Dina’s Diner 9/23/19

HOLDING THE HIGH NOTES

The New York Times Sunday Arts & Leisure section had a front page feature about transgender opera singers in the July 14, 2019 edition. A couple months ago, I had an item about an Asian cis-female opera singer. I am not an opera fan. It’s just a coincidence.

The Times article recounted the challenges trans opera singers face in their professional careers. For those transitioning to male, there are significant changes to their vocal register as a result of testosterone treatments. For the singers transitioning to female, their voices are not raised by estrogen so they need to find creative casting directors or niche roles that put them to best advantage.

Holden Madagame

Holden Madagame was “trained as a mezzo-soprano [as a woman], he risked his singing career when he transitioned several years ago and began taking testosterone, which lowers and alters the voice — a voice he had spent years fine-tuning for opera, where success is measured in the subtlest of gradations.

“A couple of my singer friends were sort of like, you’re ruining your career, you’re ruining your life, the voice is everything,” he recalled recently. “And I thought, it’s not. I would rather enjoy my life, and pursue singing if it happens. I didn’t know if I’d be able to.”

Holden is only 5’2” which is also a drawback for male roles. But he landed a lead in an opera based on a true story of an old west stagecoach driver who was discovered to be a female only after her death.

Lucia Lucas transitioned to female and kept her natural baritone because estrogen cannot raise the vocal register. “It would be great if I could just take estrogen and wake up and sing Brünnhilde,” she said. “It doesn’t work like that.” When she was undergoing facial surgery as part of her transition, Lucia did not want her nose, sinuses or Adam’s apple touched for fear it might alter her voice. A director at the Tulsa Opera wanted to cast her in a proposed opera based on The Danish Girl which was a popular film about a real-life trans pioneer. When he heard Lucia’s deep voice, he decided to cast her in the male lead role in the classic Don Giovanni. Lucia dressed in male clothing, short wig and sideburns for the part looks at it as just a costume for the role.

Breanna Sinclairé

Breanna Sinclairé gained some fame in 2015 when she was the first trans singer to perform the national anthem which happened at an Oakland A’s game. The Times reported, “Ms. Sinclairé said that it was her earliest conviction that she did not feel comfortable in her body. That feeling carried into her singing, too. “People kept pushing me to be the tenor, because I was tall,” Ms. Sinclairé said. “And I’m like, I don’t want to be no damn hero! I want to be the damsel in distress!” One of her teachers at Cal Arts Institute encouraged her to sing mezzo-soprano roles because her natural voice was already quite high. She has sung in the San Francisco area, Washington D.C., Toronto, Canada and has a vibrant career.

Their stories are good examples of the old saying “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” The Times points out that opera places great demands on its singers and taking a chance messing with one’s voice or seeming to “mis-match” the voice and the appearance is a risky move for these performers. It was nice to read those instances where directors or teachers saw their uniqueness as opportunities to develop or create rather than suppress or restrict their talent and careers. We all need some help, a lucky break here and there, no matter how gifted.

HE’S MUY EXOTICO

The New York Times had a film review of a documentary titled Cassandro the Exotico! It appeared in the July 19 Arts section of the paper under the headline “Diving Into the Ring in Mexico.”

Cassandro the Exotico

The film introduces fans to a Mexican lucha libre wrestler Cassandro the Exotico. Lucha Libre translates to “free fighting” and it is the form of professional wrestling in Mexico where the combatants usually wear colorful face masks. If you remember the Jack Black movie of many years ago Nacho Libre you know something about it.

Cassandro the Exotico is a gay wrestler who grapples in drag as part of his ring persona. The online version of The Times sub-headed the review, “A Gay Luchador Body Slams Life.” The review explained, “Cassandro, with his costumes, makeup and an often remarkably high pompadour, is as much a drag performer as he is a luchador.” At 49 years old, Cassandro (real name Saul Armendariz) is no spring chicken and he has all the injuries you’d expect from a middle-aged pro wrestler. He claims he only takes Ibuprofen to fight the pain – even after surgical repairs to joints, bones, and muscles.

The Times reviewer makes an interesting point about professional wrestling in Mexico and our own gaudy version here in the states. “Pro wrestling, it could be argued, has always been drag-adjacent — we’re talking about men peacocking in tights here.” I have often thought the same thing. One of the famous wrestlers from the 1950s was “Gorgeous George” who teased a gay persona in the ring. Other more contemporary pros with the bleached hair, oiled muscles, and Spandex® outfits always seemed to be preening as much as any drag queen.

Cassandro always loved wrestling and it lifted him out of a difficult gay youth as a star of the sport in Mexico. He told The Times, “At the live shows, you forget all the stuff that happened to you at home, at school … and of course me being gay, I loved the men.”

