With this Saturday's Miss'd America Pageant in mind, a look at cross-dressing from Shakespeare to Hoover to Eddie Izzard in video and photos.
Atlantic City Weekly’s Weekend Hot Tub Party is shaking things up and dragging things out this weekend. Not only have we revved up the jiggawatts and traveled back as far as pre-Shakespeare, but we’re giving you a mesmerizing assortment of cross-dressing material.
In honor of Atlantic City’s annual Miss’d America pageant, the weekend hot tub party has uncovered the origins of drag and cross-dressing from Joan of Arc to Eddie Izzard, to Mrs. Doubtfire and a fun YouTube list of famous and not so famous
cross-dressing scenes we’ve uncovered including Jim Carrey, The SNL Church Lady, and a super weird interaction between Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.
We’ll be back every weekend providing more of the fun fresh content you’ve enjoyed thus far! From a sweet play-list we’ve put together or behind the scenes exclusive photos for your viewing pleasure, holiday specials, the latest viral videos or just some fascinating stories overheard in a bar, you’ll find it all here.
So, if it suits you, bust out a stylish wig, apply some heavy make-up and slip into something sexy… or… you can just sit back and enjoy this weekend’s hot tub party.
Early forms of drag and cross-dressing go back a long time, as our hot-tub time machine has proven. Joan of Arc, the French Catholic cross-dressing warrior saint, led the medieval French army to victory when she was 17, insisting that she had been called by God. Unfortunately, she eventually met a rather fiery demise.
Although women attended Shakespeare's plays in the 16th Century of Elizabethan England as well as Classical Chinese Theater, it was young boys who usually performed female roles. Women did not have the same freedoms as men being without social status apart from the association with their father or husband. The social conventions of the times along with some good old fashioned chauvinism kept Elizabethan women off stage so performances by men dressed as women were totally normal.
J. Edgar Hoover, perhaps one of the most powerful politicians in Washington, sometimes considered more powerful than the presidents he served under including Roosevelt, Kennedy and Nixon, was also rumored to be a cross-dresser with numerous stories having emerged about Hoover dressed in drag in New York City, usually in red dresses he called "Mary."
The inspiration for the character of Ursala in The Little Mermaid came from Harris Glenn Milstead (better known as the Divine) who was named "Drag Queen of the Century" by People magazine and most famously starred in John Waters' 1980 cult classic, Pink Flamingos.
The cult hit movie musical The Ricky Horror Picture Show inspired many generations of young people
to attend performances in drag.
The late 1980s early '90s Canadian comedy group The Kids in the Hall used drag in many of their skits with their infinite supply of unique characters.
British comedian Eddie Izzard cross dresses to fight prejudice and regularly cross dresses both on and off stage and claims to be a straight transvestite or a male lesbian and has also described himself as a lesbian trapped in a males body.
RuPaul, the Drag Queen has had her own talk show, released several albums and has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies. At the end of each show, she tells her contestants, "If you can't love yourself, how the hell you gonna love somebody else?"
In the era of glam rock many performers donned partial or full drag. Though, the legendary musician, actor and producer, David Bowie's cross-dressing is respected by all.
From William Shakespeare to producer Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda, The Rocky Horror and glam rock era to Robin Williams’ famous portrayal of a nanny in the 1993 comedy, Mrs. Doubtfire and Tyler Perry’s Madea movies, drag has come a long way…
Check out these sweet clips we've complied with appearances by Jim Carrey, Eddie Izzard, Chuck Norris, Charles Barkley, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and General Zod!
Click here for Out in AC and Resorts Atlantic City Miss'd America weekend events
Cilick here for this week's Miss'd America cover story
Click here for photos from last year's Miss'd America Pageant
Click here for video of this week's Drag Queen Race at Harrah's Resort
From elephant-dung crafted roses to bacon lube, we have uncovered some of the very, very worst Valentine's Day gifts.
Atlantic City Weekly's Hot Tub Party is taking a trip back in time again, this time checking out some of the best duets of the last 20 years and a round-up of some of the best Super Bowl commercials of the last decade.
Tweet your slogan suggestions using the hashtag #ACslogans. We're looking for some fresh creativity and wit. You never know, we might choose to reward a favorite.
Video, photos and more from Saturday's Miss'd America Pageant.
And, thank God we joined you as one, and not apart. Think of how dull this world would be without our creative energy. It would be the light bulb hanging on a wire from the ceiling, without the decorative fixture — or the lamp without the lamp shade.
“It’s pageantry at its finest. The biggest difference [this year is] we will have world-class entertainment.”
From the Shannon Twins, Paz de la Huerta and the Showboat Bombshells to Rihanna, Britney, Crystal Harris and the Girls of Playboy Golf...
Definition of a drag queen? A man who likes to eat, drink, and be Mary! It may sound funny to some and it’s easy to crack a joke here and there, but until you get to an event such as this past weekend’s Miss’d America Pageant, you cannot imagine the talent, sincerity, and camaraderie that fills the room.
So last week, there was Hitchen, head to toe decked out as “Knockers Johnson,” filming the opening skit for this year’s pageant on the beach. Other characters were Lucy Luckyano and Ally Capone, possibly the first time some of America’s most famous gangsters ....
The show was created in the early 1990s by former Atlantic City Councilman John Schultz and his partner, Gary Hill, and held at their old Studio Six nightclub, once considered the epicenter for gay life in Atlantic City.
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1. Anonymous said... on Jan 20, 2012 at 03:05PM
“hilarious round up! Nice job”