Transness is far from a new thing, and we know that plenty of figures from the past had to make a painful choice: live a respectable public life in the closet, or an honest life in the shadows.
But there are some who created a third choice: they lived openly and out loud, and damn the consequences. Take, for example, the legendary actor Katharine Hepburn, whose iconoclasm was both celebrated and demonized during the height of her fame in the 30s and 40s.
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In a clip from the 90s when Kate was still with us, she tells cub reporter Katie Couric that she hated being a girl and did what anyone else would do in that situation: live as a boy. She went by Jimmy, shaved her head, and wore boy’s clothes.
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That’s not all, of course. We all know the story about how Hepburn, in a time when women were forced to wear only skirts and dresses under the law, defied convention by wearing pants everywhere she went. And listen, that dude could wear a pair of pants.
Not only that, but perhaps you’ve heard the good word of Sylvia Scarlett, a 1935 film (directed by queer powerhouse George Cukor) that saw Hepburn donning a sleek men’s cut and “passing” for a guy. And looking damn good at it!
Katharine Hepburn – Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
byu/bil-sabab inoldhollywood
Obviously none of this is enough to make a conclusive statement about someone who’s been not on this earthly plane for years, but if we’re going on vibes, I’d say the vibes are quite strong.
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