BEING SEXY JUST FOR KICKS

Soccer Socks

I attended my first women’s college soccer match recently and was quite impressed by the athleticism and speed of the players. It’s one thing to watch it on TV and soccer can be kind of boring, let’s face it. In person, the tension of developing plays and the electric moment when someone gets a breakaway is more exciting than I imagined going in for the first time.

But this is a crossdressing Diner, doll, so let’s get to the real reasons I liked the game so much. The toned bodies, the loose-legged shorts, and the few women who wore over-the-knee soccer socks turned me into a fan even before the puck was dropped. . . well, you know what I mean.

Several months ago, I wrote about professional women golfers who sometimes wear over-the-knee socks with their golf skirts. And golf is a slow, sedate sport so the sock show is a genteel fashion statement in that world. At the soccer game, the combination of white socks pulled up to muscular thighs, which thighs were pumping below flapping short shorts was enough to convert me for life. One must wonder (especially if one is a male) if the players sporting the thigh high socks feel sexier and that feeling may give them a small adrenalin boost when they take the field.

In other women’s soccer news, USA team member Carli Lloyd made a few field goal kicks (one from 55 yards!) while visiting the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens scrimmage during training camps. The Eagles general manager tweeted that some NFL teams should consider her as a replacement kicker. Carli wasn’t wearing thigh high socks when she was making her kicks. But imagine seeing a woman player take to the gridiron in skin tight football knickers. We’ll have to leave that for another Diner, sports fans.

A PUBLIC SPECTACLE

Jonathan Van Ness

So I saw a headline on Yahoo News one day and it directed me to an article from Footwear News. Footwear has its own news magazine. Who knew? But I will become a regular checker-out of its articles about all manner of footwear from now on. High heels, platforms, boots, oh, yeah. You betcha.

Oh, yeah, the article I saw. It was headlined thusly: “Jonathan Van Ness Slays on the Red Carpet in Fierce Peep-Toe Boots.” I mean, c’mon, anyone would be intrigued by that headline even if you’re not a crossdresser looking for a story to tell your Diner patrons. I admit I was at a major disadvantage to regular readers of Footwear News because I didn’t know Jonathan Van Ness from soft pillows. It turns out he’s one of the co-hosts of the Queer Eye show.

FN (that’s how we regular readers of Footwear News refer to it, darling) reported, “The 32-year-old reality TV star worked the red carpet wearing a Christian Siriano dress with a black bodice and a pastel blue and green train. For footwear, the star chose a pair of Rick Owens booties. The shoes boasted a peep toe, a leather upper and a sky-high platform and a white block hee

Now I may be a new apostle for Footwear News and I hate to be a voice of dissent in this my probationary period with the magazine but. . . it kind of looks ridiculous. Peep toes in a boot is questionable on anyone’s foot in my opinion but with a guy’s foot? Oh, no, no, a million times no. I’m not a big fan of the hairy legs either. Call me a traditionalist but I like my bearded reality stars to do drag with hosiery and closed toe footwear.

YOU’LL THIGH WITH PLEASURE

Kix’ies are a perfect fit.

After discovering that footwear has its very own news magazine, I thought, hmmm, maybe lingerie does, too. And it does! The Lingerie Journal’s banner says it covers “Lingerie News from Top to Bottom.” Oh, you cheeky lingerie journalists.

The first news item I happened to peruse on their site was to help women (and perhaps a few fellas, yes, no?) find better fitting thigh high stockings. The article was sort of an infomercial for brand Kix’ies which sells thigh high tights in four sizes from petites to big, beautiful stocking lovers. Here’s a snippet from Kix’ies founder Samantha DeMartini: “Kix’ies are not your standard ‘one size fits most.’ We recognize that not all body types are created equal. Some women carry their weight in the tummy, tush or chest. None of those matter when sizing for a thigh high. What needs to come into play to get an accurate fit is the actual thigh circumference. Kix’ies has a new way of measuring for thigh highs.”

The brand sizes their thigh highs by height and weight as is customary but they also include a thigh circumference measurement which helps thick thighed shorter women or slender thighed zaftig women find a better fit. For example, a 5’8” to 6’0,” 170-200 lb. customer (listening, fellas?) with up to 35” thighs would take their D size. But if your thighs are only up to 25” you’d take a B. I thought about that for a while and realized that 35” thighs are almost as thick as some waists. But I guess the big girls like the model shown here could be in the 30” range.

My thigh at its thickest point is only 23” (thanks for asking). So if you’re going to put a stocking in my stocking this Christmas, make it Size B.

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Tags: fashion, featured, news, opinion

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment, Transgender Opinion