Because I have seen people argue that his Nanny outfit was transphobic, and I happen to think that’s a bad take. It would have been transphobic if the joke had been, “Ha ha, a man in a dress,” but instead the joke was, “Ha ha, demonic Mary Poppins.” But, you know, even though I think it’s a bad take, I can kind of understand where it’s coming from. We’ve been so socialized to think the joke is going to be, “Ha ha, a man in a dress,” that it’s difficult to put a man in a dress without the joke sort of popping up, if that makes any sense, whether the creator meant it or not.
But, if Crowley was presenting as female at the crucifixion scene, that’s a different angle. Because nobody is drawing any attention to his presentation, and the only jokes going on have nothing to do with how he’s presenting himself. (In fact, that scene is appropriately grim, overall. The biggest joke is a very dark one about how of course preaching a message of love and peace will get you horrifically murdered by the government.) Crowley’s presentation is just … there.
And if you ask me, that changes the context of the Mary Poppins bit a little bit, too. Presenting as female is not something that Crowley did one time, for a disguise. Presenting as female is just something he does every now and then.
I wish we’d seen a little more of it. Another historical segment, closer to our own time, when “female presentation” looks a bit more like we’re used to seeing and the issue isn’t confused by everyone wearing robes. But even so, I’m glad to have it there and even more glad to have it confirmed.
I bet that post-canon Crowley sometimes dresses up in a black dress to go to the opera with Aziraphale. Probably with high heels that could kill a man and very snake-themed jewelry.
Yes, oh yes. He’s wearing women’s jeans in the modern scenes too and that is a tiny detail that just gets to me, because it’s such a secret queer move: wear one forbidden thing, the least noticeable, as a comfort, a small assertion of yourself, if just to yourself. At the crucifixion he’d have an easier time staying close dressed as a woman, since they allowed the female disciples to follow along, and as Nanny he had the perfect excuse to dress up, but any other time it could have brought him trouble, and not the properly hellish kind. It would have been a self-assertion of a very human, personal kind.
I think the less it matters if he draws attention to himself, the more he’ll try on more feminine elements. He was always so frightened of being watched. His outfits were dramatic, but they were the kind of dramatic that told you not to mess with him. I think the new vulnerability and safety he feels with Aziraphale would help, and so would the knowledge that no one’s going to check up on him, no one needs intimidating, and he isn’t anyone’s secret agent. There’s no agenda any more, no secrets to defend or forbidden softness to armor up; he’s just Crowley.
I can’t locate it again, but I remember seeing a post saying that his glasses in the modern era are three hundred dollar women’s sunglasses. (Of which he evidently owns … well, as many as he wants, I suppose, he can warp reality after all.) So, yes, there’s also stealthy self-assertion to look for.
Oh yeah, I remember seeing that too! I’d forgotten. His hair is always just on that fine line between fashionable and femme too.
Thanks@aredhel-of-doylkien none of us remember our sources but we all remember that Crowley is That Snake when it comes to accessories I guess
I am also solidly convinced that the waistcoat he wears in the 2012 scenes is a woman’s waistcoat. I’m aware that men’s waistcoats can have different cuts and styles, but (at least to my uneducated eye) Crowley’s waistcoat specifically looks like it was tailored to cinch in above the hips, and to accommodate breasts.
AAAAAH I suspect I’m the last person to notice this, but check it out – they’re wearing the same outfit. Trousers, waistcoat, shirt, jacket, neckwear. They’re just doing it in *completely different ways*. How cool!
It’s kind of interesting – Crowley’s riding the edge of femme/is femme if you know exactly what to look for, but reads as just cool slinky dude to us. Aziraphale is dressed out of time, fussy and unfashionable, and reads as gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. His femme characteristics are all personality-based: he’s soft, he’s kind and gentle (with an asterisk, that’s a meta for another day), the general cultural link between presenting gay and being femme. Aziraphale’s genderfuckery is how he approaches the world; Crowley’s is how he visually presents. I feel like there’s more here to dig into, but I’m not quite grasping it right now.
I do the same thing Crowley does in the series re:stealth-assertion and self-expression so not only I am now incredibly happy but I am also incredibly moved.
Those two queer idiots are exactly what I needed when I needed it.
Here are the glasses. They are indeed from the women’s Valentino line.
