What a Drag
As a child, I watched TV programs that sometimes had men pretending to be women or vice versa. Stage presentations of “Peter Pan” often had a woman play the title character. During fourth grade, I sang in a school program based on the Book of Daniel called “It’s Cool in the Furnace.” A girl played the role of Daniel. I’ve also seen movies where men played women. One of them was “Tootsie” starring Dustin Hoffman as a struggling actor who landed a role in a soap opera by impersonating a woman. Another was “Back to the Future II.” Michael J. Fox portrayed a girl named Marlene McFly (the daughter of Marty McFly also played by him). Years ago, men played female roles in ancient Greek theatre, early Shakespeare, and Japanese kabuki. During the 1980s, I hadn’t thought much about cross-gender acting. I was more creeped out with male musicians looking like women. The British band Culture Club became famous for their androgynous lead singer. Boy George’s appearance turned me off, but I liked ...