MisterGrey3000
Member
Welcome to GAF's Official Crossdressing And Drag Thread!
This topic was created in order to give GAF's resident crossdressers, drag kings/queens, and anyone interested in gender-nonconformity a safe and focused place to talk about crossdressing and drag. This is not a debate topic; we don’t particularly care if the sight or idea of a man in a dress makes you queasy.
What is a crossdresser?
A crossdresser is often a man or a woman- yes, they do it to- who dons the clothing of their opposite gender in order to physically express their gender identity, to feel comfortable, or even to engage in their sexual desires. Crossdressers don't dress up to “trick/trap” people, and it's bigoted to assume that they would even want to.
Crossdressing and being trans are not the same thing!
Crossdressing individuals are usually cisgender gender-nonconforming people who are comfortable with the gender identity they were assigned at birth.
While many trans folks discover themselves through the act of crossdressing or drag these things don't exclusively correlate with one another; understand this, trans equals gender identity (inside) and crossdressing/drag equals gender expression (outside).
Crossdressing is not an effective or recommended way to determine someone's sexual orientation!
While there certainly are a sizable amount of queer crossdressers there are a lot more straight ones; gender expression doesn't determine a person's sexual orientation, gender and sexuality are separate entities.
What is Drag? What are Drag Queens and Kings?
Drag is a varied form of queer nonconforming gender-expression mixed with creative expression; it's origins lie squarely within the LGBT community.
Despite most queens and kings being gender-nonconforming cis queer men and women anybody can participate in drag. There are straight boys who are drag queens, there are gender queer individuals who are drag queens/kings, there are trans women who are drag queens/kings, and there are cis women who are drag queens (often referred to as faux/bio-queens)
Despite what you may think, drag isn't done for the sole purpose of being a funny goofball or a socially observant performer/activist, this is actually a common misconception even among LGBTQIA individuals. People express themselves through drag for a variety of reasons, and one of the most common is gender expression; drag often serves as an accepting and safe space for queer folks to transgress the rigid gender roles of our society.
There are many different styles of drag that people express themselves with.
For example, there is:
Fishy Drag - A drag queen style in which a queen tries her very best to look and express herself like a convincing cisgender woman. Fishy queens can be quite glamorous, but they’re often more "toned down" than most queens in order to be convincing. Examples:
High Drag - these are probably the super exaggerated uber-feminine Rupaul-esque queens you’re thinking of when you hear the word “drag queen”; they generally have traits such as exaggerated hourglass figures (big hips and breast), long painted nails, expensive glittery dresses/gowns, lots of makeup, and super tall high heels. Some are camp, and some are pure glam. Examples:
Skag/Bear Drag - A genre of queens who pair masculine traits like bushy beards, large muscles, stocky bodies, or "beer guts" with feminine clothing and makeup. These kinds of queens don’t usually try to hide traditionally masculine features. Examples:
Pageant- These are queens that generally compete in big expensive lavish beauty pageants, and they generally go for a very fishy/convincing dolled up look. These queens are quite serious about their style (which they should be seeing as pageantry is quite expensive and time consuming), so don't expect them to be the funniest girls in the room. Example:
Comedy/Camp - these queens are probably about as recognizable as "High Drag" queens to most people. These queens generally rely on humor and social commentary in their acts. Their makeup and clothing styles can range from the clownish to fishy, but a sizable chunk of these queens aren't really worried about being the most beautiful woman in the room.
Genderfuck Drag - a genre of drag queens who play with gender in a very artsy, androgynous, or abstract way. This genre can overlap with any of the previous genres that I have listed including “Camp”/comedy. Examples:
One thing you’ve got to realize is that a lot of kings/queens are not even aware of the idea that they’re making a social statement (or they don’t care) Some boys just like dresses and heels while some girls just really like suits and bowties; drag is one of the only ways for a non-cisnormative person to express themselves, be creative, and make money without being harassed.
How do I address these people?
You don't get to define people's pronouns, gender identity, or gender expression. Use the pronouns that the individual prefers, and call them by the identity that they say they are. If a cisgender boy in a dress prefers to be called she despite their male identity, you call them "she". However, it's generally polite and respectful to refer to all the subjects of this OP by the gender they're presenting as (Ex: Drag queens tend to present like women, therefore "she/her" is appropriate.)
Do not refer to any crossdresser, drag king, or drag queen that you meet as a "transvestite" unless they make it perfectly clear that they're okay with it.
