There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom is a 1987 juvenile fiction book from the author Louis Sachar, about a fifth-grade bully named Bradley whose behavior improves after intervention from a school counselor. The title comes from a point when a character, Jeff, is horribly embarrassed after accidentally entering the girls' bathroom while trying to go to the school counselor's office when a teacher gives him the wrong directions.

Plot
Bradley Chalkers is the protagonist of the book. He is the oldest student in the fifth-grade class, having repeated fourth grade.  In his school, he sits at the back of the class, last seat, last row, and never pays any attention, preferring to scribble, cut up pieces of paper, or partake in other mindless tasks which keep his mind off the lesson. He is proud whenever he receives an F on his class tests. He wants everyone to hate him because he believes that they will then leave him alone. Everyone hates him, including the teachers.

A new classmate, Jeff Fishkin, comes in from Washington, D.C., and the only two remaining seats are the ones beside and in front of Bradley. Jeff tries to reason with Bradley, but fails, like everyone else. Then, a counselor named Carla is appointed, and she can't wait to meet Bradley. Carla says she wants to be friends with Bradley, and she begins to try to open him up and reveal his kind interior, which he has been trying to hide. Bradley refuses to come quietly, and his conflicting emotions with Carla and other people induce strife among his fellow schoolmates. As he meets with Carla more and more, he slowly decides to become a better person. He does his homework and forms better relationships with his parents. To help him with a book report, Carla lends him her favorite book, My Parents Didn't Steal an Elephant. Bradley thinks that the book is good luck and responsible for his changes.

A subplot of the book involves Jeff and a girl named Colleen Verigold (described as having "red hair and a freckled face"), who seem to have crushes on each other. Bradley thinks girls are gross and especially hates Colleen's best friend, the outspoken Lori. At the beginning of the book, Bradley becomes irritated with Jeff for saying "Hi" to Colleen whenever she says "Hi" to him. Later, Carla tells Jeff and Colleen that Zen Buddhist monks are required to say "Hi" to each other when they meet (as stated in J. D. Salinger's book Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction). Later in the book, Bradley proves his friendship to Jeff by saying "Hi" to him. Towards the end of the book, as Carla helps Bradley change, he is invited to Colleen's birthday party, along with Jeff, and he even wins the party games, getting a harmonica as a prize. He also gets respect from all of the other girls.

Unfortunately, Carla is not as popular with many parents of the students. Colleen's mother becomes angry with her for supposedly preaching religion (telling Jeff and Colleen about the Zen Buddhist monks) and counseling Colleen without permission. As a result, Carla is fired and becomes a kindergarten teacher. When he hears this, Bradley becomes very upset and threatens to revert to his original behavior. Although he misses saying goodbye to Carla, he does return to the school and finds a package she leaves for him. The package contains a goodbye note from her and her book. In the end, Bradley starts to come to terms with Carla's departure. He writes her a goodbye letter of his own and sends his most prized possession with it, a small china rabbit named Ronnie.

Characters
 Bradley Chalkers – Considered the meanest kid in school; however after he meets Carla he realizes that if he believes the people who call him a "monster", then that is what he will become. He must believe in himself. A common trait of Bradley is that he can never smile properly, as no one can tell if it is a smile or frown.
 Carla Davis – the school counselor. Unlike the teachers at the school, she prefers to persuade students to do the right thing instead of outright telling them what to do. Although students like Jeff, Bradley, and Colleen like her, she is very unpopular among the parents, who believe that a counselor is unnecessary. She is the reason for Bradley's turnaround. She believes in him and gives him confidence.
 Jeff Fishkin – Colleen's crush and the new kid. Has a habit of automatically saying "hello" or "hi" to people when they greet him. He becomes Bradley's only friend, only because he was paid a dollar. Later, he ditches him for cooler friends. After Bradley starts acting nicer, he and Jeff become friends again. He and Colleen become closer at the end. Jeff is also well known for accidentally walking into the girls' bathroom, hence the title of the book.
 Colleen Verigold – Jeff's crush. She has a birthday party at the end of the story and invites all her friends, as well as Jeff and Bradley. She was initially reluctant to invite Bradley, until she discovered how much he had changed for the better.
 Melinda Birch – Colleen's tough best friend. She fights with Bradley frequently, although she likes him better by the end of the book.
 Lori Westin – the biggest gossip in school. Nicknamed "Lori Loudmouth" by Bradley because of how she gets on his nerves.
 Mrs. Chalkers – Bradley's mother. She cares about him and too often babies him. She tries to help him out, despite his behavior.
 Mr. Chalkers – Bradley's father, who works at the police department but was shot in the leg by a robber and has been demoted to desk work. Although he and Bradley fight at the beginning of the book they become closer by the end because he helps Bradley with his homework. Although he originally doesn't like the school having a counselor, he changes his mind when he sees how much she helps Bradley.
 Claudia Chalkers – Bradley's older sister. She usually teases him and is mean. She is occasionally nice however, such as when she buys him a small china bear after she accidentally breaks his miniature rabbit or when she helps him with his math homework.
 Ronnie – Bradley's favorite toy animal, a china rabbit. She is very real in his imagination, as a funny, happy-go-lucky rabbit that's also in love with Bartholomew. She has a broken ear given to her by Claudia. She is given to Carla at the end of the book as a gift from the heart. She can be seen as a personification of the friendship Bradley wants, as he imagines her speaking to him in the same way Carla does. In the middle of the book, Ronnie drowns in quicksand when Bradley becomes angry with Carla for leaving the school. Ronnie is later alive and well and Bartholomew makes up with her after Bradley comes to terms with Carla leaving.
 Bartholomew – Bradley's china bear that Claudia bought for him after she broke Ronnie's ear. In Bradley's stories, he's usually the hero, and is in love with Ronnie. He's also responsible for the brief death of Ronnie by not saving Ronnie from quicksand which caused her to temporarily drown. He can be seen as a personification of who Bradley wants to be (a hero with many friends and someone who loves him).
 Mrs. Ebbel – Bradley's teacher. She teaches her class at Room 12. She has very little faith in Bradley to succeed and expresses her concern to Bradley's mother.
 Judy and Betty – Two of the guests at Colleen's party who are best friends.
 Amie and Dena – Two of the guests at Colleen's party who always do everything together and wear matching clothes.
 Karen – One of the guests at Colleen's party who is shy and more mature than the others.
 Robbie, Russell, Dan and Brian – Four boys in Jeff and Bradley's class who are friends with Jeff.
 Andy, Curtis and Doug – Three boys who are friends with Jeff who aren't in his class.
 Shawne – the girl who sits in front of Jeff in class.
 Mrs Wilcott – the school librarian
 Mrs Kemp – the school janitor
 Mrs Verigold – Colleen's mother
 The president of the school board – he attends a meeting with Carla Davis and the Concerned Parents Organization.

Bradley also has a big collection of animals that in his mind all have different personalities. They include a brass lion he found in the garbage, an ivory donkey his parents brought back from Mexico, two owls that were once used as salt and pepper shakers, a glass unicorn with its horn broken, a family of cocker spaniels on an ashtray, a kangaroo, a fox, a raccoon, an elephant, a wooden hippopotamus, and other china animals too chipped to identify. In his mind, they speak and see him as their hero and best friend, calling him the smartest person they know and comforting him.

References

Novels by Louis Sachar
1987 American novels
1987 children's books
American children's novels
Novels set in elementary and primary schools
Mark Twain Awards
Children's novels set in schools

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom


The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was created in 1847 by joining the Manchester and Leeds Railway and a number of smaller railway companies. It was the third largest railway system based in Northern England. Only the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway were bigger.

It was the first mainline railway to introduce electrification of some of its lines. It also ran steamboat services across the Irish Sea and North Sea. It was a bigger shipowner than any other British railway company.

It amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922. One year later, the merged company became the largest constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway under the Railways Act 1921.

Related pages
 LYR electric units

Pre-grouping British railway companies

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway


Tarrik Jumaan Brock (born December 25, 1973) is an American former professional baseball player and current coach. He is the first base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). An outfielder who batted and threw left-handed, he played part of one season in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. He has coached in MLB for the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres.

Playing career
Brock was originally drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 2nd round of the 1991 amateur draft. Of the eleven second-round draftees who made the major leagues, he was the last to make his debut. After six years in the Tigers' system, spent mostly at the A-ball level, Brock was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the Rule 5 draft. Brock spent two seasons in Seattle's minor league system before being released in January 1999.

On April 8 of that year, Brock was signed by the Colorado Rockies and assigned to their AA affiliate, Carolina. He was sent to the Cubs on July 7 as the player to be named later in a trade made on March 28, before he was even under contract with the Rockies. The Rockies in return obtained two prospects, John Cotton and Kevin Rawitzer, neither of whom made the major leagues.

Brock hit only .217 in 54 games with the Cubs' AA affiliate at West Tennessee that season, but nevertheless made the Cubs' major league roster in spring training of 2000. He made his major league debut on March 29, 2000, appearing as a left fielder in the Cubs' Opening Day game against the New York Mets in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. He faced Rich Rodriguez in his first major league at bat and singled to right field. Sammy Sosa was thrown out at home on the play, ending the inning.

Brock stayed with the team through April 22, but struggled, managing only one other hit, a single off Vladimir Núñez on April 16. He was sent back to Iowa and never made it back to the major leagues. Brock played in the independent Northern League in 2001 and was named an All-Star, but a comeback in 2002 and 2003 with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization failed to get him back to the game's highest level. For his major league career, Brock hit .167 (2-for-12), had 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, and stole one base.

Coaching career
In 2006, he served as a coach with the Ogden Raptors. From 2007 through 2013, Brock worked as the Florida Marlins' outfield and baserunning coordinator. During 2010, he served as interim first base coach.

In 2014, Brock was the first base coach for the Houston Astros. He joined the San Diego Padres organization as a minor league coordinator for the 2015 season, before becoming their first base coach before the 2016 season.

In 2017, he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as outfield/baserunning coordinator.

