Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing And Cultural Anxiety By Roger Baker

In both of their respective texts, Marjorie Garber and Roger Baker discuss the ever-increasing prevalence of “transvestism” (or what is modernly known as “drag”) in popular American culture. Although the American public typically disapproves of individuals blurring the boundaries of gender, the use of cross-dressing as entertainment has generally been embraced and met with great acclaim. In Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety, Garber argues that films like Tootsie (1982) is significant in that it portrays a heterosexual man living as a woman. While many enjoyed the movie believing that Tootsie was commentary on the relationship between men and women, Garber claims that the film is actually about transvestism. To ignore this