Transvestite is a very clinical and outdated term that often carries strong connotations of fetishism and "sexual deviancy"; it effectively erases the diverse experiences and motivations of these gender-nonconforming individuals and collapses them into malformed stereotypes.
How do I get into to crossdressing or Drag?
Most people who are CDs or Drags started gender bending when they were young kids and it eventually became a big part of their lives. It’s not easy for life long CDs and lifelong CDs who become queens or even Kings to do what they do without offending some family members, some friends, and other people in society (especially when it comes to male or male bodied CDs, or DQs) Once you start to express yourself in a gender-atypical fashion you’ll end up facing discrimination, so be ready for anything.
If you want to start CDing or doing Drag but you're not confident you should probably talk to somebody about it first (preferably friends or family members who happen to be LGBTQIA. You can also talk to anyone in this thread or on GAF who volunteers to offer some kind of support), or contact a transgender support group in your area (they generally deal with everybody who falls under the label)
If you are confident and want to get started right away here are a few helpful tutorials, channels, and videos that'll help you get started.
Vera Wylde (MtF crossdressing tips)
Vera Wylde: Coming out as a CD
Makeup Tutorials
ViviennePinay Makeup Tutorial pt 1
ViviennePinay Makeup Tutorial pt 2
Skarlet Starlet Makeup Tutorial
Female wigs n stuff
Skarlet Starlet Ball and Chain wig review (mywigsandweaves.com)
Wigs By Vanity (beautiful natural-looking costly wigs that are specifically made for our giant lovely man heads
)
Padding, corsets, and tucking!
Vera Wylde Tucking Tips
Vera Wylde Hip Padding and Cinching Tips
Petrilude (Drag Queen) Tucking Tutorial
Tutorial: How to Tuck AND Make a Gaff!(She is not a drag or a CD, She's a trans woman who presumably made this vid for other trans girls and for any DQs/CDs that stumble upon it)
Chest binding, making abs, creating beards, bushy eyebrows...OH MY!
Spikey Van Dykey's Breast Binding tutorial 2013
Drag King Binding
FtM Makeup Tutorial
Female to Male Makeup & Beard - A Drag King Tutorial
Edit:
Shoes!!!
Shoes of Prey - customs-made heels, booties, flats, etc. in almost every size.
It's a quality store, but it's a little pricey.
This topic was created in order to give GAF's resident crossdressers, drag kings/queens, and anyone interested in gender-nonconformity a safe and focused place to talk about crossdressing and drag. This is not a debate topic; we don’t particularly care if the sight or idea of a man in a dress makes you queasy.
What is a crossdresser?
A crossdresser is often a man or a woman- yes, they do it to- who dons the clothing of their opposite gender in order to physically express their gender identity, to feel comfortable, or even to engage in their sexual desires. Crossdressers don't dress up to “trick/trap” people, and it's bigoted to assume that they would even want to.
Crossdressing and being trans are not the same thing!
Crossdressing individuals are usually cisgender gender-nonconforming people who are comfortable with the gender identity they were assigned at birth.
While many trans folks discover themselves through the act of crossdressing or drag these things don't exclusively correlate with one another; understand this, trans equals gender identity (inside) and crossdressing/drag equals gender expression (outside).
Crossdressing is not an effective or recommended way to determine someone's sexual orientation!
While there certainly are a sizable amount of queer crossdressers there are a lot more straight ones; gender expression doesn't determine a person's sexual orientation, gender and sexuality are separate entities.
What is Drag? What are Drag Queens and Kings?
Drag is a varied form of queer nonconforming gender-expression mixed with creative expression; it's origins lie squarely within the LGBT community.
Despite most queens and kings being gender-nonconforming cis queer men and women anybody can participate in drag. There are straight boys who are drag queens, there are gender queer individuals who are drag queens/kings, there are trans women who are drag queens/kings, and there are cis women who are drag queens (often referred to as faux/bio-queens)
Despite what you may think, drag isn't done for the sole purpose of being a funny goofball or a socially observant performer/activist, this is actually a common misconception even among LGBTQIA individuals. People express themselves through drag for a variety of reasons, and one of the most common is gender expression; drag often serves as an accepting and safe space for queer folks to transgress the rigid gender roles of our society.
There are many different styles of drag that people express themselves with.