Brock was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as their first base coach prior to the 2020 season.

References

External links

1973 births
Living people
African-American baseball coaches
African-American baseball players
People from Goleta, California
Baseball players from Santa Barbara County, California
Baseball coaches from California
Major League Baseball outfielders
Major League Baseball first base coaches
Chicago Cubs players
Houston Astros coaches
San Diego Padres coaches
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Bristol Tigers players
Fayetteville Generals players
Trenton Thunder players
Lakeland Tigers players
Toledo Mud Hens players
Visalia Oaks players
Jacksonville Suns players
Lancaster JetHawks players
Tacoma Rainiers players
Orlando Rays players
Carolina Mudcats players
West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players
Iowa Cubs players
Elmira Pioneers players
Las Vegas 51s players
Minor league baseball coaches
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American sportspeople

Tarrik Brock


Amsoldingen Castle () is a castle in the municipality of Amsoldingen in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.  The castle and associated former collegiate church of St. Mauritius are a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

Amsoldingen Castle
Amsoldingen Castle and the neighboring was built in the 10th century. The castle was built as the residence of the wealthy provost of the collegiate church of Amsoldingen.  However, the provost and church gradually became impoverished and in 1484 ownership of the castle was given to St. Vincent's cathedral in Bern.  The college of canons in Bern sold the castle and surrounding lands in 1496 to the wealthy merchant Barthlome May.  In 1536, Barthlome's grandson, Sulpitius May, sold the castle, after which it passed through a number of owners.

By the end of the 17th century it was owned by the engineer and surveyor Samuel Bodmer.  Between 1711 and 1724, Bodmer lived in the castle as he designed the flood control system around Thun Lake and the Aare River to protect the villages and farm land from floods.  During the 18th and early 19th century the castle was owned by the Luternau family who built the parks around the castle.  It was sold in 1815 to Ludwig Zeerleder, who then sold it to Alfred de Rougemont von Bonstetten, who later sold it to Beat Ludwig Tscharner von Erlach.  Under von Erlach the castle was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style in 1846.

Former collegiate church of St. Mauritius

The first church on the site was built in the early Romanesque style in the 6th century.  Like the castle, the former collegiate church of St. Mauritius was built in the 10th century.  The Ottonian three-aisle church was built from stone scavenged from the ruins of Aventicum on the foundations of the earlier church.  According to tradition, the stift or donation that supported the church was made in the 10th century by the King of Burgundy Rudolph II.  It was one of the twelve churches that he founded around Lake Thun.  Around 1210, the 10th century church was modified with the construction of the crypt and renovation of the south aisle. The church is first mentioned in a record in 1228. Around 1300, the interior of the church was covered with murals including the still visible painting of Saint Christopher on the north wall. The southern side apse was demolished and a Romanesque bell tower was added between 1345 and 1486.

Over the following centuries, the stift gradually became impoverished and in 1484 the Pope approved the dissolution of the Stift and its incorporation into the newly created stift of St. Vincent's cathedral in Bern. The church became the parish church of Amsoldingen. In 1528 the Protestant Reformation spread through the region and the church became a Protestant church. In 1576 a fire damaged the church, forcing a major renovation. A new roof was built and the main apse was raised in 1576. The following year a new pulpit was built. The oldest of the four bells was hung in the bell tower in 1579. The wooden ceiling was added in 1661 or 1666 and a mural of the Last Supper was painted in 1668.

See also
 List of castles in Switzerland

References

External links

Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern
Castles in the Canton of Bern
Churches in the canton of Bern
Romanesque architecture in Switzerland

Amsoldingen Castle


A metric space is a mathematical concept. It is a set of points with a way to measure the distance between them. This distance is measured by a function called a metric.

Take for example a flat surface, or plane. You can measure distances on it in different ways. Like if you're walking in a city (taxicab metric), you can't walk through buildings, so the distance is how far you walk up and down the streets. This might be longer than if you could walk in a straight line from point to point (Euclidean metric), like a bird might fly. Both are useful in different situations.

The metric can measure physical distance, like on a sphere or in a 3D space. But it can also measure more abstract things. Like how many changes you need to make to turn one word into another (Hamming distance).

Many mathematical objects can be turned into metric spaces because they have a natural way to measure distance. These include things like curved surfaces, vector spaces, and graphs. Even the rational numbers can be turned into a metric space.

Metric spaces can be used in many branches of mathematics. This is because they are so general but also because the concept of distance is very intuitive and common in many contexts.

Metric spaces can also help us understand many basic ideas in mathematical analysis. These include balls, completeness, continuity, and the idea of open and closed sets.

Definition of Metric Space

To be a metric space, a set of points (M) and a metric (d) must follow these rules:

 The distance from a point to itself is always zero.
 The distance between two different points is always positive.
 The distance from point x to point y is the same as the distance from y to x.
 The distance from x to z is less than or equal to the distance from x to y plus the distance from y to z. This is like saying the fastest way to get from one place to another is by a straight line.

Examples of Metric Spaces

 Real numbers with the distance function |y-x| form a metric space.
 The flat plane can have different metrics. The usual distance (Euclidean) is measured by a straight line between two points. But you can also measure distance like you're walking in a city (taxicab distance). Or like how a king moves in chess (Chebyshev distance).
 You can also have a discrete metric where all points are 1 unit apart. This treats the set just as a bunch of points, without remembering that it is a plane.

Subspaces

A subset of a metric space can also be a metric space. We just measure distances the same way as in the bigger space. For example, a sphere in a 3D space can be considered a metric space. The distance is just the straight line between two points on the sphere.
Functions and mappings
Mathematical analysis
Geometry

Metric space


The Defense of Harbin () occurred during the early Second Sino-Japanese War, as part of the campaign of the Invasion of Manchuria by forces of the Empire of Japan from 25 January to 4 February 1932.

Background
After General Ma Zhanshan had been driven from Tsitsihar by the Japanese in the Jiangqiao Campaign, he retreated northeast with his depleted forces and set up his headquarters at Hailun, from which he attempted to continue to govern Heilongjiang province. Colonel Kenji Doihara began negotiations with General Ma Zhanshan from his Special Service Office at Harbin, hoping to get him to defect to the new state of Manchukuo. Ma remained in an ambiguous position, continuing negotiations with the Japanese, while he continued to support General Ting Chao.

General Ting Chao had never approved of the puppet government set up in Kirin Province by the Kwantung Army under the nominal leadership of General Xi Qia of the Kirin Army. In November 1932, with Colonel Feng Zhanhai, he organized the "Jilin Provincial Anti-Japanese Government" to coordinate military resistance. Military and civil authorities in the province fractured into "New Kirin" adherents of the Xi Qia regime and loyalist "Old Kirin" elements in opposition to it; the former predominated near the capital and the latter predominating in Harbin and the rugged hinterland to the north and east.

Over the next months General Ma Zhanshan continued to support General Ting Chao, and these two Generals maintained contact with Marshal Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek, who gave them some limited assistance. In early January 1932, in an effort to force General Ma Zhanshan to terms, Doihara requested that General Xi Qia to advance with his "New Kirin Army" to take Harbin, and to then advance in the direction of Ma's headquarters at Hailun. However, the forces of the Jilin Self-Defence Army organized by General Ting Chao and General Li Du, at Harbin were in between General Xi Qia and Harbin. General Ting Chao appealed to Harbin's Chinese residents to join his railway garrison regulars.

When General Xi Qia's New Kirin Army had advanced to Shuangcheng on 25 January, Marshal Zhang Xueliang instructed Generals Ma Zhanshan and Ting Chao not to negotiate further, and fighting began on the morning of the 26th. Doihara had failed in his attempt to intimidate the Chinese and worse still his ally, General Xi Qia had suffered a serious reverse at the hands of General Ting Chao's forces.

The Harbin Incident
In order to justify the direct intervention of the Kwantung Army to assist General Xi Qia, Colonel Doihara engineered a riot in Harbin. During the uprising, one Japanese and three Korean subjects of Japan were killed. Although most Japanese forces had been withdrawn from northern Manchuria for use in the Chinchow Operation; but the 2nd Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Jirō Tamon, had returned to Mukden for a rest.

On receiving orders to go to the rescue of General Xi Qia, the 2nd Division entrained on the same day that the January 28 Incident began. Some delays were experienced because of transportation difficulties in the cold winter weather. This gave General Ting Chao time to seize the Municipal Administration in Harbin and arrest pro-Japanese Governor of Heilungkiang General Zhang Jinghui.

From Tsitsihar the newly arrived Japanese 4th Mixed Brigade moved in from the east. For seven days Japanese columns struggled over the frozen countryside in temperatures of 30° below zero. Finally they closed in on the city from the west and south on February 4.

Battle of Harbin
General Ting Chao fought a 17-hour battle, which Harbin's inhabitants watched from their rooftops. Possibly in an effort to embroil Russia, Ting Chao's artillery was posted in front of the offices of the Soviet-dominated Chinese Eastern Railroad, but to no effect. Ting Chao's men, many of whom were poorly equipped and untrained civilian volunteers, finally broke under the fire from Japanese guns and the bombing and strafing by Japanese aircraft. General Ting was forced to retreat from Harbin to the northeast, down the Sungari River, pursued by Japanese aircraft. Within a few hours the Japanese occupation of Harbin was complete.

Aftermath
Doihara offered Ma Zhanshan one million dollars in gold to defect to the new Manchukuo Imperial Army. With General Ting Chao's defeated, Ma Zhanshan agreed on 14 February 1932 and retained his post as Governor of Heilungkiang Province in exchange for cooperating with the Japanese.

On February 27, 1932, General Ting Chao, offered to cease hostilities, ending official Chinese resistance in Manchuria.

Within days Henry Puyi, Manchurian former emperor of China, deposed in 1911, was made emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo by the resolution of an All-Manchuria convention at Mukden (today's Shenyang), whose members included General Ma Zhanshan flown in from the north. The next day on March 1 the Manchukuo Government established with Ma Zhanshan as its Minister of War, in addition to his post as provincial governor.

