LHMP #480c Boag 2011 Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past Chapter 2

As this chapter focuses on male cross-dressing, I will be skimming it more briefly. As in the first chapter, we begin with an extensive case history. “M” began dressing in female-coded clothing as a youth, and left home for the West at age 15 due to family conflicts. M preferred playing with dolls, cooking, and sewing rather than male-coded activities, but didn’t back down from fighting his bullies. Further questioning indicated that M’s mother had initiated both the cross-dressing and needlecrafts. A similar story is found around the turn of the century about a different boy whose mother had strongly desired a daughter and treated him as one. Regardless, M expressed a strong preference for living as a woman.

Male cross-dressing occurred in a variety of contexts, including Native American alternate genders, temporary cross-dressing during dances and entertainments in all-male communities, as well as those doing it out of personal preference or identity.

Theatrical cross-dressing was performed for audiences who also enjoyed blackface acts, as well as “exotic” acts by Chinese performers, so the interest was part of a general taste for disruptive and non-normative performance.

Outside of performance contexts, local laws might prohibit male cross-dress as noted in 1882 in Nevada. In mid 19th century San Francisco, arrests for cross-dressing document its prevalence. While reasons given to the authorities must be viewed with some skepticism, they include evading pursuit, “for a lark,” as a disguise during criminal activity, to escape prison, but also some more unexpected reasons, such as to avoid the constriction and warmth of male clothing for medical reasons.

The gender imbalance in the West meant that someone presenting as a woman with female-coded skills such as cooking, sewing, and housekeeping might make a good living with few questions.

Moving into the 1890s, cross-dressing men came under greater scrutiny with regard to sexuality and mental health. The idea of the “sexual invert” was spreading and might be applied or even adopted as an understanding for cross-dressing. In this context, those who cross-dressed for theatrical performance came under pressure to present a more normative image off-stage.

There is a discussion of the dynamics and hazards of male cross-dressers inspiring, encouraging, or pursuing flirtations or sexual relationships with men. There is a discussion of certain cases that may have involved intersex people who presented as different genders at different periods of their life.