For example, there is:
Fishy Drag - A drag queen style in which a queen tries her very best to look and express herself like a convincing cisgender woman. Fishy queens can be quite glamorous, but they’re often more "toned down" than most queens in order to be convincing. Examples:
High Drag - these are probably the super exaggerated uber-feminine Rupaul-esque queens you’re thinking of when you hear the word “drag queen”; they generally have traits such as exaggerated hourglass figures (big hips and breast), long painted nails, expensive glittery dresses/gowns, lots of makeup, and super tall high heels. Some are camp, and some are pure glam. Examples:
Skag/Bear Drag - A genre of queens who pair masculine traits like bushy beards, large muscles, stocky bodies, or "beer guts" with feminine clothing and makeup. These kinds of queens don’t usually try to hide traditionally masculine features. Examples:
Pageant- These are queens that generally compete in big expensive lavish beauty pageants, and they generally go for a very fishy/convincing dolled up look. These queens are quite serious about their style (which they should be seeing as pageantry is quite expensive and time consuming), so don't expect them to be the funniest girls in the room. Example:
Comedy/Camp - these queens are probably about as recognizable as "High Drag" queens to most people. These queens generally rely on humor and social commentary in their acts. Their makeup and clothing styles can range from the clownish to fishy, but a sizable chunk of these queens aren't really worried about being the most beautiful woman in the room.
Genderfuck Drag - a genre of drag queens who play with gender in a very artsy, androgynous, or abstract way. This genre can overlap with any of the previous genres that I have listed including “Camp”/comedy. Examples:
One thing you’ve got to realize is that a lot of kings/queens are not even aware of the idea that they’re making a social statement (or they don’t care) Some boys just like dresses and heels while some girls just really like suits and bowties; drag is one of the only ways for a non-cisnormative person to express themselves, be creative, and make money without being harassed.
How do I address these people?
You don't get to define people's pronouns, gender identity, or gender expression. Use the pronouns that the individual prefers, and call them by the identity that they say they are. If a cisgender boy in a dress prefers to be called she despite their male identity, you call them "she". However, it's generally polite and respectful to refer to all the subjects of this OP by the gender they're presenting as (Ex: Drag queens tend to present like women, therefore "she/her" is appropriate.)
Do not refer to any crossdresser, drag king, or drag queen that you meet as a "transvestite" unless they make it perfectly clear that they're okay with it.
Transvestite is a very clinical and outdated term that often carries strong connotations of fetishism and "sexual deviancy"; it effectively erases the diverse experiences and motivations of these gender-nonconforming individuals and collapses them into malformed stereotypes.
How do I get into to crossdressing or Drag?
Most people who are CDs or Drags started gender bending when they were young kids and it eventually became a big part of their lives. It’s not easy for life long CDs and lifelong CDs who become queens or even Kings to do what they do without offending some family members, some friends, and other people in society (especially when it comes to male or male bodied CDs, or DQs) Once you start to express yourself in a gender-atypical fashion you’ll end up facing discrimination, so be ready for anything.
If you want to start CDing or doing Drag but you're not confident you should probably talk to somebody about it first (preferably friends or family members who happen to be LGBTQIA. You can also talk to anyone in this thread or on GAF who volunteers to offer some kind of support), or contact a transgender support group in your area (they generally deal with everybody who falls under the label)
If you are confident and want to get started right away here are a few helpful tutorials, channels, and videos that'll help you get started.
Vera Wylde (MtF crossdressing tips)
Vera Wylde: Coming out as a CD
Makeup Tutorials
ViviennePinay Makeup Tutorial pt 1
ViviennePinay Makeup Tutorial pt 2
Skarlet Starlet Makeup Tutorial
Female wigs n stuff
Skarlet Starlet Ball and Chain wig review (mywigsandweaves.com)
Wigs By Vanity (beautiful natural-looking costly wigs that are specifically made for our giant lovely man heads
)Padding, corsets, and tucking!
Vera Wylde Tucking Tips
Vera Wylde Hip Padding and Cinching Tips
Petrilude (Drag Queen) Tucking Tutorial
Tutorial: How to Tuck AND Make a Gaff!(She is not a drag or a CD, She's a trans woman who presumably made this vid for other trans girls and for any DQs/CDs that stumble upon it)
Chest binding, making abs, creating beards, bushy eyebrows...OH MY!
Spikey Van Dykey's Breast Binding tutorial 2013
Drag King Binding
FtM Makeup Tutorial
Female to Male Makeup & Beard - A Drag King Tutorial
Edit:
Shoes!!!
Shoes of Prey - customs-made heels, booties, flats, etc. in almost every size.
It's a quality store, but it's a little pricey.
