Double Standards?

Yeah, it's like if there is some sort of "entertainment value" then it's okay and it doesn't bother your friend. Wow... wonder what she thinks about Madea! Ilove Tyler Perry~I wouldn't consider him a trans though - anyway I know a lady who was born with both - and her parents had to choose and made her a guy - then later when she found out she had the change back to a girl because she had more feminine properties... she looks like someone in drag - but she is an awesome person!

Double Standard indeed!! I wonder if someone near and dear to her was a transvestite and lets say someone not so nice made fun of the person, how would she react then?? Especially if the near and dear person was not a celebrity and or someone famous.

I suppose it is but Danny La Rue made his living from dressing as a woman. You chose to see him, you have no choice if some man just turns up in your office dressed as a woman. I'm with your colleague, it's uncomfortable for some others.

I don't know why, but it seems that some women are really bothered by men in drag. I kid you not, most of them know more about make up and clothes than I do and I sometimes wonder if that isn't the reason, that they are feeling that their femininity is threatened. If a drag queen is making a joke out of himself, then that's less threatening than one that is, no matter how poorly, is taking himself seriously. The sad thing is that drag queens want to sleep with men, but the men who want to sleep with men, want a man who looks like a man, not like a woman.

My guess is she saw Danny La Rue's cross-dressing as part of his "schtick" rather than his daily persona. She's probably uncomfortable with the "lifestyle" aspect of cross-dressers. I'll take uncomfortable any day over hatred and loathing.

It's absolutely a double standard. Most people (men or women) no longer think anything about women wearing men's-style suits. In fact most women have raided their spouses (or brothers) closets. Why should it be any different for men? Nothing like a kilt in a stiff breeze...

I'm not sure if it is double standards. But when it is someone that you aren't interacting with, it's different,isn't it? I don't know who Danny La Rue is but I am assuming one would only see him on television. It is the same case with gays (I hope that is the politically correct word). I'm okay with it but I can't really say since I haven't come across someone who is (openly is, that is). Maybe I'd feel differently then? I'm not sure...I might be curious. Recently a friend of mine who works at a bank was talking to us about a transvestite who visits the bank often. Well, sometimes he is dressed as a woman and sometimes as a man. My friend was confused about how to address him. He had a passport where he had scratched out his name and entered a female name...and he acted weird. I'm not even sure if he was a transvestite or a confused soul.

I do think its slightly a double standard in your veiw, but to her it isnt. And thats what she thinks. She said that the ones that come in the office creep her out. So maybe its just in person that this happens. I wonder if this comedian were to come into the office and she didnt know who he was then she might just feel the same way.

Yep, it's a double standard. I think straight people are naturally uncomfortable around cross dressers but if they are funny or otherwise distract people they are better accepted--because then people don't have to think about the way they are dressed and why they do it.

Sounds pretty double standard-ish to me...

Interesting question. You reminded me of when I was little, during our seaside holidays when my parents would take me to variety shows at the Winter Gardens in Margate. They were class acts!! Often you would get drag acts singing show tunes (and some crude jokes that went over my head, lol!), and I remember being very confused and disturbed as a child, that there was a man in a dress and lots of make-up. I also used to get slightly freaked out by Hinge and Bracket on TV. But as I grew up I was not longer bothered by such acts, and I always loved Dame Edna. When I went to work I came across a few transvestites or transexuals. One worked in one of our offices, and the other I used to see all the time on the bus. They were quite an unusual site, but by that age I had learnt not to stare, and you live and let live. People have a right to dress how they wish, and imagining what it must be like being born a man but knowing that you're a woman inside, makes it easier to relate to a transgendered person. Must be hellish. But, back to your question!! There is a double standard between a man dressing up as a woman for comedy or show business, and one who wears women's clothes on a regular basis. And I think this is because the show biz 'drag queens' do it to get laughs, and people think they are just doing it because it's their act - they are playing a part. Whereas if Joe Doe does it, he expects to be taken seriously and treated as a woman, even though he might not look at all like one.

First, I am curious as to why these men would be visiting your office dressed up as women? Are they spying on the workers to make sure they are working or are they looking to join the company and are "true" transvestites? I am not sure I would say that this friend is practicing double standards. The difference it, to me anyway, is that your friend is feeling uneasy because the drag queen is in close proximity(in the office)to her, but the famous, now deceased, person was not in her presence. Maybe she would feel the same way about any drag queen, if their were in the same room with her. Maybe.

To regular people, I guess there is still a level of acceptance that should be bridged before the 'uncomfortable' feelings go away. Usually this bridge is unnecessary if that person has achieved a sense of fame or notoriety. Thus it was 'ok' to see Danny La Rue do it. But for regular folks, it makes other uncomfortable.

Of course its a double standard. Its a double standard in the aftermath of celebrity awe. Just because Danny La Rue was a well-known figure, that is okay but if any other 'less famous' individual indulges in such pursuits, suddenly that is distasteful. Height of hypocrisy, I must say!

I personally don't know his work nor had heard of him til seeing this discussion. I suppose you could take her reaction in many ways. He's a public figure and it was "normal" to see him as such or considered funny as part of a skit or routine for his career. Whereas the person in front of her if not done very well would seem odd and out of place. I am a woman and if I walked into a store wearing a big bushy mustache and acted naturally about it would you not stare? or wonder WHY is this woman doing this?