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My apologies to non-UK members since this post is about UK celebrity CD's but it may have relevance to celebrity CD's in other countries that I'm not familiar with. There's an interesting article in today's Times about Eddie Izzard's journey as a trans woman and it got me thinking about the different ways that some UK celebrities have chosen to announce their trans inclinations for public consumption. Eddie Izzard has gradually revealed that he wants to be known as Suzy and now to be accepted as a woman. It also appears that he will now dress and present as a woman. On the other hand, another celebrity, Harry Styles, has chosen to incorporate some elements of female fashion/appearance into his style but has not, to my knowledge, ever appeared in public as a woman. Grayson Perry, the contemporary artist/potter/tv presenter has a female alter ego called Claire who is a strange parody of a young girl but in no way could be considered to be a woman. Photos of all three celebrities as they appear in public are widely available on the internet.
Now these three people have chosen to "cross-dress" in public in very different ways and as someone who likes to present as a woman when I go out, I have much more understanding/sympathy for Eddie Izzard than I do for Harry Styles or Grayson Perry. I guess this is because I can relate to Eddie Izzard's position but not to the other two. In other words, Eddie Izzard is part of my tribe but Harry Styles and Grayson Perry aren't.
Do others have the same reaction to how public figures display their cross-dressing inclinations or do I just need to be more tolerant of differences?
@veroslondon it takes a lot of self assessment and introspection to arrive at a place where a person decides they simply cannot go on presenting as business as usual. Most of us who shimmy around gender binaries may eventually come to terms with who we are and how we show up. This evolves taking everyone through your process and telling them your story. Everyone comes with a different story but we have come to accept ourselves. It’s not for us to judge anyone else, lest we be judged. We do identify with and respect special people whose paths we’ve walked and whose stories resonate deeply
Anyone struggling with their gender is part of our tribe We understand what it’s like to walk that road. We are all in such different situations vis age, social position, family, fame vs obscuriry, talent, attractiveness, intelligence, and the lust goes on and on sometimes we don’t recognize tribal members because they’re not able to safely fly their colours due the I constraints. In an ideal world, we would all have the courage and resources to do what we need to do, but we must be thankful that most of us can show up as our authentic selves from time to time in certain circumstances.
We are a rainbow tribe .
@veroslondon I agree with you completely. It's a matter of commitment to living in a gender as opposed to using gender as an art form. Needless to say, I look much more favorably on someone who exhibits commitment.
No need to apologize for the references to UK celebrities......I'm from the US and want to look like Amanda Holden! To me, she is the complete package.
@veroslondon I totally understand the connection with Eddie Izard, even when she was he, I loved his humour. I saw Eddie live in Toronto back when he was trying to crack the North American nut, which he did somewhat but I always missed the skirt and lipstick of her early shows, she never made me laugh so hard as when she gave the audience that impish smile.
So feel the deeper connection with Suzy but for the greater good of society, I think that any blurring of gender is a good thing. Xoxo Davita
@veroslondon My take on it is that I would like to be able to celebrate difference and acceptance that people are different. Whilst a lot of progress has been made, a lot more needs to be done.
@veroslondon It didn't take long after reading CDH for me to learn that, as a group, we all aren't one thing, this one or that one. We are part of a spectrum. Some of us express ourselves this way, some of us express ourselves that way. I don't even think about whether someone is crossdressing the right way or the wrong way because each of us has different restrictions, abilities, resources, interests, and needs. We are all part of the same tribe, if we even are that.
I am not sure why any celebrity would need any of our sympathy, either.
Lauren
Amanda Holden! Absolutely. One gorgeous, kick-ass girl.
Veronica
Eddie started to say he was a transvestite quite a few years back, wore makeup and nail polish then more feminine attire as the years passed to where she is today. Grayson Perry also classes himself as 'Britain's most eminent transvestite'. Harry Styles is of a a new generation who lightly dresses with some feminine style and the likes of Sam Smith who is 'Non - binary' but presents in an almost 'Drag' style. Of course there are many labels now but think back to Boy George and his androgynous appearance and even Bowie, Marc Bolan as part of a fashion..
I agree that Eddie is probably more my 'Tribe' too as we aren't wanting to be a parody or make a fashion statement.
My personal opinion is we need to learn to accept others the way they are. Diversity is what makes the world. We can't all be the same and why would we want to be conforming to others standards . We are all different, every single one of us.
