Monday, August 31, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
Grayson Perry World
He isn't well known outside the UK, and he isn't even all that well-known inside it. So here's a brief introduction to this very interesting person.
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| Dark themes in Perry's work |
Perry is best known for his ceramic pots, which have elegant classical shapes, but are often decorated with images of very dark themes. It was one such pot which won him the Turner Prize. He also makes quilts and embroidery and works in other media.
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At Buckingham Palace, 2004
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I'm probably the first tranny at the Palace, although one or two may have slipped through unnoticed. This just happens to be my preferred style of dress.
Other transvestites think I'm the wrong sort of weirdo because they don't like my dresses.
Perry's wife Phillipa and daughter Flo (20) have known about his open crossdressing from the beginning. He adopts the alter-ego Claire. He often (but not always) dresses Claire as a child (something I personally find very disturbing and will touch on in a later blog; the "wrong sort of weirdo"?). He is often interviewed in the persona of Claire. His autobiography, published in 2006, is entitled Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl. I admit I haven't read it yet, but it's on my list, and you can be sure I will blog about it once I have. Perry writes:
Claire is not a real person; it's me in a frock. All she does is swan about, look at herself in the mirror and primp, and go to parties, smile and have a nice time. She does not DO anything - she doesn't even make a bit of toast. Claire doesn't make any pots.
You can’t put on a dress and swan about in public and complain when you get attention. It doesn’t bother me. It’s a handy tool when I need it. I might be ‘the tranny potter' but at least it's a brand.
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Perry depicted on a tricycle
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What I enjoyed about this programme (and why I like Perry) is that he is absolutely fearless and forthright in what he does. He is a crossdresser, and he enjoys it, and so he just does it. He is also not afraid to talk openly about why crossdressing is enjoyable, and why sometimes it is painful or unpleasant. He may be what Eddie Izzard calls an "executive transvestite".
Why I envy him is that, when I see him, nobody seems to bat an eye at his behaviour (with perhaps the exception of Her Majesty on that one occasion). It's as if, being an artist, people expect him to behave in an outrageous way. Being an artist seems to give him permission to crossdress, somehow. When I watch him I want to shout: "It's OK for you! You're not supposed to conform to societal norms! But what about the rest of us?"
Even I admit, I feel more comfortable with crossdressing among artistic types (artists and musicians and actors) than among more traditional male archetypes (teachers, lawyers, doctors, priests).
As well as being a transvestite, Perry is also a motorcycle enthusiast. The documentary features a track day, where a large male biker is asked why he enjoys motorcycles. He responds (without a hint of irony) something like "Well, I come down here, I put on my leathers, and I feel like a completely different person. I can leave my life behind and just be someone else for a while. It's totally relaxing". Perry elicited several similar comments from other bikers, and came away remarking that actually, "trannies and bikers have a lot more in common than you might think."
So there you have him. Grayson Perry. Artist. Transvestite. Queen-surpriser.
(Source: Bluestockingblue.blogspot.com)
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Women Resembling Trans-sisters
Look at this photo of Britney Spears that accompanied an online new story about her checking out of rehab.Doesn't she look like a male-to-female cross-dresser? Maybe it is the wig or the low-key makeup or the suit, but whatever… she looks like a trans-sister to me. Which got me thinking about other women who look like trans-sisters.
I have nothing against women, who look like trans-sisters. They help us real trans-sisters to blend in society. They obfuscate the line between males and females, which makes it easier for real trans-sisters to pass.
Consider this list of tall females of notoriety:
5 ft 8 in: Ellen DeGeneres, Shelley Duvall, Jane Fonda, Anne Hathaway, Paris Hilton, Whitney Houston, Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Diane Keaton, Anna Kournikova, Debra Messing and Meg Ryan
5 ft 9 in: Lauren Bacall, Jennifer Beals, Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Mariah Carey, Lynda Carter, Cher. Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joan Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Garner, Lauren Graham, Katie Holmes, Jane Kaczmarek, Julia Roberts, and Martha Stewart
5 ft 10 in: Joan Allen, Marian Anderson, Bea Arthur, Jules Asner, Tyra Banks, Elizabeth Berkley, Sandra Bernhard, Naomi Campbell, Kim Cattrall, Ciara, Cindy Crawford, Marcia Cross, Laura Dern, Diana, Princess of Wales, Minnie Driver, Jenna Elfman, Linda Evangelista, Angie Everhart, Louise Fletcher, Daisy Fuentes, Daryl Hannah, Anjelica Huston, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Heidi Klum, Lisa Kudrow, Christine Lahti, Queen Latifah, Courtney Love, Mandy Moore, Sandra Day O’Connor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katey Sagal, Carly Simon, Leelee Sobieski, Mira Sorvino, Charlize Theron, Christy Turlington, Kathleen Turner, Shannon Tweed, Liv Tyler, Sean Young, and Serena Williams
5 ft 11 in: Susan Anton, Grace Jones, Nicole Kidman, Lucy Lawless, Julie Newmar, Cynthia Nixon, Queen Noor, Vanessa Redgrave, Rebecca Romijn, Claudia Schiffer, and Anna Nicole Smith
6 ft: Ann Coulter, Geena Davis, Macy Gray, Jerry Hall, Mariel Hemingway, Famke Janssen, Elle MacPherson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Brooke Shields, Uma Thurman, and Sigourney Weaver
6 ft 1 in: Brigitte Nielsen and Venus Williams
6 ft 2 in: Julia Child and Staci Hunter
6 ft 3 in: Lindsay Davenport and Janet Reno
6 ft 4 in: Rebecca Lobo
Yes, a lot of these women are drop-dead gorgeous and would never be mistaken for trans-sisters, but there are a few who might.
Take 6-foot-tall actress Famke Janssen, for example. She played a man (a pre-op and later post-op trans-sexual) in the television series Nip/Tuck and was mistaken as a transvestite in the film Celebrity. Personally, I would never confuse her as a trans-sister, but evidently someone thought that her persona was such that they cast her in those trans-sister roles. Similarly, Rebecca Romijn plays a post-op trans-sexual on the television series Ugly Betty. I dunno, but maybe in Hollywood, just being tall qualifies you to act as a trans-sister.
By the way, I have a pet peeve with Hollywood regarding the casting of trans-sisters on film and television. I hate it when a female is cast as a trans-sister. I think a male playing a trans-sister would be more realistic and lend credibility to the role.
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