Talk:Impostor
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I have found one mention of a Canadian Member of Parliament or minister who was a cross-dresser and fooled people for couple of years but I could not find any details, even the name. I have also lost a name of Swedish government minister who hid his illiteracy. Then there was an US male athlete who pretended to be female sometime in the 1930’s.
Skysmith Skysmith
Is it really fair to describe the "women living as men" as impostors? Did they self-identify as men,[sic] i.e. were they transgendered? - Montréalais
Very good point. However, we do not actually know the truth about their thoughts, only the fact that they misrepresented their sex (and I can understand their reasons in male-dominated professions). Skysmith
Fake chinese
Who was the man who impersonated a Chinese circus performer? lysdexia 01:01, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- Chung Ling Soo was more of a stage name of William Robinson than outright imposture - although he did maintain his facade most of the time - Skysmith 08:37, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)
John Howard Griffin, et al.
I dispute categorizing JHG and similar individuals (who went "under cover", as it were, for the purposes of research) as "impostors". Does anyone else share my POV on this matter? Of course, there's also the inherent subjectivity in the classification of anyone as an impostor, but that's a separate issue. --Dante Alighieri | Talk 22:32, May 12, 2005 (UTC)
- Very good point, actually. Often long-time impostors, regardless of their motives, intend to remain in their assumed role at least until somebody reveals the ruse. Those who assume some other role temporarily for fraud (like Wilhelm Voigt) or for the hoax of exposure (like Joey Skaggs) or for investigative journalism are bit more problematic cases. In effect they are "temporary impostors" but the difference is hard to define. What do you think, could it be useful to include a section about using sort-of-an imposture for some specific purpose? - Skysmith 09:25, 13 May 2005 (UTC)
the Chameleon
I am unsure of where to place Frederic Bourdin the Chameleon -- can someone please add him to the correct section... check out the article at BBC here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4087370.stm) ~ RoboAction 18:48, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)