Bibliography

External links
 International Military Tribunal for the Far East Japanese Aggression Against China
  "Flight of Ting". Time. 15 February 1932.
  Topographic Map nl52-7 Ha-erh-pin Shuangcheng, Harbin area

Military history of Manchuria
History of Harbin
Harbin
1932 in China
Conflicts in 1932
1932 in Japan
January 1932 events
February 1932 events

Defense of Harbin


Giovanni Carlo Tramontano, Baron of Sorrento, Count of Matera (born in 1451 as Giovanni Carlo Tramontano, Baron of Sorrento, died in 1514) was an Italian nobleman who belonged to the ancient feudal noble family of the barons of the House of Tramontano.

The Baron of Sorrento was often called "Giancarlo" or "Gian Carlo", short for Giovanni Carlo.

Count of Matera
The Baron Giovanni Carlo Tramontano of Sorrento was on October 1, 1497, given the city of Matera in the Southern Italy region of Basilicata as his county by the King in Naples, Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Giancarlo Baron Tramontano was given the title Count of Matera and built the famous Castello Tramontano ("Castle Tramontano").

A visit in Naples
After 9 years as the ruler of Matera the Count almost lost his power in 1506. King Ferdinand II did announce on October 9, 1506, that he intended to remove counties and baronies from several counts and barons in the kingdom because he wanted to give them to a group of Spanish noblemen.

In hope of being able to keep his county Count Giovanni Carlo and his wife Countess Elisabetta Restigliano went to the royal court in Naples where the Countess gave the Queen a gold necklace with 25 very valuable pearls worth 700 ducats.

As a result, the King permitted Count Gian Carlo Tramontano of Matera to keep his county.

The people rebel

The aristocracy and the people of Matera considered the Count arrogant, a tyrant and a ruler without mercy—especially because he demanded a lot of taxes from the people so that he could live in luxury.

On December 28, 1514, the Count demanded that the aristocracy and the people pay him 24.000 ducates—so that the Count could pay his debts.

The people wouldn't accept this. On December 29, 1514, Count Giancarlo and his wife Countess Elisabetta went to mass. When the Count and the Countess came out of the church the Count was beaten to death by a group of rebellious men. The Countess was allowed to escape.

After the murder the church bells rang constantly to mark the death of the Count. The people of Matera celebrated this event.

The King in Naples considered the murder of Count Gian Carlo a political assassination and a way to hit the throne. Therefore, he sent a commissary to Matera to solve the crime. Four innocent men were hanged but the guilty criminals were never found.

In popular culture
Il Conte di Matera ("The Count of Matera"), a 1957 film directed by Luigi Capuano, starring Virna Lisi and Otello Toso.

See also
House of Tramontano
City of Matera

External links
Information about Count Giovanni Carlo Tramontano of Matera (Italian)
Information about Castle Tramontano (Italian)

Counts in Italy
People from Matera
1451 births
1514 deaths

Giovanni Carlo Tramontano, Count of Matera


Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express oneself.

Almost every human society throughout history has had expected norms for each gender relating to style, color, or type of clothing they are expected to wear, and likewise most societies have had a set of guidelines, views or even laws defining what type of clothing is appropriate for each gender. Therefore, cross-dressing allows individuals to express themselves by acting beyond guidelines, views, or even laws defining what type of clothing is expected and appropriate for each gender.

The term "cross-dressing" refers to an action or a behavior, without attributing or implying any specific causes or motives for that behavior. Cross-dressing is not synonymous with being transgender.

Terminology
The phenomenon of cross-dressing is seen throughout recorded history, being referred to as far back as the Hebrew Bible. The terms used to describe it have changed throughout history; the Anglo-Saxon-rooted term "cross-dresser" is viewed more favorably than the Latin-origin term "transvestite" in some circles, where it has come to be seen as outdated and derogatory.  Its first mention originated in Magnus Hirschfeld's Die Transvestiten (The Transvestites) in 1910, originally associating cross-dressing with non-heterosexual behavior or derivations of sexual intent. Its connotations largely changed in the 20th century as its use was more frequently associated with sexual excitement, otherwise known as transvestic disorder. This term was historically used to diagnose psychiatric disorders (e.g. transvestic fetishism), but the former (cross-dressing) was coined by the transgender community. The Oxford English Dictionary gives 1911 as the earliest citation of the term "cross-dressing", by Edward Carpenter: "Cross-dressing must be taken as a general indication of, and a cognate phenomenon to, homosexuality". In 1928, Havelock Ellis used the two terms "cross-dressing" and "transvestism" interchangeably. The earliest citations for "cross-dress" and "cross-dresser" are 1966 and 1976, respectively.

En femme
The term en femme  is a lexical borrowing of a French phrase. It is used in the transgender and crossdressing community to describe the act of wearing feminine clothing or expressing a stereotypically feminine personality. The term is borrowed from the modern French phrase en  femme meaning "as a woman." Most crossdressers also use a female name whilst en femme; that is their "femme name". In the cross-dressing community the persona a man adopts when he dresses as a woman is known as his "femme self".

Between 1987 and 1991, JoAnn Roberts and CDS published a magazine called "En Femme" that was "for the transvestite, transsexual, crossdresser, and female impersonator."

En homme
The term en homme  is an anglicized adaptation of a French phrase. It is used in the transgender and crossdressing community to describe the act of wearing masculine clothing or expressing a stereotypically masculine personality. The term is derived from the modern colloquial French phrase en tant qu'homme meaning "as a man" and the anglicized adaptation en homme  literally translates as "in man". Most crossdressers also use a homme (male) name whilst en homme.

History

Non-Western history

Cross-dressing has been practiced throughout much of recorded history, in many societies, and for many reasons. Examples exist in Greek, Norse, and Hindu mythology. Cross-dressing can be found in theater and religion, such as kabuki, Noh, and Korean shamanism, as well as in folklore, literature, and music. For instance, in examining kabuki culture during Japan's edo period, cross-dressing was not only used for theater purposes but also because current societal trends: cross-dressing and the switching of genders was a familiar concept to the Japanese at the time which allowed them to interchange characters's genders easily and incorporate geisha fashion into men's wear. This was especially common in the story-telling of ancient stories such as the character Benten from Benten Kozō. He was a thief in the play cross-dressing as a woman. Cross-dressing was also exhibited in Japanese Noh for similar reasons. Societal standards at the time broke boundaries between gender. For example, ancient Japanese portraits of aristocrats have no clear differentiation in characteristics between male and female beauty. Thus, in Noh performance, the cross-dressing of actors was common; especially given the ease of disguising biological sex with the use of masks and heavy robes. In a non-entertainment context, cross-dressing is also exhibited in Korean shamanism for religious purposes. Specifically, this is displayed in chaesu-gut, a shamanistic rite gut in which a shaman offers a sacrifice to the spirits to intermediate in the fortunes of the intended humans for the gut. Here, cross-dressing serves many purposes. Firstly, the shaman (typically a woman) would cross-dress as both male and female spirits can occupy her. This allows her to represent the opposite sex and become a cross-sex icon in 75% of the time of the ritual. This also allows her to become a sexually liminal being. It is clear that in entertainment, literature, art, and religion, different civilizations have utilized cross-dressing for many different purposes.

Western history
In the British and European context, theatrical troupes ("playing companies") were all-male, with the female parts undertaken by boy players.

The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to unfair taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were tangible representations of high taxes and tolls. The riots ceased prior to 1844 due to several factors, including increased troop levels, a desire by the protestors to avoid violence and the appearance of criminal groups using the guise of the biblical character Rebecca for their own purposes. In 1844 an Act of Parliament to consolidate and amend the laws relating to turnpike trusts in Wales was passed.

A variety of historical figures are known to have cross-dressed to varying degrees. Many women found they had to disguise themselves as men in order to participate in the wider world. For example, it is postulated that Margaret King cross-dressed in the early 19th century to attend medical school, as universities at that time accepted only male students. A century later, Vita Sackville-West dressed as a young soldier in order to "walk out" with her girlfriend Violet Keppel, to avoid the street harassment that two women would have faced. The prohibition on women wearing male garb, once strictly applied, still has echoes today in some Western societies which require girls and women to wear skirts, for example as part of school uniform or office dress codes. In some countries, even in casual settings, women are still prohibited from wearing traditionally male clothing. Sometimes all trousers, no matter how loose and long, are automatically considered "indecent", which may render their wearer subject to severe punishment, as in the case of Lubna al-Hussein in Sudan in 2009.

Legal issues

In many countries, cross-dressing was illegal under laws that identified it as indecent or immoral. Many such laws were challenged in the late 1900s giving people the right to freedom of gender expression with regard to their clothing.

For instance, from 1840 forward, United States saw state and city laws forbidding people from appearing in public while dressed in clothes not commonly associated with their assigned sex. The goal of this wave of policies was to create a tool that would enforce a normative gender narrative, targeting multiple gender identities across the gender spectrum. With the progression of time, styles, and societal trends, it became even more difficult to draw the line between what was cross-dressing or not. Only recently have these laws changed. As recently as 2011, it was still possible for a man to get arrested for "impersonating a woman" — a vestige of the 19th century laws. Even with this, legal issues surrounding cross-dressing perpetuated all throughout the mid 20th century. During this time period, police would often reference laws that did not exist or laws that have been repealed in order to target the LGBTQ+ community.

This extends beyond the United States: There still remains 13 UN member States that explicitly criminalize transgender individuals, and there exist even more countries that use a great deal of diverse laws to target them. The third edition of the Trans Legal Mapping Report, done by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association found that an especially common method to target these individuals is through cross-dressing regulations. For instance, only in 2014 did an appeal court in Malaysia finally overturned a state law prohibiting Muslim men from cross-dressing as women.

In the Australian state of Tasmania, cross-dressing in public was made a criminal offence in 1935, and this law was only repealed in 2000.

