User:Mistikaa/History of cross-dressing

Chinese women became to be known as kunsheng, which translates to "female male."

The Yuan dynasty is known for recognizing and accepting the involvement of many Chinese women in theatrical plays. In a time of male dominance politics, the Yuan dynasty allowed women to participe in these plays and often played main roles. Chinese opera was influenced by early-century historical events, poems, and mythology. By using a mixture of different art forms like music, dancing and singing, many women were able to fit into these roles. Lead-roles were the only people that had singing parts, the rest of the supporting roles only talked. That same person often played different characters and different genders because they were the only ones allowed to sing on stage. If it was a male-role, women would be given the part and disguised themselves through clothing, physical movements, gestures, and skills to portray each character.