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LHMP Tags: People/Event Tags - Historic Crossdressing

Monday, December 19, 2016 - 07:00

Working through setting up the tag pages is taking longer than expected, so I'm going to do this in smaller chunks. I'll present each chunk in a blog entry then put them together into the permanent "tag essay" page when I have each group collected up. Why does it take so much work? Here's my process:

  1. Find tag in master tag-list (back-end web admin access) and open a tab with the results for that tag.
  2. Determine whether there are results for that tag (in some cases I've decided not to use it) and verify that it's in the right overall tag category.
  3. Click though to the best reference to confirm the details of the tag's reference.
  4. Write up a brief description of who/what the tag references (as seen below). In some cases, this involves doing additional reserach in my original source or online in order to pin down date and place.
  5. Add that description to my master database (which is what I use when generating tags for publications) and to the tag entry for the website (so that it displays when you click through on a tag).
  6. Mark that tag as having been completed in the database and assign it an essay group.
  7. When I've written up all the tag-descriptions for a particular essay group, export tag + description and create a blog entry for them.

So my first start on the "Crossdressing" tags is to cover the ones that don't belong to some more specific subset. Here are the subsets for the historic cross-dressing tags:

  • Historic Crossdressing - Any instance of a woman (or someone assigned as female) wearing male-coded garments, either overtly or for the purpose of passing as male, that doesn't fall in one of the following more specific groups.
  • Military Crossdressing - As above, but specifically for the purpose of entering the military. (Sailors may fall in this or the previous group depending on the nature of the service.)
  • Female Husband - As defined for "historic crossdressing" but where a person living as male enters into marriage or a marriage-like relationship with a woman. This category includes some individuals who could be interpreted as trans men.
  • Passing/Trans - As defined for "historic crossdressing" but where there is significant evidence for an alternate interpretation as a trans man, but where marriage is not a core element of the story.
  • Transvestite Saint - Any instance (either historic or fictionalized--I've lumped them together) where the motivation for passing as male is to enter a religious profession restricted to men or to escape a heteronormative life in order to pursue a religious vocation. In the latter case, the cross-dressing may be temporary and the religious profession may be entered as a woman. I've kept the label "transvestite saint" that is used in the literature, although in general I've avoided the word "transvestite" as outdated and carrying implications of identity rather than behavior.

These are not hard-and-fast categories and my assignment is based mostly on "will this grouping be useful to the reader?" The tags for crossdressed literary characters will have slightly different subgroups.

Historic Crossdressing

  • Almira Paul - 19th century Canadian woman who cross-dressed to work as a sailor.
  • Anne Bonny - 18th century English woman who cross-dressed during a career in piracy.
  • Charley Parkhurst - 19th century American woman who cross-dressed to work as a stagecoach driver.
  • Countess Amalie of Bavaria - 19th century German woman who wore trousers for horseback and hunting.
  • Eleanor of Aquitaine - 12th century Queen of England said to have cross-dressed to escape her husband in disguise.
  • Elizabeth Emmons - 19th c American woman who passed as a man for economic purposes.
  • Ellen Craft - 19th century American woman who escaped slavery with her husband by disguising herself as a white man.
  • Ellen Stephens - 19th century American woman who cross-dressed to pursue an absent husband.
  • Elsa Jane Guerin (Mountain Charley) - 19th century American woman who cross-dressed to work as a sailor.
  • Emma Cole - 18th century American woman who cross-dressed to work as a sailor.
  • Empress Elisabeth I of Russia - 18th century Empress of Russian who held cross-dressed masques.
  • Hannah Cullwick - 19th century English woman who dressed across gender and class boundaries for political performance art.
  • Hildegard of Swabia - 8th century Frankish woman, wife of Charlemagne, said to have cross-dressed as a man for an extended period to escape a false accusation.
  • Isabelle Gunn - 18th century Scottish woman who cross-dressed for a career as a sailor.
  • Krakow university student -15th century Polish woman who passed as a man in order to study at Krakow University.
  • Loreta Janeta Velazquez - 19th century Cuban woman who cross-dressed to accompany her male lover in the miliary.
  • Lucy Ann Lobdell - 19th century American frontier woman who cross-dressed for practical and preference but with no intention of passing.
  • Lucy Brewer - 19th century American woman who cross-dressed to escape prostitution via a career as a sailor.
  • Madeleine Moore - 19th century American woman who cross-dressed to accompany her male lover in the military, unrecognized by him.
  • Maritgen Jans/David Jans - 17th century Dutch woman who tried unsuccessfully to enlist in male disguise, but kept the disguise to earn higher wages.
  • Mary Anne Arnold - 19th century English woman who cross-dressed to work as a sailor for economic resons.
  • Mary Read - 18th century English woman who cross-dressed sometimes in the context of a career in piracy.
  • Schinderhannes (wife of) - 18th century German woman who participated in her husband’s bandit gang cross-dressed as a man.
  • Sidonia Hedwig Zäunemann - 18th century German poet who cross-dressed for safety while traveling.
  • Théroigne de Méricourt - 18th century French woman who cross-dressed openly as a symbol of women’s right to public participation in government.
  • Trijin Jurriaens of Hamburg - 17th century German woman who cross-dressed sporadically as part of a criminal career that included becoming engaged to a woman to defraud her.

Tag List (These tags aren’t linked, this is just a reference for setting up the master tag page in the future.)

Almira Paul, Anne Bonny, Charley Parkhurst, Countess Amalie of Bavaria, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth Emmons, Ellen Craft, Ellen Stephens, Elsa Jane Guerin (Mountain Charley), Emma Cole, Empress Elisabeth I of Russia, Hannah Cullwick, Hildegard of Swabia, Isabelle Gunn, Krakow university student, Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Lucy Ann Lobdell, Lucy Brewer, Madeleine Moore, Maritgen Jans/David Jans, Mary Anne Arnold, Mary Read, Schinderhannes (wife of), Sidonia Hedwig Zäunemann, Théroigne de Méricourt, Trijin Jurriaens of Hamburg

historical