What are some examples of cross-dressing on stage through time and place? What were the reasons for ...

Since women were banned from performing in the seventeenth century, in the kabuki theatre, men perform onnagata roles, an idealized female character. In Elizabethan England, the belief that it was immodest and immoral for women to display themselves publicly led to young boys playing all the female roles. During the English Restoration, women appeared for the first time on the public stages of England. Beautiful young actresses were often called on to play breeches roles, in which they played young men dressed in short pants, or breeches. These roles allowed male audience members to ogle actresses' alluring ankles, a taboo sight outside the theatre. Today, theatre companies may use cross-dressing to highlight and question society's gender roles.