Varieties
There are many different kinds of cross-dressing and many different reasons why an individual might engage in cross-dressing behavior. Some people cross-dress as a matter of comfort or style, a personal preference for clothing associated with the opposite gender. Some people cross-dress to shock others or challenge social norms; others will limit their cross-dressing to underwear, so that it is not apparent. Some people attempt to pass as a member of the opposite gender in order to gain access to places or resources they would not otherwise be able to reach.

Theater and performance
Single-sex theatrical troupes often have some performers who cross-dress to play roles written for members of the opposite sex (travesti and trouser roles). Cross-dressing, particularly the depiction of males wearing dresses, is often used for comic effect onstage and on-screen.

Boy player refers to children who performed in Medieval and English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for the adult companies and performed the female roles as women did not perform on the English stage in this period. Others worked for children's companies in which all roles, not just the female ones, were played by boys.

In an effort to clamp down on kabuki's popularity, women's kabuki, known as , was banned in 1629 in Japan for being too erotic. Following this ban, young boys began performing in , which was also soon banned. Thus adult men play female roles in kabuki.

Dan is the general name for female roles in Chinese opera, often referring to leading roles. They may be played by male or female actors. In the early years of Peking opera, all  roles were played by men, but this practice is no longer common in any Chinese opera genre.

Women have often been excluded from Noh, and men often play female characters in it.

Drag is a special form of performance art based on the act of cross-dressing. A drag queen is usually a male-assigned person who performs as an exaggeratedly feminine character, in heightened costuming sometimes consisting of a showy dress, high-heeled shoes, obvious make-up, and wig. A drag queen may imitate famous female film or pop-music stars. A faux queen is a female-assigned person employing the same techniques. A drag king is a counterpart of the drag queen – a female-assigned person who adopts a masculine persona in performance or imitates a male film or pop-music star. Some female-assigned people undergoing gender reassignment therapy also self-identify as 'drag kings'.The modern activity of battle reenactments has raised the question of women passing as male soldiers. In 1989, Lauren Burgess dressed as a male soldier in a U.S. National Park Service reenactment of the Battle of Antietam, and was ejected after she was discovered to be a woman. Burgess sued the Park Service for sexual discrimination. The case spurred spirited debate among Civil War buffs. In 1993, a federal judge ruled in Burgess's favor.

"Wigging" refers to the practice of male stunt doubles taking the place of an actress, parallel to "paint downs", where white stunt doubles are made up to resemble black actors. Female stunt doubles have begun to protest this norm of "historical sexism", saying that it restricts their already limited job possibilities.

British pantomime, television and comedy

Cross-dressing is a traditional popular trope in British comedy. The pantomime dame in British pantomime dates from the 19th century, which is part of the theatrical tradition of female characters portrayed by male actors in drag. Widow Twankey (Aladdin's mother) is a popular pantomime dame: in 2004 Ian McKellen played the role.

The Monty Python comedy troupe donned frocks and makeup, playing female roles while speaking in falsetto. Character comics such as Benny Hill and Dick Emery drew upon several female identities. In the BBC's long-running sketch show The Dick Emery Show (broadcast from 1963 to 1981), Emery played Mandy, a busty peroxide blonde whose catchphrase, "Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!", was given in response to a seemingly innocent remark made by her interviewer, but perceived by her as ribald double entendre. The popular tradition of cross dressing in British comedy extended to the 1984 music video for Queen's "I Want to Break Free" where the band parody several female characters from the soap opera Coronation Street.

Sexual fetishes

A transvestic fetishist is a person who cross-dresses as part of a sexual fetish. According to the fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, this fetishism was limited to heterosexual men; however, DSM-5 does not have this restriction, and opens it to women and men, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Sometimes either member of a heterosexual couple will cross-dress in order to arouse the other. For example, the male might wear skirts or lingerie and/or the female will wear boxers or other male clothing. (See also forced feminization)

Passing

Some people who cross-dress may endeavor to project a complete impression of belonging to another gender, including mannerisms, speech patterns, and emulation of sexual characteristics. This is referred to as passing or "trying to pass", depending how successful the person is. An observer who sees through the cross-dresser's attempt to pass is said to have "read" or "clocked" them. There are videos, books, and magazines on how a man may look more like a woman.

Others may choose to take a mixed approach, adopting some feminine traits and some masculine traits in their appearance. For instance, a man might wear both a dress and a beard. This is sometimes known as "genderfuck". In a broader context, cross-dressing may also refer to other actions undertaken to pass as a particular sex, such as packing (accentuating the male crotch bulge) or, the opposite, tucking (concealing the male crotch bulge).

Gender disguise
Gender disguise has been used by women and girls to pass as male, and by men and boys to pass as female. Gender disguise has also been used as a plot device in storytelling, particularly in narrative ballads, and is a recurring motif in literature, theater, and film. Historically, some women have cross-dressed to take up male-dominated or male-exclusive professions, such as military service. Conversely, some men have cross-dressed to escape from mandatory military service or as a disguise to assist in political or social protest, as men in Wales did in the Rebecca Riots and when conducting Ceffyl Pren as a form of mob justice.

Sports
Conversation surrounding exclusion and inequality in sports has been around for decades. While the fight for equality in sports has been going on, there are a couple of notable women who have dressed as men or hid their gender to insert themselves into the very gatekept world of sports.

Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb
Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb is the first woman to have competed in the Boston Marathon. In 1966 Bobbi Gibb wrote a letter to the Boston Athletic Association asking to participate in the race happening that year. When Gibb received her letter back in the mail she was faced with the news that her entry to the race was denied due to her gender. Rather than just accept her fate, Gibb did not take no for an answer and decided to run the marathon anyways—however, she would do it hidden as a man. On the day of the race Gibb showed up in an oversized sweatshirt, her brother's shorts, and men's running shoes. Gibb hid in the bushes until the race started and then joined in with the crowd. Eventually her fellow runners figured out Gibb's real gender but stated that they would make sure that she finished the race. Gibb ended up finishing her first Boston Marathon in 3 hours, 27 minutes and 40 seconds. She crossed the finish line with blistered, bleeding feet from the men's running shoes she was wearing. Gibb's act of defiance influenced other women marathon runners of the time like Katherine Switzer, who also registered under an alias to be able to run the race in 1967. It would not be until 1972 until there was an official women's race within the Boston Marathon.

Sam Kerr
Sam Kerr is a forward for the Australian Women's Soccer Team and Chelsea FC in the FA Women's Super League. Kerr has been regarded as one of the best forward players in the sport and has been one of the most highly paid players in women's soccer as well. While Kerr now shares the world state with other great women soccer players, as a young child she shared the field with young boys. Kerr grew up in a suburb of Perth where there was little to no access to young girls soccer teams in the direct area. Not having a girls team to play on did not bother Kerr though, she simply played on a youth boys team where all of her teammates just assumed she was also a boy. Kerr states in her book My Journey to the World Cup that she continued to hide her gender because she did not want to be treated any differently. In her book Kerr also reviled  that when one of her teammates found out that she was, in fact a girl, he cried. While Kerr's act of hiding her gender was initially an accident, it is still an example of how women (and in the case a young girl) can create opportunities for themselves by looking or acting as a man.

War
One of the most common instances of gender disguise is in the instance of war/militaristic situations. From Joan of Arc in the 15th century to Mulan from the animated Disney Mulan to young girls in World War II, there have been many different people of many different sexes that disguise themselves as men in order to be able to fight in wars.

Joan of Arc
Born c. 1412, St Joan of Arc or the Maid of Orleans is one of the oldest examples of gender disguise. At 13, after receiving a revelation that she was supposed to lead the French to victory over the English in the 100 years war, Joan donned the clothing of a male soldier in the French army. Joan was able to convince King Charles the VIII to allow her to take the lead of some of the French armies in order to help him get his crown back. Ultimately, Joan of Arc was successful in claiming victory over the English but was captured in 1430 and found guilty of heretic, leading to her execution in 1431.The impact of her actions was seen even after Joan's death in 1431. During the suffragette movement, Joan of Arc was used as an inspiration for the movement, particularly in Britain where many used her actions as fuel for their fight for political reform.

Deborah Sampson
Born in 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts, Deborah Sampson was the first female soldier in the US Army. The only woman in the Revolution to receive a full military pension, at age 18 Deborah took the name "Robert Shirtleff" and enlisted in union forces. In her capacity as a soldier, she was very successful, being named captain and leading an infantry in the capture of 15 enemy soldiers among other things. One and a half years into service, her true sex was revealed when she had to receive medical care. Following an honorable discharge, Deborah petitioned congress for her full pay that was withheld on the grounds of being an "invalid soldier" and eventually received it. She died in 1827 at age 66. Even after her death, Deborah Sampson continues to be a "hero of the American Revolution". In 2019, a diary from corporal Abner Weston shares about Deborah Sampson's previously unknown first attempt to enlist in the Continental Army.

These women are just a few among many who have disguised themselves as men in order to be able to fight in many different wars. Others who have used gender disguise for this purpose include Kit Kavanaugh/Christian Davies, Hannah Snell, Sarah Emma Edmonds, Frances Clayton, Dorothy Lawrence, Zoya Smirnow, Brita Olofsdotter, and Margaret Ann Bulkly/James Barry.

Journalism and culture
In some instances, women in journalism deem is necessary to wear the identity of a man in order to gather information that is only accessible from the male point of view. In other cases, people cross-dress to cope with strict cultural norms and expectations.

Norah Vincent
Norah Vincent, author of the book Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back Again, used gender disguise in order to go undercover as a men to penetrate men's social circles and experience life as a man. In 2003, Vincent put her life on pause to adopt a new masculine identity as Ned Vincent. She worked with a makeup artist and vocal coach in order to convincingly play the role of a biological man. She wore an undersized sports bra, a stuffed jock strap, and size 11½ shoes to deceive those around her. In her book, Vincent makes discoveries about socialization, romance, sex, and stress as a man that leads her to conclude that, "[Men] have different problems than women have, but they don't have it better." However, Vincent developed controversial opinions about sex and gender, claiming that transgender people are not legitimate until they undergo hormone therapy and surgical intervention. After writing Self-Made Man, Vincent became a victim of depression; she died by medically assisted suicide in 2022.

