: In Ancient Greece and Renaissance England , women were often barred from the stage, requiring male actors to play all female roles. In Japan , the Kabuki tradition similarly featured men ( onnagata ) specializing in female roles.
: In the 1950s, Milton Berle popularized cross-dressing for television audiences. Films like Some Like It Hot (1959) brought these themes to the masses while hiding deeper queer undertones. Evolution of Themes in Media
: Media also historically used cross-dressing as a shorthand for psychosis or villainy, most notably in Alfred Hitchcock's Murder! and thrillers like Psycho and Silence of the Lambs .