Complex Behind Cross Dressing

What's the main problem in your relationship? Both of you cannot understand each other or cannot get the logic behind your partner's actions. The solution is to step into your partner's shoes.,I mean literally step into his/her shoes and dress up like him/ her.

The concept of cross-dressing is not just limited to individuals who are just curious or seriously desperate to feel being the opposite sex, even it seems to be a playful practice in between a couple, in ancient India.

The mention of one such act is when the lover of our mythology, Krishna actually dresses up like Radha and Radha, in turn, takes the guise of Krishna. This game was not that new in this land. In the Baul culture, which is an ascetic culture of Bengal,there are songs telling thatGoddess Kali always being subject to the racist name Kali ( the black one) was annoyed. Just to appease her Shiva takes Kali's dark form and goes to her. Goddess Kali in return takes Shiva's form. However, I am quite skeptical about if cross-dressing was just limited to only dressing up.

Krishna dressed as Radha and vice versa

This practice of changing places with your lover sings the same tune as the 2017celebrated Hollywood film Call Me By Your Name in which couple swaps their names. Perhaps that's a custom to showcase the deep-seated attachment for the partner, to embrace his/her identity as one's own.

How different is love from devotion? While love is between two equal entities or in the same kinds, devotion in the Hindu setting is love for the Superhuman existence. It is widely speculated that to gain Krishna's blessing devotees should take the route of romantic love.

Angry Goddess of Theyam.

In most dance forms like Chau dance, KathakaliTheyam is also a dance form or some say ritualistic worship in which male dancers do justice to the characters of Goddesses. What separates Theyam from rest of such dance forms is a strong belief that Goddess enters the body of the dancers and remains little after it ends to give other devotees solutions for their problem. You will be amazed to know it actually works that way, people reach there at the Theyam season from far-off places. The dancers are referred to as 'She' or 'Mother' at that time.

The concept of cross-dressing was also popular in Shakespearean plays where females are mostly seen sporting looks of young guys. Scholars believe that since women participation at the theatre was prohibited, all males played female parts, cross-dressing in between the plot gave them a little comfort.

It is unknown how new the concept of drag is, but in the book White Mughals by the historian writer William Dalrymple, we find reference of a White Sheriff who use to perform in the fantastic pretense of women at the jocund clubs of early 18th century clubs of Calcutta.

Did you ever wear your boyfriend's shirt just out of love or seen some people do it? Is it not what the whole post pictures? The notion behind cross-dressing is diverse but it is for sure this tradition always breathed in this country.

Sources :
History of Desire in India: Madhavi Menon.
Nine Lives: William Dalrymple.
White Mughals: William Dalrymple.