page_title: Chris Crocker
section_title: Appearance, genderbending and gender identity
hierarchical_section_title: Chris Crocker / Appearance, genderbending and gender identity
caption_attribution_description: English: Chris Crocker in 2013.
context_page_description: Christopher Darren Cunningham, better known by the stage name Chris Crocker, is an American Internet celebrity, blogger, songwriter, recording artist, pornographic film actor and former YouTuber. Crocker gained fame in September 2007 from his viral video "Leave Britney Alone!", in which he tearfully defended pop singer Britney Spears' comeback performance at the MTV Video Music Awards; his video received over four million views in two days. The video gained international media attention, hundreds of parodies, along with criticism for Crocker.
  Producing and acting in his own videos, Crocker is a self-described edutainer. In almost all of his adolescent works, he presents himself as an openly gay and effeminate Southerner in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt. Using "Crocker" as a stage name, he kept his exact location private due to safety concerns and death threats in response to his YouTube and Myspace video blogs and profile until he was no longer a teenager. According to his Myspace profile, Crocker lived in Los Angeles as of January 2008. In May 2010, he returned home to Tennessee, and now travels to Los Angeles for business.
context_section_description: Following his mainstream success, Crocker gradually began to change his image from feminine to masculine, eventually having adopted a predominantly masculine appearance by 2012 and thereby garnering significant attention for being physically attractive. Crocker said that although he understands he is more socially or traditionally attractive, he dislikes people saying it and "the most irritating thing" is when men he finds attractive say they find him more attractive this way. He felt that people should accept all of him instead of only the masculine side of him, and that dating is difficult because "[the guys] can't always accept that [he] used to dress up or that that's a part of [him] still and that [he still dresses up]." He identifies with the acceptance he received from his grandmother, who always wanted him to present as masculine, but he also finds it upsetting because she did not accept the way he was before.
  Crocker said that his gender is not one or the other, but a combination of both, although it is more so a different gender at times, and that it was not a conscious effort for him to become more masculine. "I started gradually. I was wearing less makeup and pushing my hair back and putting it in a pony tail instead of curling it or wearing it long." He stated that he "never realize[s] the changes that are taking place. They literally just happen" and that "[his] hair extensions got shorter and shorter and [he] went from 26-inch extensions to shoulder-length extensions." He said that the process is the same with regard to "dressing like a girl," adding, "It's little by little." With regard to which gender he is more comfortable as, Crocker stated, "I definitely feel the most connected with myself I've ever felt. Maybe that's because before I began to explore my more masculine traits, I thought I was going to go through with a boob job." He said he has now "explored both sides" and feels like he knows himself well.
  Crocker has expressed discontent with the LGBT community not understanding his genderbending and accompanying gender expression or gender identity: "I can understand straight people being confused but within the gay community? The gay on gay hatred or the gay on gay discrimination is what I find so puzzling." He said "[w]hen other queer people say, 'If you were really transsexual...' – because I lived as a girl for three years and people ask, 'Was that all an act?' That's the biggest thing that I get disgusted by." Crocker said if it were all an act, he would not have gone through the trouble for three years; for example, using women's bathrooms and therefore encountering problems in airports. He said he thought the whole point of being transgender is being what you feel on the inside. "For me, I wonder why do you have to just feel like a woman trapped in a man's body? Or vice versa? Why can't you identify with both genders and tap into those without being accused of dressing up as a girl for attention?" Crocker feels that he is "fulfilling whatever vibe [he wants] to go with at that time." He "[tries] to block out people's voices in [his] head and just go with how [he feels]." He acknowledged, however, that his masculine look being "easier on [his] family and society" factors into presenting as masculine.
  In a Queerty February 2014 interview, Crocker stated that he is reconsidering whether or not to transition to a female gender identity. "I think I'm getting tired of that chameleon lifestyle," he stated. "Like I said, I know I would be 100 percent happy living as a girl. But it's a lot of work, and it's a lot of therapy you have to go through. And I'm willing to put in that work." He added, "Some people get a haircut. I change genders or gender aesthetics. I don't know that I'll ever be content just one way or another." Crocker said that he is on a journey when assessing that part of his life, and that he would not mind completely transitioning for himself. He said that while living as an everyday guy, he wanted to see if he liked the experience, but that he was unhappy living that way and it did
caption: Crocker in 2013
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:04:09 16:46:26", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4884", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "452", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "457"}