Three Diner Specials for the Discriminating Reader
These Ads are Fabulous!
Michelle Moore, the TG History columnist here at TGF (and a long-time friend) suggested this item for The Diner. She forwarded an article that appeared in Radar Magazine’s February edition about commercial ads by large well-known companies that are either directly or subtly targeted to the gay audience. And at least one ad that might be subtly aimed at the crossdressing demographic. The article can be found at this link.
The article showed the ads with some brief commentary and comments from the agencies that created the ads. For example, a print ad for a BMW 3-series had this tag line: “Hard Top. Firm Bottom. It’s so LA.” The agency claimed it was just a happy accident that the ad seemed to work so well with the gay community. Volvo had an ad that showed a profile of a very phallic emergency brake lever thrusting at a 45-degree angle between leather seats. The 
company denied any gay or sexual theme. Embassy Suites had a pretty clear ad that showed two males’ legs curled spoon-style on a bed. The company rep said, “If we’re talking about diversity, let’s demonstrate it.”
The interestingly ambiguous ad for a Subaru SUV showed a closet filled with dark suits — and a lone silver lame cocktail dress in the middle of the rack. The ad has the tag line “Being Ready for Any Occasion.” The Radar folks included this quote by Subaru’s ad agency. “With Subaru, it’s all about subtlety,” says John Nash, whose agency, Moon City, apparently designed this ad for the elusive tranny demo. “Ads can be playful, but never crass. …Maybe he likes to cross-dress, who knows? You don’t have to knock someone over the head to make it a gay-friendly ad.”
I guess the only objection we might have about Mr. Nash’s comment is the automatic association of crossdressing with being gay. But his heart — and Subaru’s — seem to be in the right place.
By the Time We Got to Koovagam…We Were 70,000 Strong
The annual transgender festival at the Koovagam village temple in Tamil Nadu, India attracts 70,000 transgenders from India and other countries, which makes it sort of a TG Woodstock. I saw an item about it on the India News Channel online version. (I don’t think you can ask your local cable provider for it – yet).
The event is meant to commemorate an Indian legend in which Aravan, a young warrior about to be sacrificed the next day, receives his wish for one night of connubial bliss before dying. The problem was that no virgins could be found on short notice, so the Lord Krishna transformed himself into the female form of Mohini so Aravan can get his short-lived rocks off. Aside from the neat transgender angle in this legend, you gotta wonder who thinks this stuff up.
Anyway, the festival brings together transgenders and India’s eunuchs to recreate this fabled coupling — in symbolic fashion at least — with the TG’s playing the part of the widowed Mohini and shredding their wedding sheaths and jewelry and bathing communally, vowing to return for next year’s festival.
Interesting factoid: India is estimated to have 50,000 eunuchs.
The only black mark against this festive, uh, festival, is that the local villagers have filed complaints against the organizers because the transgenders leave condoms littered all over the village’s common areas. The organizers distribute upwards of 3,000 condoms to festival participants and copulation of a less legendarily romantic sort than that between warriors and female gods takes place in all sorts of public areas around the village. The local sanitation people have vowed to put more staff on the cleanup job and get out earlier in the morning.
The festival organizers, in the spirit of being good guests, have put out the message: “No sex around the temple.†Now there’s a bumper sticker for ya.
An Inspirational Message from Gwyneth Paltrow
The Huffington Post, a mostly political blog, also carries a lot of entertainment news and gossip. They recently posted some photos of actress Gwyneth Paltrow as she promoted the new Iron Man movie in which she co-stars.
The teaser headline was “Gwyneth’s Gams: Paltrow Dons Mini Skirts and Kinky Heels.†In the interest of journalism, I thought this deserved further investigation. Once I clicked on the link the photos did indeed show that Ms. Paltrow was appearing in several European cities in very short mini-dresses and some hot, very high heels. In one photo, she shows off some super sexy toe cleavage in pointy pumps. Another shows a rakishly angled fabric-covered platform pump with a super slender high heel.
These are the kind of photos that made me want to start crossdressing in the first place, lo those many years ago. I’d love to hear your crossdressing inspirations. Post a comment, if you’d like to share.
Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
I started crossdressing and going out publicly in 1988. I joined the Renaissance group in the Philadelphia area that year and later became chapter leader for two years in the '90s. I always enjoyed writing and wrote for the Renaissance newsletter and magazine throughout my membership years. I've been writing for TGForum for several years now. I also contributed items to LadyLike magazine and other TG publications before the advent of the internet. My hobby-within-a-hobby is singing live as my alter-ego Dina Sinatra and I have had the opportunity to do that with several accommodating performers and in a number of venues over the years since the mid-1990s. In the Diner column items here, I try to relate crossdressing or transgender themes (and my own pet peeves and fetishes) to the larger world -- and vice versa.Subscribe
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