"Shelia Take a Bow"

This week I found the concept of "Drag Kings" to be particularly interesting. The idea of women taking on the appearance of men and putting on an almost satirical performance was something I had never heard of before. I am mostly familiar with "Drag Kings" and male gender-bending.  However, when a woman assumes the identity of a male there are many questions raised as to the motives behind such a transformation.
Is she merely a feminist? Is she a lesbian? Does she really want to be a male?
It seems as though such scenes become spectacles and it is generally less accepted for women to act or dress in this fashion.
When the roles of males and females seem to get blurred and confused, mass consumers can be put off. We, as consumers, are generally more comfortable with what we are familiar to.

Gender-bending is nothing new though. In the 1960's Andy Warhol often mixed the sexes in various movies and looks. He, himself, dyed his hair, wore make-up, and drew on his eyebrows. His avant-garde films are especially known for their gender-bending.
Paul Morrissey was an extremely excentric filmmaker who collaborated with Warhol on almost all of his film endeavors.
"Flesh" is one such example.

While the acting and the overall plot of the film leave little to be desired the general synopsis is such:

 (A heroin junkie (Joe Dallesandro) works as a prostitute to support his habit and fund an abortion needed by the girlfriend of his lesbian wife..)

The basic gender roles and stereotypes are broken and toyed with.

Many of Warhol's "stars" had appearances that did not fit into societies norms. Some were males who dressed female, some were females who dressed more masculine, and there were those who also took on an androgynous appearance.

Whether such "plays" on gender are accepted or not is really not the issue. The fact is that they get attention and whether we agree with them or not, our acknowledgement of them gives them a place in popular culture.