lash'?  Of course, in many ways that was the selling point. 

For all the 'Judy Garland' stereotypes (and for the record I bet far more gay men are into opera and symphonic music, but that's a virtue of taste) I'll bet there are more gay male metal-heads than Judy poofters.

[Mahsa Tezani]

For all the 'Judy Garland' stereotypes (and for the record I bet far more gay men are into opera and symphonic music, but that's a virtue of taste) I'll bet there are more gay male metal-heads than Judy poofters.

Hell yeah. More of them hang out in Folsom or Badlands as opposed to Marlenas and Divas.