Bending Gender: Are You Tough Enough, or Too Tender?

Looking at an attractive man, have you ever wondered if he would be beautiful as a woman? Or perhaps you mistook a boyish woman for a man, and she was actually quite handsome. It leaves you wondering: is there an in-between, someone who can be as lovely a woman as they are a man, or vice versa?

As a Drag Queen extraodinaire, it would be odd if I WEREN'T interested in beauty, male or female. When I'm in the gym working on my triceps, I can't help but wonder if the premium male specimen close by working on his biceps would look good in a dress, and perhaps what size and style would best befit his stalky profile. But more importantly, would he ever have the BALLS to put on a dress?

Some indiginous tribes of Native Americans had a term for ladyboys like me: Two-Spirited. These special mamas were said to have both masculine and feminie spirits, and they were held in HIGH regard in the tribe, you best believe these divas worked it, and in fact were consulted for marital disputes, among other ceremonial honors.

So if you're tough enough to call yourself a Two-Spirit like Stella Starlight, aka John Daffodils, and you're searching for someone to feel akin to, and to look up to, search no further my chickens! Below are some of the hottest celebrities embracing their Two-Spiritedness. A passing trend? Let's hope not.

MMM, this girl is FINE! How DOES she DO it? Her delicate features blend like the sfumato of a great painting, how radiant the tone of the skin! how sparkling and genuine the eyes! Can I invent a plastic surgery involving carving cheek bones that graze the ceiling like this chick's, so that I resemble even a modicum of her breathtaking-ness? WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?

Well, Lea T and I share one detail for certain: we were both born male. That's right, folks, the stunning beauty to your right started out in the less-fabulous sex, but began modeling even before she got it clipped. As a good friend of Ricardo Tischi, creative director of the fabeled fashion house Givenchy (and a total WIZARD, have you seen his haute couture?), Lea T was recently ushered into the fashion world as THEE face of Givenchy. She IS the cutting edge, okay!

She was recently featured in V magazine and had a sit with Oprah (watch below!), playing her transgender card as elegantly as her hair falls past her shoulders. What will she do next? We're all DYING to know.

It's hard to be able to effortlessly pull of couture AND be mistaken for a man on the red carpet now and then. Having recently won an Oscar for her role in Micheal Clayton, and cranking out arthouse films like it's her job (oh wait, IT IS!), I think IMDb says it best when they describe Tilda's magician skills as "the iconoclastic gifts of the visually striking and fiercely talented Scottish actress Tilda Swinton."

Her recent shoot in W magazine inspired me to include her in the list of androgynous superstars (the photo to the right, above, is from this shoot and yes, those are her REAL eyes). There's something to her look that goes beyond androgyny, though, as this shoot will reveal: she is, in a word, otherworldy. I first recognized her, I'm embarrassed to say, in Constantine, when she played the angel Gabriel - which I found to be kind of cool because in art Gabriel is always depicted as ambiguously girl-boy.

Look out for her in her new film, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and, of course, her red carpet appearances that will undoubtedly cause a stir among the fashion set. The couture picture to the right is only one of many fabulous shots from Another magazine. Do your eyes a favor and give them a refreshing drink of this ivory diva queen!

I first heard about the amazing Andrej Pejic on a LGBT Facebook group that posted the Dossier cover (at lower right), which was put in opaque wrapping at Barnes and Noble because it was deemed "inappropriate." While most LGBTs were outraged, I couldn't help grinning at the mystique an opaque wrapper might create, and how glad I was that Barnes and Noble had made said decision, because otherwise I may have never discovered my new IDOL.

Discovered in Australia while working at a McDonald's (RIGHT?), and of exotic Serbian and Croation descent, it is physically difficult to take your eyes off of Andrej. He's basically the blonde, fair version of Lea T, but has not expressed a desire to transition (so far). Walking in the Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show, there's no doubting that he holds his own among the other leggy models that grace the runway, and in fact stands out like a precious jewel. It is doubtless I am only one of many bloggers who are amassing a following to this UNSPEAKABLE BEAUTY. Diva be WORKING IT.

If you aren't LIVING for Stella Tennant, model, diva, dude?, no matter: Karl Lagerfeld IS. As the number one hot mama for Chanel, and clearly an inspiration to good ol' Karl as well as the rest of the fashion world, Stella Tennant is officially a rising star. Her curt glance at the camera is unguarded and beguiling, her face's subtle ability to be soft one moment, and hard the next, is, frankly, a kind of beauty that is hard to wrap one's brain around.

And if that's not enough to shock and awe, this skinny mama has FOUR children. Oh, that doesn't do it for ya? Try this: as granddaughter of the Duchess of Devonshire on one side and Lord Glenconner on the other, she's old money and aristocracy, nearly royalty even without being a fashion darling. BANG.

"Good skin, great beauty, it's all down to good genes." - says Stella. You get the impression, looking at her visage, that sometimes nothing at all is really something. It's no wonder she's the poster girl for the less-is-more wave that's sweeping fashion right now, as well as the menswear as womenswear wave. Allow her to lay you bare, and you will undoubtedly redefine your perception of beauty, gender, and where the line is drawn. Isn't it fabulous to be confused?

Being fierce isn't easy, people, but it IS possible. Take it from me, playing the transgender game is a weird labyrinth of emotions, sensations, and collecting admirations. It puts you in a certain eschelon of creative people willing to jump off the deep end of being feminine, masculine, crazy, chic, FABULOUS. You would be surprised at how many people, men and women, gay and straight, who have looked up to me for being open about my participation in dressing as a woman and working it. I may not be Andrej Pejic or Lea T, but a girl can dream! So if you're thinking about taking the plunge, here's my Drag Queen words for ya: DO IT, MAMA!