Cross-dressing wrestler Ladybeard says he was bullied less when in a skirt
In an exclusive interview, the Japan-idol also said he'd like to film a music video with Singapore's Merlion, and shared what he loved about the country.
Japan-based idol Ladybeard is usually seen in frocks and girly outfits (with a skirt, of course) and with that, evokes a certain perception for the uninitiated.
Perhaps you might think him ‘soft’, effeminate, or (in Japanese popular culture) kawaii.
But while he can do kawaii, and blends it to great success with the heavy metal music genre, anyone who has had the chance to meet Ladybeard will quickly realise that no one puts baby in a box.
Speaking to Yahoo Southeast Asia on 22 July at the AFA Creators Super Fest, the 39-year-old was dressed in a French maid outfit, complete with his signature pigtails.
However, the burly 1.8m-tall bearded, boisterous performer is anything but the shy cutesy Japanese girl that one might associate his persona with.
With his booming voice, loud guffaws, firm handshakes and the occasional excited slamming of the table, his larger-than-life personality definitely filled the small corner of the Singapore Expo that we were in.
“I started cross-dressing when I was 14 years old,” he recounted smoothly.
“What happened was, I went to a friend's birthday party, and I thought it'd be very funny to wear my big sister’s school dress. And so I did, and everybody loved it. So from that point on, I started cross-dressing casually to go to parties and rock and roll shows and things like that.”
Considering that this was in the late ‘90s, and Ladybeard was in Adelaide - what he described as “a relatively small conservative city”- was he ever bullied for wearing women’s clothes?
He replied, “Interestingly, I was bullied before I was cross-dressing. So I was already bullied my whole life more or less. Then one day I put on a dress because I thought it’d be a fun thing to do at my friend’s party and everyone was really, really nice to me.”
Realising the shift in attitudes, Ladybeard decided to continue cross-dressing, and it evolved and became what it is now.
He pointed out that when he “wore pants like everybody else, the world kind of hated me”, but it was the opposite when he “put on a skirt”.
“It's been sort of the opposite life trajectory of what I imagine a lot of transgender individuals deal with, when they feel a need to cross-dress or express themselves. They feel they're not permitted to due to social pressure.”
As for what Ladybeard might have been bullied for, he surprisingly revealed that it was because of his personality.
He shared, “I grew up in a time before the internet had really opened up the world the way that it has now. So I was kind of bullied really just for being a social talkative person that wasn't really smiled upon in the all boys school that I went to, and [my] conservative society in general.
“Therefore, being social or wanting to talk to people was not really seen, you know, necessarily, when I was young as a good thing… But then if you're wearing a dress, everyone's like, ‘Well, of course, he's noisy. I mean, look at him!’”
Fortunately, his family loves what he’s doing and thinks it’s very funny. That said, Ladybeard is very aware of the potential brickbats, and people have asked him about it too.
If I had to be honest, people were not saying very nice things to begin with. So I kind of went, ‘Whoa, I don't have much to lose, do I?’ That's the big thing when I decided to kind of pursue this as my full-time career.Ladybeard
From a stunt actor to a cross-dressing pro wrestler
Prior to taking the Japanese pop culture scene by storm, Ladybeard graduated from acting school and moved to Melbourne, to train in Hong Kong-style cinematic stunt work under a fellow Australian who was on Jackie Chan’s stunt team.
He eventually moved to Hong Kong in 2006, as advised by his mentor, as there was a lack of work opportunities for him in Australia, and it would be easier for him in the territory as a foreigner who had less competition.
Ladybeard did find work, but everything was wiped out by the 2008 global financial crisis, so he made the next logical choice - becoming a cross-dressing pro wrestler.
“One of the big things everyone said [was], ‘You realise, right? If you try this and it doesn't work, you can't go back to being a normal dude in pads, you'll always be the dude who put on the dress that had to go badly, right?’
“But at the time after the 2008 financial crisis, my career had been wiped out. So I'm like, ‘All right, well, really, I don't have much to lose at this point, do I?’”
While becoming a pro wrestler is not too much of a stretch for a performer with a background in martial arts and stunt work, how did it click for Ladybeard to put on a dress while doing it?
He explained, “I started pro wrestling when I lived in Hong Kong. And just naturally because I lived in Hong Kong, I was just a bigger person than most of the other people. So I was already the biggest wrestler in the wrestling gym. But at the time, I didn't lift weights or anything. I was at the same height I am now, but comparatively skinny.
“But then after I had my first match, and I kind of saw images of me in the ring of me standing next to these other wrestlers who are much smaller than me, and seeing me in the dress, just visually, it makes a lot more sense if I’m all large and muscular and wearing the dress.
“So the bigger the gap that I can create between the stereotypically masculine and the stereotypically feminine, that creates the most impact.”
And sure, Ladybeard definitely had his reservations about his career switch, but he also realised that if he didn’t believe in himself, no one else would.
“Once I had made the decision that I was going to do this, and I was going to make this work, I was very much all in on it. I eliminated every other option so I had to make this work.”
He moved to Tokyo in 2013, and formed the band Ladybaby with singers Rei Kuromiya and Rei Kaneko in 2015. He eventually withdrew from the group and set up another group in 2017 called Deadlift Lolita with bodybuilding model and wrestler Reika Saiki.
Then in 2021, he formed Babybeard with singers Suzu and Kotomi.
First time performing in Singapore
Despite having a massive following in Japan (obviously) and surprisingly, China, the AFA Creators Super Fest marked the first time he performed in Singapore - though it’s not the first time he’s visiting our sunny shores.
Besides getting to chow down on some popiah, satay and chicken wings, Ladybeard said everyone has been very kind to him during his time here.
“It’s a beautiful city. It’s very warm, which I love. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh it’s hot in Singapore, isn’t it?’ I love it man, it’s fantastic,” he said.
In fact, the “hot, humid weather” is one thing he misses about Singapore. The other is how small the country is - which makes commuting fast and convenient.
“Comparatively with Tokyo, when you go from this side of Tokyo to that side of Tokyo, on a train could take, you know, three hours, maybe? In Singapore, you’re done straightaway so it’s very convenient,” Ladybeard said.
He added, “I really like cities like Singapore and Hong Kong with the tall buildings right next to the water. To me, that's very, very appealing and I missed that very much.”
Where would Ladybeard film a music video in Singapore?
With that in mind, if Ladybeard could film a music video in Singapore, where would he go?
Aside from featuring the delicious food he had and Clarke Quay (which is the only other place he remembers off the top of his head), he said enthusiastically, “Well of course, we're heading down to the Merlion. And of course, we're going to make sure that the Merlion has some pigtails on it as well. We're going to turn it into the Lady Merlion.”
Now that would be a sight to behold.
As for other locations to feature, Ladybeard is open to suggestions, so the ball is in Singapore's court.
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