Bacha posh
Bacha posh, an Afghani tradition, involves the crossdressing of young Afghan girls by their families so that they present to the public as boys. Families engage in bacha posh so that their daughters may avoid the oppression that women face under Afghanistan's deeply patriarchal society. Other reasons for having a bacha posh daughter include economic pressure, as girls and women are generally prohibited from work in contemporary Afghanistan, and social pressure, as families with boys tend to be more well regarded in Afghan society. While there isn't a law that prohibits bacha posh, girls are expected to revert to traditional gender norms upon reaching puberty. According to Thomas Barfield, an anthropology professor at Boston University, bacha posh is "one of the most under-investigated" topics in the realm of gender studies, making difficult to determine exactly how common the practice is in Afghan society. However, some prominent female figures in Afghan society have admitted to being bacha posh in their youth. A more famous example of this is Afghan parliament member Azita Rafaat. Rafaat claims that bacha posh was a positive experience that built her self-confidence in Afghanistan's heavily patriarchal society and gave her a more well rounded understanding of women's issues in Afghanistan.

Clothes

The actual determination of cross-dressing is largely socially constructed. For example, in Western society, trousers have long been adopted for usage by women, and it is no longer regarded as cross-dressing. In cultures where men have traditionally worn skirt-like garments such as the kilt or sarong, these are not seen as women's clothing, and wearing them is not seen as cross-dressing for men. As societies are becoming more global in nature, both men's and women's clothing are adopting styles of dress associated with other cultures.

Cosplaying may also involve cross-dressing, for some females may wish to dress as a male, and vice versa (see Crossplay (cosplay)). Breast binding (for females) is not uncommon and is one of the things likely needed to cosplay a male character.

In most parts of the world, it remains socially disapproved for men to wear clothes traditionally associated with women. Attempts are occasionally made, e.g. by fashion designers, to promote the acceptance of skirts as everyday wear for men. Cross-dressers have complained that society permits women to wear pants or jeans and other masculine clothing, while condemning any man who wants to wear clothing sold for women.

While creating a more feminine figure, male cross-dressers will often utilize different types and styles of breast forms, which are silicone or foam prostheses traditionally used by women who have undergone mastectomies to recreate the visual appearance of a breast. Some male cross-dressers may also use hip or butt pads to create a profile that appears more stereotypically feminine.

While most male cross-dressers utilize clothing associated with modern women, some are involved in subcultures that involve dressing as little girls or in vintage clothing. Some such men have written that they enjoy dressing as femininely as possible, so they wear frilly dresses with lace and ribbons, bridal gowns complete with veils, as well as multiple petticoats, corsets, girdles and/or garter belts with nylon stockings.

The term underdressing is used by male cross-dressers to describe wearing female undergarments such as panties under their male clothes. The famous low-budget film-maker Edward D. Wood, Jr. (who also went out in public dressed in drag as "Shirley", his female alter ego) said he often wore women's underwear under his military uniform as a Marine during World War II. Female masking is a form of cross-dressing in which men wear masks that present them as female.

Social issues

Cross-dressers may begin wearing clothing associated with the opposite sex in childhood, using the clothes of a sibling, parent, or friend. Some parents have said they allowed their children to cross-dress and, in many cases, the child stopped when they became older. The same pattern often continues into adulthood, where there may be confrontations with a spouse, partner, family member or friend. Married cross-dressers can experience considerable anxiety and guilt if their spouse objects to their behavior.

Sometimes because of guilt or other reasons cross-dressers dispose of all their clothing, a practice called "purging", only to start collecting the other gender's clothing again.

Festivals
Celebrations of cross-dressing occur in widespread cultures. The Abissa festival in Côte d'Ivoire, Ofudamaki in Japan, and Kottankulangara Festival in India are all examples of this.

Analysis
Advocacy for social change has done much to relax the constrictions of gender roles on men and women, but they are still subject to prejudice from some people. It is noticeable that as being transgender becomes more socially accepted as a normal human condition, the prejudices against cross-dressing are changing quite quickly, just as the similar prejudices against homosexuals have changed rapidly in recent decades.

The reason it is so hard to have statistics for female cross-dressers is that the line where cross-dressing stops and cross-dressing begins has become blurred, whereas the same line for men is as well defined as ever. This is one of the many issues being addressed by third wave feminism as well as the modern-day masculist movement.

The general culture has very mixed views about cross-dressing. A woman who wears her husband's shirt to bed is considered attractive, while a man who wears his wife's nightgown to bed may be considered transgressive. Marlene Dietrich in a tuxedo was considered very erotic; Jack Lemmon in a dress was considered ridiculous. All this may result from an overall gender role rigidity for males; that is, because of the prevalent gender dynamic throughout the world, men frequently encounter discrimination when deviating from masculine gender norms, particularly violations of heteronormativity. A man's adoption of feminine clothing is often considered a going down in the gendered social order whereas a woman's adoption of what are traditionally men's clothing (at least in the English-speaking world) has less of an impact because women have been traditionally subordinate to men, unable to affect serious change through style of dress. Thus when a male cross-dresser puts on his clothes, he transforms into the quasi-female and thereby becomes an embodiment of the conflicted gender dynamic. Following the work of Judith Butler, gender proceeds along through ritualized performances, but in male cross-dressing it becomes a performative "breaking" of the masculine and a "subversive repetition" of the feminine.

Psychoanalysts today do not regard cross-dressing by itself as a psychological problem, unless it interferes with a person's life. "For instance," said Joseph Merlino, senior editor of Freud at 150: 21st Century Essays on a Man of Genius, "[suppose that]...I'm a cross-dresser and I don't want to keep it confined to my circle of friends, or my party circle, and I want to take that to my wife and I don't understand why she doesn't accept it, or I take it to my office and I don't understand why they don't accept it, then it's become a problem because it's interfering with my relationships and environment."

Cross-dressing in the 21st century

Fashion trends

Cross-dressing today is much more common and normalized thanks to trends such as camp fashion and androgynous fashion. These trends have long histories but have recently been popularized thanks to major designers, fashion media, and celebrities today.
Camp is a style of fashion that has had a long history extending all the way back to the Victorian era to the modern era. During the Victorian era up until the mid-20th century, it was defined as an exaggerated and flamboyant style of dressing. This was typically associated with ideas of effeminacy, de-masculization, and homosexuality. As the trend entered the 20th century, it also developed an association with a lack of conduct, creating the connotation that those who engaged in Camp are unrefined, improper, distasteful, and, essentially, undignified. Though this was its former understanding, Camp has now developed a new role in the fashion industry. It is considered a fashion style that has "failed seriousness" and has instead become a fun way of self-expression. Thanks to its integration with high fashion and extravagance, Camp is now seen as a high art form of absurdity: including loud, vibrant, bold, fun, and empty frivolity.

Camp is often used in drag culture as a method of exaggerating or inversing traditional conceptions of what it means to be feminine. In actuality, the QTPOC community has had a large impact on Camp. This is exhibited by ballroom culture, camp/glamour queens, Black '70s funk, Caribbean Carnival costumes, Blaxploitation movies, "pimp/player fashion", and more. This notion has also been materialized by camp icons such as Josephine Baker and RuPaul.

Androgynous fashion is described as neither masculine nor feminine rather it is the embodiment of a gender inclusive and sexually neutral fashion of expression. The general understanding of androgynous fashion is mixing both masculine and feminine pieces with the goal of producing a look that has no visual differentiations between one gender or another. This look is achieved by masking the general body so that one cannot identify the biological sex of an individual given the silhouette of the clothing pieces: Therefore, many androgynous looks include looser, baggier clothing that can conceal curves in the female body or using more "feminine" fabrics and prints for men.

Both of these style forms have been normalized and popularized by celebrities such as Harry Styles, Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Princess Diana, and more.

Societal changes

Beyond fashion, cross-dressing in non-Western countries have not fully outgrown the negative connotations that it has in the West. For instance, many Eastern and Southeastern Asian countries have a narrative of discrimination and stigma against LGBTQ and cross-dressing individuals. This is especially evident in the post-pandemic world. During this time, it was clear to see the failures of these governments to provide sufficient support to these individuals due to a lack of legal services, lack of job opportunity, and more. For instance, to be able to receive government aid, these individuals need to be able to quickly change their legal name, gender, and other information on official ID documents. This fault augmented the challenges of income loss, food insecurity, safe housing, healthcare, and more for many trans and cross-dressing individuals. This was especially pertinent as many of these individuals relied on entertainment and sex work for income. With the pandemic removing these job opportunities, the stigmatisation and discrimination against these individuals only increased, especially in Southeast Asian countries.
On the other hand, some Asian countries have grown to be more accepting of cross-dressing as modernization has increased. For instance, among Japan's niche communities there exists the otokonoko. This is a group of male-assigned individuals who engage in female cross-dressing as a form of gender expression. This trend originated with manga and grew with an increase in maid cafes, cosplaying, and more in the 2010s. With the normalization of this through cosplay, cross-dressing has become a large part of otaku and anime culture.

Across media

Women dressed as men, and less often men dressed as women, is a common trope in fiction and folklore. For example, in Norse myth, Thor disguised himself as Freya. These disguises were also popular in Gothic fiction, such as in works by Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, père, and Eugène Sue, and in a number of Shakespeare's plays, such as Twelfth Night.  In The Wind in the Willows, Toad dresses as a washerwoman, and in The Lord of the Rings, Éowyn pretends to be a man.

In science fiction, fantasy and women's literature, this literary motif is occasionally taken further, with literal transformation of a character from male to female or vice versa.  Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography focuses on a man who becomes a woman, as does a warrior in Peter S. Beagle's The Innkeeper's Song; while in Geoff Ryman's The Warrior Who Carried Life, Cara magically transforms herself into a man.

Other popular examples of gender disguise include Madame Doubtfire (published as Alias Madame Doubtfire in the United States) and its movie adaptation Mrs. Doubtfire, featuring a man disguised as a woman. Similarly, the movie Tootsie features Dustin Hoffman disguised as a woman, while the movie The Associate features Whoopi Goldberg disguised as a man.

