I cross-dressed during my first year in college. The pictures exist. But you’ll never find them.
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Here I am in New Orleans, and there’s a man walking around the French Quarter in a black miniskirt, fishnets, a sequined bra, combat boots, and a cowboy hat. Two days ago, he was wearing high heels. No one finds this odd.
Days earlier, the Boylesque troupe Mod Carousel releases a parody of the music video for Billboard’s #1 song, “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke ft. Pharrel. While the women wear the social equivalent of their male counterparts in the original music video, the men are “feminized:” they wear traditionally female undergarments and makeup. People find this odd. Very vocal people find this odd.
Now, I get that there’s a little bit of Michael Moore conspiracy going on here, but follow me. I have a theory. I have never come across a man in any stage of un- or cross-dress that was found socially unacceptable, so long as he was wearing a cowboy hat. I’ve seen a few gentlemen of this description: drag queens, “casual” cross (like the New Orleans dude), even a stripper, but that was just a comedy sketch on TV.
There’s something about the cowboy hat. It says from one man to another, “I am in full possession of my faculties. No matter what you may see or believe, trust me; I am sane and lucid.”
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There’s something about the cowboy hat. It says from one man to another, “I am in full possession of my faculties. No matter what you may see or believe, trust me; I am sane and lucid.” And other men, myself included, take this fully at face value. Even if I didn’t, I understand that I could walk up to a man in any state of un-or cross-dress whom I suspected of being out of his mind who happened to be wearing a cowboy hat, and there are very few explanations he could offer me that I would be bothered by.
This isn’t to say that, had Mod Carousel slapped a few cowboy hats on their men prancing around, it would’ve made them appear any less objectified (this was the point of the parody music video), nor would it have made the one in makeup any less feminized. But even though women wear cowboy hats, they would have been seen as symbols of the masculine gender, symbols which—in the eyes of the masculine gender—are fully lucid and understanding of what they’re doing. It would’ve been like a great big inside joke, and we all would have laughed.
The cowboy hat we think of today was designed by John B. Stetson in 1865, and was known as “Boss of the Plains.” The model later became known as the “Stetson” hat, and that term became interchangeable with “cowboy hat.” It was popularized by Wild West legends, and grew into the mythos of masculinity alongside the nation itself. As the role of the cowboy faded into the history books and Hollywood westerns, it became the unifying symbol of the frontier man. Since then, though the chaps and flannels have been traded out for jeans, or even business suits, the Stetson continues to be worn by men and women evoking a cultural image that has been built into masculine mythos for over a century.
So, I’m curious; have there been situations where a man has been in any state of undress short of full nudity, or in any stage of cross dress, while wearing a cowboy hat, and looked out of place? If you have such an experience, please leave it in the comments section below.
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Photo: The Naked Cowboy in Times Square, August, 2006. Photo by Ryan McGinnis. Courtesy Wikimedia.
hello to the new managing editor.
ive been thinking about your piece for a few days now (as im a crossdresser, however im brit in britland. so the cowboy hat question has no cultural meaning to me).
what a trippy question 🙂
you tripped me out man, im usually the one sending people’s brains on a trip to the moon. it is rare i get tripped out, however you did