We Are Tootsie

By Paula Gaikowski

Paula channeling her inner Tootsie
(1999)

Back in 1982, there was a scarcity of information on transgender persons and crossdressing. So when I saw the Life magazine article about the upcoming release of the movie Tootsie, I was thrilled. 

Although Tootsie is not a movie about transgender persons or even crossdressing, it’s a movie about a man walking in the shoes of a woman both literally and metaphorically. The man, Michael Dorsey, is a narcissist and arrogant actor who no one will hire. He unintentionally sheds this toxic behavior and finds what life is like from a woman’s point of view and learns a lot about himself and the world we live in.

The role of Dorothy Michaels (Michael’s femme name) was also life-changing for Dustin Hoffman. Here he’s speaking about the first time he saw Dorothy in the mirror.

“It was at that moment I had an epiphany and I went home and started crying, talking to my wife. I said I have to make this picture and she said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Because I think I am an interesting woman when I look at myself on screen. And I know that if I met myself at a party, I would never talk to that character because she doesn’t fulfill physically the demands that we’re brought up to think women have to have.”

Before Hoffman would even consider making the movie, he asked the studio to spend money on makeup and wardrobe to see if he could realistically look like a woman. He spent weeks in wardrobe working on a look and yes, I am jealous too! He wanted to look like an authentic woman in his words, “I wanted to walk down the streets of New York and not have anyone think ‘hey that’s a guy.’ 

In my opinion he was successful, the attention to detail was there, padded hips, breast forms, shaving and neutral makeup. Seeing all this, it spoke one thing to me as I sat there and read that Life magazine article, I could do this! I could make myself look like a woman and experience life as a woman. It would be years before I ventured out as Paula but make no mistake, Tootsie had a huge effect on me; for me too it was life changing. 

Dustin Hoffman sure looked fantastic as Dorothy. I understand he went out as Dorothy to restaurants, shops and businesses to see how people reacted. He seemed to have a zeal for this, much as we do. I wonder sometimes: civilian or non-civilian?

Wearing Joseph Ribkoff

San Francisco professional femulator D'Arcy Drollinger