When I was a youngster, one of my first favorite comic book characters was Katy Keene, the long-legged fashion queen with jet black hair. I was fascinated by her glamorous image and I loved cutting out the Katy Keene paper dolls and outfits that appeared in the pages of her comic books.
No one ever discouraged Little “transgender” Stana’s interest in Katy Keene. In fact, Mom abetted it by helping me cut out the more difficult outfits. (Sometimes I think Mom wanted me to be a girl. She always encouraged me in all of my interests including those on the feminine side of the street.)
I don’t recall any crossdressing in the pages of Katy Keene, but I did wish I could wear some of the outfits that Katy wore.
As I grew older, I started to worry about my image, so I stopped reading Katy Keene to avoid being branded a “sissy.” Superman, Batman, Dick Tracy, and Mad magazine replaced Katy and soon I encountered crossdressing in their four-colored pages.
I remember a female impersonating gangster appearing in a Batman story. I also recall stories in which Superman’s pal, Jimmy Olsen, went undercover “crossdresser” en femme. Dick Tracy had so many encounters with gangsters in drag that I still wonder about the Chester Gould’s feminine side. Over the years, Mad had numerous encounters with crossdressing.
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Meanwhile, Japanese comic books (manga) and cartoons (anime) have lots of crossdressing. Over 10 years ago, Jana built a web site dedicated to trans content in Japanese comic books and cartoons. But one thing led to another and Jana expanded the web site to include television, films, literature and history, as well as Japanese comic books and cartoons.
Jana’s TG Lists, subtitled “transgender in media,” which is accessible here, is an amazing collection of trans-media. I highly recommend it!
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| Long-time Femulate reader Sheila attending the Southern Comfort Conference. |