Victorian beauty; Transgender

Victorian Beauty; Transgender

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3244622/The-original-drag-queens-Incredible-photographs-Victorian-men-daring-pose-elegant-studio-portraits.html, viewed 27.01.15, (digital image)

This is Lily Elbe, her story begins in the Victorian era; she was born a man and was one of the first men to go through with transgender operations during this time. Her story has been made into a film, 'the danish girl.' I have chosen to look into the story of Lily, because it was one of the first shocking stories of this time. It has taken my interest because it touches on the fact that she was born a man but makes herself up to be a woman; wearing makeup and styling her hair in a certain way. 

To her close friends Lily was known to be a transgender; but to the public she was a glamorous lady. She went though many operations to change her appearance and transform her into a woman, this life of hers ending though due to an operation to transplant a uterus went wrong. This is not the only story of transgender women and drag queens; below shows an image of Brigham Morris Young, also known as Madam Pattirini, fooled his audience into thinking he was a woman during his years on the stage between 1885-1900. Although to me and most people today would be able to notice straight away that these images where of men originally, that could be due to the amount of surgery and 'help' to become more feminine available today. Comparing these transgender women to Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox of todays generation, there is a lot of improvement in the quality of the feminine look.                                                   

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3244622/The-original-drag-queens-Incredible-photographs-Victorian-men-daring-pose-elegant-studio-portraits.html, viewed 27.01.15, (digital image)

During the Victorian era makeup was kept a secret, it was shocked to hear of women wearing makeup everyday, and the products used and spoken about were creams and cosmetics. The idea of a good skin care regime was more of a desire than makeup, as makeup was associated with prostitutes and actresses. Most makeup looks were designed to compliment a brunette, although lipsticks weren't available there were lip dyes and pigments mostly in rouge. Women rarely wore make up, except from a little power to keep the face from looking too shiny. Any other cosmetics worn, like eyeshadow and lip colour, were extremely natural and pink coloured shades. Skincare was favoured over makeup. In 1846 T.T Pond Company was formed, and went on to produce Pond’s Cold Cream and Pond’s Vanishing Cream. These creams became remarkably popular at the turn of the Century, and are still popular today!

http://vintagemakeupguide.com/victorian-look/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oxPAn_8-uY, youtube, viewed 27.01.15, video 

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/06/17/laverne-cox-amfar-inspiration-gala_n_7603672.html, viewed 27.01.15, (digital image) 

These images of transgender women today show the improvement in makeup and operations to make a person more feminine. Both women are glamorous in their own way but do look like women, more so than the transgender people during the Victorian era. Inspirational pole like Lily, show there is no reason to not be yourself and to fight for what you believe in, this has inspired and encouraged many transgender people today.