Can you "dress up" like a transvestite?

Eddie Izzard is hysterically funny- but watching him do his standup - i can't keep from thinking about his transvestitism. Maybe it's because his mother died when he was very young?
It's interesting that he doesn't really 'use' this as part of the routine- it seems coincidental. After watching him for a bit- you almost forget he's wearing stilletos! According to the always reliable wikipedia, Eddie describes himself as a 'straight transvestite'. I can't help thinking that it's all an 'act' to improve publicity- but then i can see the irony and paradox in that. One can't really "dress up" as a transvestite- if you dress up like a transvestite, you're actually dressing up like a woman- and if you dress up like a woman then you REALLY ARE a transvestite. Maybe you can be a 'fake' transvestite if your heart's not really in it.
Since it's pretty much socially acceptable for women to wear whatever they want (Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for wearing pants)- it must be pretty hard for a woman to be a transvestite these days. I wonder if they feel 'liberated' or confined by this? Is part of the thrill (if there is one) in attracting attention?