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mittenknittin t1_j6bzj0k wrote

Reply to comment by Thornescape in Dickens' David Copperfield: Were men more affectionate with each other in the 18th century? by angelojann

The whole panic about drag is seriously new in America too, like within the last 10-20 years. Used to be way more common. I mean people still love the movie Mrs. Doubtfire. There was an entire sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari called Bosom Buddies about two dudes who dressed in drag so they could live in an apartment building that was for women only (which is an interesting artifact itself.) Can’t say it tanked their careers; on the contrary it was extremely popular.

In my lifetime I’ve watched certain groups of people get WAAYY more skittish about drag, as if there MUST be a sexual connotation to it, and it’s not a good thing.

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Mkwdr t1_j6cdhtt wrote

Reminds me of Some like it Hot!

It’s also interesting to consider the very mainstream annual pantomimes which are generally shows for children (and a regular Christmas school trip) in the U.K. in which the ‘dame’ is always a man in drag and the principle boy a girl. Of course it’s well known that in Shakespeare’s day women weren’t even allowed on the stage ( so plays that had men pretending to be women who in the play are pretending to be men and so on?) so I’m guessing plenty of actors that specialised in dressing up as women.

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