The use of "drag" in this sense appeared in print as early as 1870 but its origin is uncertain. One suggested etymological … See more

Men dressed as women have been featured in certain traditional customs for centuries. For example, the characters of some regional variants of the traditional mummers' play, which were traditionally always perf… See more

Cross-dressing elements of performance traditions are a widespread and longstanding cultural phenomena.
The ancient Roman playwright Plautus' (c. 254 – 184 BCE) Menaechmi includes a scene in w… See more

Ballroom culture (also known as "ball culture", and other names) is an underground LGBT subculture that originated in 1920s New York in which people "walk" (i.e., compete) for trophies, prizes, and … See more

In Baroque opera, where soprano roles for men were sung by castrati, Handel's heroine Bradamante, in the opera Alcina, disguises herself as a man to save her lover, played by a male soprano; contemporary audiences … See more

The self-consciously risqué bourgeois high jinks of Brandon Thomas' Charley's Aunt (London, 1892) were still viable theatre material in La Cage aux Folles (1978), which was remade, as The Birdcage, as late as 1996. … See more

The world of popular music has a venerable history of drag. Marlene Dietrich was a popular actress and singer who sometimes performed dressed as a man, such as in the films Blue Angel and Morocco.
In the … See more