cross-dressing

cross-dressing
   Despite the Biblical prohibition against cross-dressing, 'The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God' (Deuteronomy 22: 5), men dressing as women (and occasionally the other way round) is a recurrent feature of traditional customs, including *morris dance, *mumming plays, Occupational customs (especially mock weddings), *Molly dance, *sword dance, *Castleton Garland, *Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, and even the Lady *Godiva procession, and is regularly mentioned as a feature of other events such as *Charlton Horn Fair, and private Christmas parties. Some folklorists pronounced that cross-dressing had a ritual, fertility-enhancing function, but there is no evidence of this, and the practice has other more prosaic features which are sufficient to explain its presence and continuity. Until the 17th century women were routinely debarred from taking part in all performance milieux, including the legitimate stage, and this prohibition would have been even stronger in the realm of customs which involve heavy drinking, rough horseplay, and fighting. A further reason is that in our society men dressed as women have been regarded as inherently funny, allowing scope for ribaldry and innuendo which normal social mores would hardly allow if women were taking part.

A Dictionary of English folklore. . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • cross dressing — cross dressing …   Medical dictionary

  • Cross-dressing — Cet article concerne le cross dressing en général. Pour des informations spécifiques sur le cross dressing sexuel, voyez l article fétichisme travesti Le cross dressing (litt. habillement croisé) est l acte qui consiste à porter les vêtements… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cross dressing — Cet article concerne le cross dressing en général. Pour des informations spécifiques sur le cross dressing sexuel, voyez l article fétichisme travesti Le cross dressing (litt. habillement croisé) est l acte qui consiste à porter les vêtements… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cross-Dressing — ist, unabhängig vom jeweiligen Beweggrund, das Tragen der spezifischen Bekleidung eines anderen Geschlechts. Das Wort wurde in den frühen 1970er Jahren in den USA von einer Gruppe von heterosexuellen Cross Dressern geprägt, um die bestehenden… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • cross-dressing — also crossdressing, cross dressing, 1911, from CROSS (Cf. cross) (adj.) + dressing; a translation of Ger. Transvestismus …   Etymology dictionary

  • cross-dressing — cross dressˈing noun Transvestism, the wearing of clothes normally associated with the opposite sex • • • Main Entry: ↑cross * * * cross dressing UK US noun [uncountable] the activity of wearing clothes designed for the opposite sex, especially… …   Useful english dictionary

  • cross-dressing — [krôsdres΄iŋ] n. the wearing of clothing typically worn by the opposite sex cross dresser n. * * * See cross dresser. * * * …   Universalium

  • cross-dressing — n [U] BrE the practice of wearing the clothes of the opposite sex, especially for sexual pleasure →↑transvestite >cross dresser n …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • cross-dressing — noun uncount the activity of wearing clothes designed for the opposite sex, especially for sexual pleasure ╾ ,cross dresser noun count …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • cross-dressing — [krôsdres΄iŋ] n. the wearing of clothing typically worn by the opposite sex cross dresser n …   English World dictionary

  • cross-dressing — ► NOUN ▪ the wearing of clothing typical of the opposite sex …   English terms dictionary

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