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An itneresting potted history there (if heavily biased towards the States). I’m surprised by the implication in a couple of the entries that crossdressing was illegal in parts of the US until very recently – that’s pretty messed up. I get the impression, though, that the path for women who’ve wanted to wear men’s clothing hasn’t been exactly smooth either; indeed, one little fact I always remind myself of whenever I’m tempted to wallow in self-pity over society’s intolerance of men who wear women’s clothing is that one of the main reasons Joan of Arc* was burnt at the stake was that she dressed as a man, so we aren’t the only ones who’ve suffered from the taboo against crossdressing. (Admittedly, she was executed way back in the 15th Century, but her story does at least make one question the popular and simplistic assumption that society is endlessly tolerant of women who dress and act like men, but not at all tolerant of the reverse situation.)On another topic relating to the above post, I have to marvel at the courage of VP and those 12 crossdressers who appeared in Heels & Hose (I’m assuming it was a publication of some sort). To have done something like that back then! Then again, that’s the only way change is affected, I suppose – by people being brave (and crazy) enough to flaunt taboos. And someone always has to be the first to do it, don’t they?*I suppose Joan of Arc could be considered another transgender life, although there’s no way of knowing, of course, exactly what her reasons were for doing what she did. In any case, I’ve long been interested in her, especially as she seems a rather peculiar mix of traditional masculinity and femininity: the first thing manifested in her attire and martial deeds, the second in her complete submission to God. Because of the latter thing, I’m not sure she could be considered some sort of prototype feminist.