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The word ”war” is often associated with chaos, destruction, death and confrontation.
Even in this very inhospitable area, believe me, there was room for crossdressing – or rather, change ”even in this one” to ”Because of”… I’ll explain why in the lines below.
An artist recently released ”behind-the-scenes” photos of World War II…
In relaxed moments, even the soldiers practiced crossdressing.
In those moments, the virility of the combatants gave way to skirts, dresses, high-heeled shoes and even lingerie such as panties and bras.
How did they get the clothes? They invaded cities and looted women’s wardrobes in homes!
Crossdressing was adopted in moments of relaxation precisely to alleviate the tensions of soldiers in war… after all, mental health is just as or more important as physical health.
Soldiers dressed as women and even portrayed female characters in theatrical performances – remember, there were no women in war.
Certainly, several soldiers were able to take advantage of this moment to fulfill repressed wishes…
Crossdressing was ”adopted” by the armies of the United States, England and… Germany?!
Yes, the Nazi army of the regime that persecuted LGBTs also practiced crossdressing.
In fact, most of the photos released were of German soldiers.
How is this possible?
The researcher claims that these photos were probably taken at the time of the carnival – even in the third reich, the traditional crossdressing in the German carnival was maintained. But due to the large amount of photos, crossdressing was also practiced in other contexts.
Perhaps hatred and discrimination against diversity would be a way for many Nazis to deny what they really were and wanted…
Did you know about this historical fact? What do you think?
I would love to see these. Where would one find said collection?
Trisha
Along these same lines, before the US Navy became politically correct, there were certain ceremonies and rituals which involved cross dressing.
"Crossing the line," aka crossing the equator, involved an initiation where one of the participants required a sailor to play Miss Polywog. There was never a shortage of sailors who would volunteer to play this female part.
The Chief Petty Officers initiation required newly initiated chiefs to dress in female attire. It was obvious that many new chiefs enjoyed this part of the initiation very much.
I seem to remember that one of Spike Milligan's autobios mentioned finding female clothing buried in the sand after over-running an Arika Corps position. Very funny books, if you get a chance, but Spike was manic-depressive so there are some black passages.
Connie
xxx
If this is true then it proves even a war won't stop a crossdresser.
If you browse the internet you will find a lot of crossdressing soldiers from WW2 and also WW1. It was not uncommon and there were a lot of 'gang' shows that featured some very convincing girls. All was perfectly acceptable and, in an age where these practices were illegal dependent on country of origin,that is was ever allowed. I suppose the top brass felt it boosted morale and they were the ones that got the best seats in the house. Makes you wonder.
I have seen a number of these, including some rare ones taken on the Japanese side (but then, photos from the Japanese side are rare in general, they destroyed so much after the war as part of their surrender, cultural thing I suppose). Japan does have a long standing tradition of men playing female roles on stage, even, I am told, at one time banning women from performing in some cases. So it's not much of a stretch for them to do it for morale purposes on the front lines.
Nothing from the Russian side, it seems the Red Army had no sense of humor, or I suspect, was in such dire straits they didn't have the time or resources to spend on morale. Doesn't mean it didn't happen, I just personally haven't come across it in my studies.
It wasn't just cross dressing, I have seen photos from a German unit with a guy in a hilarious bear costume!
I think in the darkest times, humor and the desire to get away from it all for even a moment becomes so much more important!
Marie.....
I did see a picture of over 200 crossdressing soldiers...wow, that was an eye opener......
upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the Royal Scots Fusiliers in kilts.....
damn, damn, damn....
Smiles, grace xx
Very interesting topic!
Worth highlighting that Germany had a thriving gay subculture, even among the Nazis. Gay relationships were very common among the early SS, just so long as they weren't publicly flaunted.
I'm quite certain many of those pics cited do show moments when the guys were fulfilling suppressed desires - not just doing so for fun or entertainment.
As far as doing shows, from the 1920s through the war to today-- CD/drag/cabaret is a time honored tradition in Germany.
On the American side, I've read how in the Pacific theater, American and Australian soldiers often met up for sex. Wouldn't surprise me to learn CDing played a role there too!
