This research explorers the gender performativity of cross-dressers from various styles of the Japanese performing arts. By using existing academic literature accompanied with footage from...Show moreThis research explorers the gender performativity of cross-dressers from various styles of the Japanese performing arts. By using existing academic literature accompanied with footage from interviews, performances, and TV programs, I analyse overarching patterns among cross-dressers in Kabuki, Takarazuka, dansō –the act of dressing as a man– and josō –the act of dressing as a woman–. While cross-dressers om-stage produce masculine and feminine characters through replicating existing gender constructions, they also produce new gender constructions that deviate from the hegemonic model of masculinity and femininity at the same time.Show less
This thesis will focus on four comedies by William Shakespeare, who used the concept of cross-dressing within As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline and The Merry Wives of Windsor. This thesis...Show moreThis thesis will focus on four comedies by William Shakespeare, who used the concept of cross-dressing within As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline and The Merry Wives of Windsor. This thesis will aim to find an answer to the question of whether female characters that cross-dress are more successful in achieving their goals and to what extent the characters experience altering consequences.Show less