Cross-dressing for the sake of humor

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I think we can all agree that a guy dressing up as a woman because he a) feels that he is actually a woman, b) for ‘releasing stress’ or c) he’s gay, but what about for humor’s sake? Like some skit where a guy plays a woman, and it’s that much more funny because the pretty girl has really hairy legs? Or guys wearing those fake bras made out of fabric flowers? (that I have never seen a woman wear 😛 ) I think it can be really funny if done well, but I’m wondering if I have fallen prey to another snare the devil has set in popular culture.
Thoughts?
 
It is disordered and therefore sinful. Just because society finds it funny does not mean that it is healthy or normal. It promotes disordered behavior, and therefore I personally find it extremely distasteful.

~Liza
 
Before saying something so radical…consider this…

a Lifeteen lifenight… the topic is modesty…
instead of putting a girl in hoochie clothes…

They have a humurous fashion show… a male core member (prob the hairiest one), in hoochie clothes…to show what not to wear…

this is an over simplistic description of the whole night …everything is talked about of course…but it was a great night and kids got the hint without feeling preached at, and they got to laugh in the meantime.
 
Accentuating the absurd is not disordered, it is the basis for all clown humor. It may be distasteful though if the subjects for parody and the persons portraying them are poorly selected, such as nineteenth and early twentieth century negro minstrel shows.
 
It will be interesting to see if a moral theologian says otherwise, but I can’t see how such a thing is anything but funny.
 
HAHAHA my dad was a girl scout for Haloween when he was a teen. I saw a picture of it. Very hilarious! Now don’t tell me you are against Halloween too! Its one of my favorite holidays!
 
I realize it is mainstream comedy but for some reason I have always disliked guys in drag for comic affect, hated Some Like it Hot, the talent show in South Pacific, college shows with that schtick, just don’t enjoy it and don’t laugh at it.
 
Context and intent matter here. Men dressed as women performed women’s parts in Shakespeare’s time since women were barred from the theater. In his plays, the Bard often uses cross dressing to comic effect. SNL’s Church Lady is often very funny as are many of the skits of Monty Python. I even remember Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cross dressing for laughs. Pyscho/sexual motives are one thing, satire and humor something else indeed. As Freud may have said, sometimes a cigar is just a smoke.
 
lizaanne said:
It is disordered and therefore sinful. Just because society finds it funny does not mean that it is healthy or normal. It promotes disordered behavior, and therefore I personally find it extremely distasteful.

~Liza
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I’m afraid I must disagree with you here, Liza. As a previous poster said, depicting the absurd is one of the pillars of comedy – to which I would add that satire is one of the most effective means of criticism.

I once dressed in drag in a farcical play, since I was playing a public figure who is believed to have been a closet transvestite. There is no way one could have seen that play and seen it as an endorsement of transvestite behavior.

If I’m not mistaken, the chaplain at my university (a priest) thought it was rather funny, too – but that was 13 years ago, so I can’t be sure.

Peace,
Dante
Dante
 
It depends on the content and circumstances. I find the church lady to be hilarious, a great commentary. In college, my very macho boyfriend and his two equally manly friends dressed as ballerinas wearing workboots for Halloween – very funny and no gay undertones. Other times, I find it disturbing and distasteful. Men dressing as women for comic purposes has been around long, long before the gay agenda began. I think it’s important not to lose perspective and our sense of humor.
 
I remember one Halloween party years ago at which a friend of mine wore a pink tutu, tights, a tiara, and a too-tight, stained undershirt and walked around carrying a magic wand – the beer fairy. It was hysterical.

Peace,
Dante
 
I think even the most scrupulous among us would have to admit that Shakespearean comedy is neither sinful nor scandalous 😉
 
And then there’s always the men in the horse costume. Disordered?
 
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