Medical views
The 10th edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems lists dual-role transvestism (non-sexual cross-dressing) and fetishistic transvestism (cross-dressing for sexual pleasure) as disorders. Both listings were removed for the 11th edition.
Transvestic fetishism is a paraphilia and a psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-5 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

See also

 Androgyny
 Breeches role
 Breeching (boys)
 Cross-dressing ball
 Cross-gender acting
 Drag (clothing)
 Effeminacy
 Femme
 Femminiello
 Gender bender
 Gender identity
 Gender variance
 List of transgender-related topics
 List of transgender-rights organizations
 List of wartime crossdressers
 Otokonoko, male crossdressing in Japan
 Queer heterosexuality
 Sex and gender distinction
 Social construction of gender
 Sexual orientation hypothesis
 Transvestism
 Travesti (theatre)
 Tri-Ess
 Womanless wedding

Notes

References

Further reading
 Anders, Charles. The Lazy Crossdresser, Greenery Press, 2002. .
 Boyd, Helen. My Husband Betty, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003

 Clute, John & Grant, John. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Orbit Books, 1997.

 "Lynne". "A Cross-Dressing-Perspective"

External links

 The Gender Centre (Australia)
 Crossdressing Support Group (Canada)
 The EnFemme Archives
 En Femme Magazine No. 1, Digital Transgender Archive

Clothing controversies

Cross-dressing


"Fatal Extraction" is the twelfth Christmas special episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, first broadcast on 25 December 1993. In the episode, Raquel leaves Del so in response he asks out another woman. When he and Raquel are reconciled, Del becomes convinced that the woman is stalking him.

Synopsis
With Christmas coming to Peckham, which is suffering from recent riots, Del Boy has been drinking every night at the Nag's Head as well as ending up with a sore tooth. Raquel is not pleased about it, since she hardly sees him now. Meanwhile, Rodney and Cassandra have decided to try to have a baby. At Sid's café, Del talks about the time he first met a woman at a betting shop in Lewisham Grove when he was younger.

Rodney catches Del gambling at the 1-2-1 Club one night, and Del explains that he is striking a deal with the club's owner Ronnie Nelson to get hold of some Russian Army camcorders to flog for Christmas. Rodney pleads with Del to spare a thought for Raquel; however, the brothers eventually gamble all the way through the night until 8:00 am the next day, only to be told Ronnie was not in that night.

At the market, Del and Rodney are selling ski gear, until Cassandra calls Rodney back to their flat. Rodney is surprised when he finds Raquel and Damien in his flat. Raquel explains that she has left Del, and Rodney and Cassandra let her and Damien stay at their flat until Del apologises. Later, at The Nag's Head, Boycie, Del, Denzil, Mike and Trigger discuss their problems with women. Boycie then tells them about how he met a woman in the same betting shop when he was also younger, and it turns out to be Marlene (although it was established in earlier series that Marlene had attended school with Del and his friends when they were all younger). Albert then enters to inform Del that Raquel has left him. That afternoon, Rodney forces a reluctant Del to go to the dentist. The dentist is able to remove the bad tooth from Del's mouth. Del then arranges a date with an attractive receptionist named Beverly.

That night at Nelson Mandela House, the Russian camcorders have arrived, but Rodney discovers that they are too heavy and the video cassettes are too wide for UK VCRs. Del, dressed in his Gordon Gekko outfit, tells Rodney and Albert about his date with Beverly. They believe that Del is making a big mistake, and successfully talk him out of his date. Del cancels the date by leaving a message on Beverly's answering machine.

Later, back at his flat, Rodney tells Cassandra about the time Del had a violent fight with his father over Del selling Tom Jones LPs instead of attending his O-level school exams, which got him eight grade As (which all stood for Absent).

The next evening at the Nag's Head, after Albert tells another one of his boring war stories, Del enters, and Rodney berates him for ignoring Raquel. Del finally phones Raquel, apologises to her, and promises that he will stop gambling from now on, and they can still go to the Nag's Head on weekends. After he promises to pick up both her and Damien the following night, Del celebrates with a big bottle of champagne.

Later that night, Del returns home drunk from too much champagne, and decides to sing the song "One Voice", which starts a riot between some of the neighbours. Albert phones Rodney to tell him that Del is singing, and Rodney heads over to Nelson Mandela House. Del later goes down to the riot to sell some of the ski gear. The next morning at the market, while unloading the Russian VCRs, Del spots Beverly, who was in the Nag's Head the previous night, and becomes frightened she may be stalking him.

That night, Del picks up Raquel and Damien in the Capri Ghia, and they return home during another riot. Del beeps his horn, and the rioters and the police clear the way for him. He passes through, stopping to inform the occasional person about something they are buying off him, and when out of the way promptly sounds his horn, to which the riot resumes.

The following day, Del comes home from work, only to see Beverly in his flat, because she wants Damien's high chair for her grandson, who is also named Damien. Del rushes over to the Nag's Head to tell Rodney that Beverly is stalking him, because he believes she is an ex-patient in a psychiatric hospital (Boycie mentioned he had seen her there before when visiting Marlene's brother). Rodney does not believe him, but Del tells him to deliver the high chair to Beverly. At the dentist, Del finally decides to confront Beverly and tell her to leave him and his family alone, but Beverly tells Del that she thought he was stalking her, as well as mention that the date they arranged to go on was a big mistake. Beverly then explains to Del that she previously worked at the psychiatric hospital as a receptionist. No longer frightened, Del promises to leave Beverly alone.

Back at Nelson Mandela House, the Trotter family are enjoying their Christmas night. As Del puts Damien to bed, Raquel plugs in Del's new answering machine, which she acquired from Beverly in return for the high chair, only to hear Del's message about his cancelled date to Beverly. Del returns to the lounge, only to get hit by ornaments thrown by Raquel and the entire family end up in a huge argument. Meanwhile, outside by the new Christmas tree, a group of carol singers sing "Silent Night", and Beverly looks up at the Trotters' flat with a smile, implying that Del was right and she was out for revenge all along for cancelling their date.

Episode cast

Music
 Right Said Fred: "Hands Up"
 Elton John: "Step into Christmas"
 Paul Young: "Hope in a Hopeless World"
 Barry Manilow: "One Voice"
 Mica Paris: "Whisper a Prayer"
 East 17: "It's Alright"
 Carl Orff: "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana
 Chaka Demus and Pliers: "Twist and Shout"
 Take That: "Babe"
 U2: "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"
 Gustav Holst: "Mars, the Bringer of War"
 Wizzard: "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"

Note: In the VHS/DVD versions, Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" is replaced by a similar-sounding piece of music.

External links

1993 British television episodes
British Christmas television episodes
Only Fools and Horses special episodes

Fatal Extraction


The Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire is a text publication society that publishes historical documents relating to the traditional counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.  It became a registered charity (No. 500434) for public education in the history of the two counties in 1970.

History
The society was founded in 1878, when one of the region's foremost historians, John Parsons Earwaker, suggested to his colleagues in the Chetham Society that they should form another organisation to foster their common interest in local history. Earwaker served as the society's founding Secretary (until his death in 1895) although, towards the end of his life, his other commitments led to delays in the society's planned publications.

The bibliophile James Crossley, President of the Chetham Society, was the founding President, and another prominent early member (and later vice-president) was William Ecroyd Farrer.

Publications
Publication started with Lancashire and Cheshire Church Surveys 1649–1655, edited by Henry Fishwick (1879). Earwaker soon gained permission to publish lists of wills that had been proved in Chester, which was "hailed as a coup"; G. E. Cokayne, Lancaster Herald, wrote to congratulate Earwaker, stating that "I do not think there is any work that has been at any time, or that could be now, more useful." The index ran to seven volumes (covering 1545–1760); according to Earwaker's obituary, "their value to students of local history is incalculable".

Other important documents that have been published by the society include part of De laude Cestrie, edited by Margerie Venables Taylor, one of the earliest examples of prose writing concerning an English urban centre. Many of the early volumes have been digitised by the Internet Archive. The society has published more than 150 volumes (2019), an up-to-date list of which is maintained by the Royal Historical Society. The most recent volumes are The Diaries of William Lloyd Holden, 1829 and 1830, edited by Jonathan Pepler (2019), The Cheshire Motor Vehicle Registrations, edited by Craig Horner (2019) and The First Minute Book of the Liverpool Athenaeum, 1797-1809, edited by David Brazendale and Mark Towsey (2020).

When the society published a volume of early Cheshire charters (1958) in honour of its long-serving President, William Fergusson Irvine, a local newspaper described the book as "beautifully printed and illustrated...well worthy of the distinguished scholar in whose honour it had been produced".

Recent reviews of the society's volumes have described them as "invaluable for anyone interested in the history of this area", and pointed out that they are "well edited" and the documents "thoroughly explained". One review (2013) observed that by bringing to public attention documents that are an "under used resource", the society's publications could allow "insights into parish and community life rarely available in other sources".

Membership
Membership is open to all individuals and societies who are interested in the various historical aspects of the two counties Palatine.

Officers

Presidents

Vice-Presidents

Secretaries

Treasurers

Editors

See also

Chetham Society
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire
Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society
Lancashire Parish Register Society

External links
Official website

References

1878 establishments in England
Regional and local learned societies of the United Kingdom
History organisations based in the United Kingdom
Historical societies of the United Kingdom
Organizations established in 1878


Thelymitra variegata, commonly called the Queen of Sheba, is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae and endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single erect, spiral, dark green leaf with a purplish base and up to five glossy, variegated reddish, purplish or violet flowers with darker spots and blotches and yellowish margins.  There are two bright yellow or orange arms on the sides of the column.

Description
Thelymitra variegata is a tuberous, perennial herb with an erect, dark green leaf which is egg-shaped near its purplish base, then suddenly narrows to a linear, channelled, spirally twisted leaf  long and  wide. Up to five glossy, variegated reddish, purplish or violet flowers with darker spots and blotches and yellowish margins,  wide are borne on a flowering stem  tall. The sepals and petals are  long and  wide. The column is a similar colour to the petals and sepals,  long and about  wide with a cluster of small finger-like glands on its back. There are two bright yellow or orange ear-like arms on the sides of the column. The flowers are insect pollinated and open widely on hot days. Flowering occurs in August and September.

Taxonomy and naming
The Queen of Sheba was first formally described in 1840 by John Lindley who gave it the name Macdonaldia variegata and published the description in A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony. In 1865 Ferdinand von Mueller changed the name to Thelymitra variegata and published the change in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae. The specific epithet (variegata) is a Latin word meaning "of different sorts, particularly colors".

Distribution and habitat
The Queen of Sheba grows with low shrubs and grasses in woodland, forest and heath. The flowers are insect pollinated and open on sunny days. It is found between Perth and Albany in the Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions.

Conservation
Thelymitra variegata is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.

References

External links

variegata
Endemic orchids of Australia
Orchids of Western Australia
Plants described in 1840
Taxa named by John Lindley

Thelymitra variegata


Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, known as the bassist of Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting as a backing vocalist and occasional guitarist.

Trewavas was born in Middlesbrough, but spent much of his childhood in the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It was in Aylesbury that he became involved in several bands, having most success with The Metros, before taking up his long term role in Marillion.

Trewavas is also a member of the progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic. In 2004, he co-founded another group called Kino, with John Mitchell (Arena), John Beck (It Bites) and Chris Maitland (ex-Porcupine Tree).

In 2011, Pete Trewavas joined up with his longtime friend Eric Blackwood to form the duo Edison's Children. The new project was designed to be a creative outlet for Pete Trewavas (who has traditionally recorded in a "band" or "group" format on bass and acoustic guitar), in which he could also play lead guitar, lead vocals, drum programming and keyboards as well as have full creative control over the writing and producing of the record with. The 72-minute concept album In The Last Waking Moments... about a man fighting to understand if a recent bizarre happening was reality or a descent into madness, was released on 11.11.11.

The Edison's Children project would result in the release of the single "A Million Miles Away (I Wish I Had A Time Machine)". The song debuted on American Commercial Radio in June 2012 and by September it had reached the FMQB U.S. Commercial Radio Top 40 where it remained for 10 weeks (and stayed in the top 100 for 25 weeks) peaking at No. 32.

Edison's Children did live performances in Montreal, Wolverhampton England and Port Zélande Netherlands opening up for Marillion's "Brave" performances during the Marillion 2013 Weekend. The Montreal show was recorded and released as a B-Side on their "In the Last Waking Moments..."-EP Single. The UK show was released on their latest album "Somewhere Between Here and There".

Edison's Children released their second album, The Final Breath Before November, on 13 December 2013. It was mixed by Jakko Jakszyk, lead singer of King Crimson, John Mitchell, lead guitarist of It Bites, and Arena and Robin Boult, lead guitarist of Fish. The album featured Eric Blackwood on lead vocals and guitar and composition again along with Henry Rogers of DeeExpus and Touchstone. Pete Trewavas co-wrote and produced the album with Eric Blackwood and played lead guitar and lead vocals on many of tracks along with bass and programming for the symphonic orchestration.

Edison's Children is expecting their third album "Somewhere Between Here and There", a "bridge album" containing 7 new songs and 6 original mixes from The Final Breath Before November by King Crimson's Jakko Jakszyk and John Mitchell, along with the live version of A Million Miles Away from Wolves UK to be released in June 2015. Work has already begun on a 4th epic album which is expected to be much "harder" than the more symphonic The Final Breath Before November.

On 17 September 2012, during a Marillion concert at The Junction in Cambridge, Steve Hogarth announced that Trewavas was now called "Sweet Pea Tremendous" as it was the result of putting his name into an anagram solver.

Trewavas has also appeared in Prog Aid, the charity project set up to raise money for victims of the 2004 tsunami.

Trewavas was a guest musician on English progressive rock band Big Big Train's 2007 album, The Difference Machine.

Primarily a bassist, Trewavas has also been known to write keyboard parts during his time with Transatlantic, and has played acoustic guitar on Marillion songs, particularly "Faith" and "Now She'll Never Know". With Edison's Children, Trewavas commonly contributed lead guitar, lead vocals,  programming, guitar synthesizer, drum programming and several middle-eastern instruments.

On 11 January 1999 Trewavas was hit by a motorist when cycling home from the studio Racket Club. He suffered multiple injuries and spent time in intensive care, and underwent surgery in his leg.

Trewavas is a fan of the football team Manchester United F.C.

Equipment

Trewavas uses:
 Laney Amplification and Ibanez Bass Guitars
 Laney B2 power amp & cabinets
 Laney RWB300 Combo
 Ibanez RDB Bass
 Fender Precision Bass
 Fender Jazz Bass
 Squier Precision Bass
 Squier Jazz Bass
 Rickenbacker 4080 double-neck bass/guitar
 Warwick Basses
 Elites stadium series 45–105 strings
 TC Electronic D-Two multi-tap rhythm delay processor
 Various Boss effects pedals: Delay, EQ, Chorus, Distortion, Octaver
 Sennheiser wireless system
 Roland PK5 Bass Pedals Controller

References

External links

 Pete Trewavas' homepage at Marillion.com
 Kino official homepage

1959 births
Living people
Acoustic guitarists
English bass guitarists
English male guitarists
Kino (British band) members
Male bass guitarists
Marillion members
Musicians from Middlesbrough
Transatlantic (band) members

Pete Trewavas


Peter Arthur Barton (born 28 March 1955) is a British military historian, author and filmmaker specialising in trench warfare during World War I. He has published extensively on military mining and aspects of battlefield archaeology on the Western Front, and led archaeological excavations that have been featured in several Time Team episodes. His work has led to the rediscovery of many tunnels, wartime panoramas and mass graves of soldiers.

Career
In 2005, Barton published Beneath Flanders Fields, a history of the British tunnellers fighting in the Ypres Salient from 1914 to 1918, for which he collaborated with Peter Doyle and Johan Vandewalle. Between 2006 and 2011, Barton rediscovered and published several panoramic perspectives of the Western Front which allow readers to view the battlefields from the Belgian coast to the British lines at the Somme.

With his colleagues Simon Jones and Jeremy Banning, he has been involved in several large-scale archaeological projects on the former Western Front, including the successful dig at Zonnebeke near Ypres in January 2008 that rediscovered the Vampire dugout and the successful dig in May 2010 at Mametz on the Somme for surviving pieces of a Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector. The Zonnebeke excavation was shown on UK television as "The Lost WWI Bunker" (Time Team Special 33, first aired on 10 November 2008), while the Mametz excavation was shown on UK television as "The Somme's Secret Weapon" (Time Team Special 42, first aired on 14 April 2011). A version of the latter documentary, entitled "Breathing Fire" was broadcast internationally in autumn 2011.

Barton designed the Tunnellers Memorial at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée, unveiled on 19 June 2010, to commemorate the action on 26 June 1916 for which William Hackett of 254th Tunnelling Company was awarded the Victoria Cross. The memorial stands at the site of the Shaftesbury Shaft and the Red Dragon Crater. Its dimensions,  high and  wide, mirror the standard interior proportions of mine galleries constructed by the tunnelling companies in the Flanders clays.

Working with the Red Cross' records at their headquarters in Geneva, Barton has examined records that have lain virtually untouched since 1918, and estimates that there could be 20 million sets of details, carefully entered on card indexes, or written into ledgers. Barton has also worked alongside Glasgow University Archaeology Research Division to locate and explore mass graves at the Pheasant Wood site at Fromelles. The Australian Government commissioned him to carry out research into the identities of the casualties discovered.

Since 2011, Barton, Jones and Banning have been involved with the  La Boisselle Project of the La Boisselle Study Group, a long-term archaeological, historical, technological and genealogical study of a site at Ovillers-la-Boisselle in the Somme department in Picardy in northern France. The area (known in the First World War as Îlot de La Boisselle to the French, as Granathof to the Germans and as Glory Hole to the British) still has mine craters as well as traces of trenches, shelters and tunnels related to underground warfare in this former sector of the front line. Barton also wrote, produced and presented a television documentary on the archaeology of the World War I tunnels beneath La Boisselle, which was shown on UK television as "The Somme: Secret Tunnel Wars" (BBC Four, first aired on 20 May 2013).

Barton also acts as co-secretary of the All Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group. The group consists of members from both Houses of Parliament and exists to support the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to further educational programmes aimed at increasing knowledge of war heritage and battlefield sites, to support campaigners seeking to conserve and promote heritage sites, and to encourage best practice in multi-disciplinary battlefield archaeology.

Works

The Battlefields of the First World War (1st edition - 2005)
The Somme - a new panoramic perspective, Constable, 2006,
Passchendaele - Unseen Panoramas of the Third Battle of Ypres, Constable, 2007,
The battlefields of the First World War: the unseen panoramas of the Western front, Constable in association with the Imperial War Museum, 2005,  (2nd edition – 2008)
Arras – The Spring 1917 Offensive in Panoramas including Vimy Ridge and Bullecourt, Constable, 2010,
The Somme – the unseen panoramas, Constable, (revised edition – 2011),
"The Somme 1916: from Both Sides of the Wire", a 3-part television programme, shown on BBC 2 in July/August 2016

References

External links

 La Boisselle Study Group and La Boisselle Project

Historians of World War I
British military writers
People educated at Rossall School
1955 births
Living people
British military historians
Loomis Chaffee School alumni

Peter Barton (historian)


Ragnar von Holten (born 12 March 1934 in Gleiwitz, Silesia; died 26 September 2009 in Stockholm) was a Swedish art historian, painter, printmaker, book illustrator and museum curator.

Life
Von Holten came to Sweden in 1937 with his family who left Nazi Germany. After graduating, he studied art history. During a trip to Paris in 1953 he had contacts who gave him the mandate on the artist Gustave Moreau. He traveled for many years between Stockholm and Paris, and he became a link between French and Swedish surrealists. He became a member of the Surrealist circle around André Breton. While he spent time in Stockholm with artists such as Eric Grate, Endre Nemes, Gösta Kriland, Öyvind Fahlström and Thea Ekström.

In 1965 he defended his thesis on Gustave Moreau and in 1969 he published his most famous book, Surrealism in Swedish art, regarded as a standard work. The same year, he became Associate Professor in Art History in Stockholm. He was in a sequence Senior Curator at the National Exhibition (1968–82), National Museum (1982–97) and the Modern Art Museum (1998–2000). Between 1985–88 he was Director of the Swedish Institute in Paris. As an artist, he made his debut in 1960 in Gothenburg and Lund. Surrealism was his theme, both in his art practice as in his art, scientific works. In 2008 he had a major retrospective exhibition at Malmö Art Museum.

After his death, von Holten's art collection was donated to the Art Academy, and proceeds from sales became the nucleus for the Ragnar von Holten Memorial Fund, which would award scholarships to promising artists.

References

1934 births
2009 deaths
People from the Province of Upper Silesia
20th-century Swedish painters
Swedish male painters
German emigrants to Sweden
Swedish art historians
Swedish art curators
Academic staff of Stockholm University
20th-century Swedish male artists

Ragnar von Holten


The UEFA Europa League is a football tournament for teams that did not make the UEFA Champions League. They qualify by being not the best in the country and not making the best competition. For example in England, teams that finish after the first four teams can go to the Europa League. There is another option, which if you finish 3rd in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, you will qualify for the last 32 in the Europa League, and the 3rd option is when a club which being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League 3rd round (Into the UEFA Europa League Playoff Round). In 2009, it was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League. It was previously known as the UEFA Cup. The winner of the UEFA Europa League plays the winner of the UEFA Champions League in the UEFA Super Cup.

The Competition Winners

Other websites

1955 establishments in Europe

UEFA Europa League


The Tanners' Bridge () is an 18th-century Ottoman period stone footbridge located in Tirana, Albania. The bridge, built near the Tanners' Mosque, was once part of the Saint George Road that linked Tirana with the eastern highlands. The road was the route by which livestock and produce entered the city. The bridge crossed the Lanë stream near the area where butcher shops and leather workers were located. The bridge fell into disrepair when the Lanë was diverted in the 1930s. In the 1990s, the bridge was restored for use by pedestrians.

History

The Tanners' Bridge was part of the road that connected Tirana with Debar through Shëngjergj, also called Shëngjergj Road ().  The road to Debar passed through Priskë e Madhe, Qafe Priskë, Domje, Shëngjergj, and further on it continued through Bizë, Martanesh, Zerqan and finally Debar. The road connected Tirana with the eastern highlands, and was mainly used by farmers to bring produce and livestock into the city. The butchering profession was owned by certain families such as the Xheleti's, or Kuka's. They were called tabakë in Albanian which is the profession that includes both butchering and tanning. The road within the city, a square and also the bridge itself were called Rruga e Tabakëve ().

The bridge was in use across the Lanë stream to the other until the 1930s. Later the Lanë was diverted from its previous course.

In the 1990s, the bridge was cleaned and fully restored, and is now used by pedestrians alone. In 2007, one of the engineers that worked on the "Ethnography in movement" project declared to the Albanian News Agency () that the underground infrastructural work on the bridge had been completed. During the restoration work the bridge's foundations were uncovered and an artificial pond was recreated on both sides of the bridge. In addition, the original stones of the bridge were also cleaned up. A historical re-evaluation of the area is in the municipality projects, inclusive of the construction of an underground market. The overall project intends that the entire area be used by pedestrians only. The intended area extends from the Tanners' Bridge to the square where the flag of Albania was raised for the first time on 26 November 1912.

The bridge is now seen by the municipality of Tirana as one of the most important cultural heritage monuments of the city. The bridge is considered as a testimony of Tirana's urban development in the 18th century. The Tanner's Bridge is also a testament to the fine bridge construction that was employed in Tirana at the time, and is one of many bridges in Albania dating from the Ottoman period which are of architectural and historical importance.

References

External links
 Pictures of Tanners' Bridge

Bridges completed in the 18th century
Buildings and structures in Tirana
Tourist attractions in Tirana
Stone arch bridges
Pedestrian bridges in Albania
Ottoman bridges in Albania

Tanners' Bridge


Rasputin the Mad Monk is a 1966 Hammer horror film directed by Don Sharp and starring Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin, the Russian peasant-mystic who gained great influence with the Tsars prior to the Russian Revolution. It also features Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Richard Pasco, Dinsdale Landen and Renée Asherson. The story is largely fictionalized, although some of the events leading up to Rasputin's assassination are very loosely based on Prince Yusupov's account of the story. For legal reasons (Yusupov was still alive when the film was released), the character of Yusupov was replaced by Ivan (Matthews).

The emphasis is on Rasputin's terrifying powers both to work magic and to seduce women.

Plot
In the Russian countryside, Rasputin heals the sick wife of an innkeeper (Derek Francis). When he is later hauled before an Orthodox bishop for his sexual immorality and violence, the innkeeper springs to the monk's defence. Rasputin protests that he is sexually immoral because he likes to give God "sins worth forgiving" (loosely based on Rasputin's rumored connection to Khlysty, an obscure Christian sect which believed that those deliberately committing fornication, then repenting bitterly, would be closer to God). He also claims to have healing powers in his hands, and is unperturbed by the bishop's accusation that his power comes from Satan.

Rasputin heads for Saint Petersburg, where he forces his way into the home of Dr Zargo (Pasco), from where he begins his campaign to gain influence over the Tsarina (Asherson). He manipulates one of the Tsarina's ladies-in-waiting, Sonia (Shelley), whom he uses to satisfy his voracious sexual appetite and gain access to the Tsarina. He places her in a trance and commands her to cause an apparent accident that will injure the czar's young heir Alexei, so that Rasputin can be called to court to heal him. After this success, he hypnotizes the Tsarina to replace her existing doctor with Zargo (who has previously been struck off after a scandal).

However, Rasputin's ruthless pursuit of wealth and prestige, and increasing control over the royal household, attracts opposition. When Rasputin rejects Sonia saying that she has served her purpose, she tries to kill him. Rasputin places Sonia in a trance telling her to destroy herself. Sonia's brother, Peter (Landen), finds Sonia dead from cutting her wrists and is so enraged by Rasputin's seduction and killing of his sister, he enlists the help of Ivan to bring about the monk's downfall. Peter, in challenging the monk, is horribly scarred by acid thrown in his face, and suffers a lingering death.

Tricking Rasputin into thinking his sister Vanessa (Farmer) is interested in him, Ivan arranges a supposed meeting. However, Zargo has poisoned the wine and chocolates, which the Monk starts to consume. Soon Rasputin collapses, but the poison is not enough to kill him. In the ensuing struggle between the three men, Zargo is stabbed by Rasputin and quickly dies. Ivan manages to throw Rasputin out of the window to his death.

Cast
 Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin
 Barbara Shelley as Sonia
 Richard Pasco as Dr Boris Zargo
 Francis Matthews as Ivan
 Suzan Farmer as Vanessa
 Dinsdale Landen as Peter
 Renée Asherson as the Tsarina
 Derek Francis as Innkeeper
 John Welsh as The Abbot
 Joss Ackland as The Bishop
 Robert Duncan as the Tsarevich
 Alan Tilvern as Patron
 Bryan Marshall as Vassily
 Brian Wilde as Vassily's Father

Production
Rasputin the Mad Monk was filmed back-to-back in 1965 with Dracula: Prince of Darkness, using the same sets at Hammer's Bray Studios. Lee, Matthews, Shelley and Farmer appeared in both films. In some markets, it was released on a double feature with The Reptile.

It was the third collaboration between Christopher Lee and Don Sharp, following The Devil Ship Pirates and The Face of Fu Manchu.

Lee later said, "The only way you can present him is the way he was historically described. He was a lecher and a  drunk, and definitely had healing powers. So he was a saint and a sinner... There were very few good sides to him. Rasputin is one of the best things I've done. "

"I think it's the best thing Chris Lee's ever done," said Sharp in 1992. "Rasputin was supposed to have had this ability to hypnotise people, well Chris practically developed that ability."

Filming started 8 June. Don Sharp says the budget was cut during filming, causing the loss of several key scenes. He also claims Yusopov's lawyers threatened Hammer shortly before filming was to commence, necessitating last minute rewriting of the script. Filming occurred at Bray Studios in Berkshire.

A scene of Sonia's suicide was filmed but not shown.

The original ending had the lifeless Rasputin lying on the ice with his hands held up to his forehead in benediction. However, it was considered controversial for religious reasons, and was removed. Stills of the original ending still exist.

Sharp says the final fight scene between Francis Matthews and Christopher Lee was greatly cut by Tony Keys when Sharp had to leave the film during editing. Sharp had greatly enjoyed the experience of making his first two Hammer films - Kiss of the Vampire and Devil Ship Pirates - but not Rasputin. However he did feel the film was "one of the best things Chris Lee's ever done".

As a child in the 1920s, Lee had actually met Rasputin's killer, Felix Yusupov. In later life Lee met Rasputin's daughter Maria.

A novelization of the film was written by John Burke as part of his 1967 book The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus.

Reception

According to Fox records, the film and The Reptile needed to earn $1,200,000 in rentals to break even and made $1,645,000, meaning it made a profit.

Notes

References

External links

 Rasputin the Mad Monk at Letterbox DVD
 Rasputin the Mad Monk at BFI

1966 films
1960s historical horror films
British biographical films
British historical horror films
CinemaScope films
Films directed by Don Sharp
Films set in Russia
Films set in the 1900s
Films set in the 1910s
Films shot at Bray Studios
1960s exploitation films
Hammer Film Productions horror films
Films about Grigori Rasputin
1960s biographical films
1960s English-language films
1960s British films

Rasputin the Mad Monk