The Limits of the "Progress Narrative"
If women taking on male identities can be explained away for practical reasons (safety, economics, social power) then where is the explanation for men taking on female identities where those advantages are reversed? If women taking on male identities can be explained as a necessary requirement for desiring women, then where is the explanation for their female partners desiring them? If women taking on male identities can be explained by innate inborn gender identity, then what of the life histories that begin with a parent imposing the gender presentation which later is exaplained as "feeling natural?" Applying the simplest explanation: historic people changed their gender presentation for a wide variety of reasons and motivations, in a variety of contexts, and with variable permanence. This greatly complicates the "naming and claiming" approach to queer history that has prevailed for almost every flavor of queer that tackled the question of "what are our historic roots?" It's why that bug-a-boo of conservative historians "we just can't really know" can't be dismissed out of hand. In some cases, there is enough evidence, rooted in the individual's own testimony, and without the shadow of compulsion or legal threat, to be fairly confident about how they viewed their identity (if "identity" is even an accurate term in their context). But that still leaves the question of how much their own identity was shaped by the models and options their society offered to them. In the big picture of history, there is always clearly a spectrum. At one extreme are those whose identities and desires are rooted in their individual being and will come out in some fashion regardless of their cultural context. At another extreme are those whose expressions of identity and desire are built from the tools their specific society offers them. But it isn't a simple binary sliding scale, for desires and identities operate independently.
Boag points out that even within the fairly constrained scope of US history on the Western frontier in the later 19th century, the cultural explanations for the interplay between gender and desire were messily various, depending greatly on larger social movements and anxieties. And fictions of gender set in the "Wild West" were part of that interplay. Keep that in mind when writing your own Western fictions.
Major category: LHMPTags: LHMP LHMP #480b Boag 2011 Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past Chapter 1 About LHMP Full citation:Boag, Peter. 2011. Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 978-0-520-27062-6
Part 1 – “Females in Male Attire, and Males in Petticoats”: Remembering Cross-Dressers in Western American and Frontier History -- Chapter 1 – “Known to All Police West of the Mississippi”: Disrobing the Female-to-Male Cross-Dresser
This chapter is probably the one of most interest in the book, cataloging and discussing cases of female cross-dressers. The text alternates between detailed case studies and general discussion.
In 1912, in Portland Oregon, Harry Allen (alias Harry Livingstone) was arrested and eventually charged with violating the Mann Act (transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes) due to having written to her partner (who presented herself as his wife) Isabelle Maxwell in Seattle, asking her to come to Portland, where she then engaged in prostitution to support them both.
During interrogation, Allen was recognized by a federal agent who had dealt with him previously regarding a bootlegging charge, under the identity Nell Pickerell. The authorities dropped the transporting charge and, given that cross-dressing was not illegal in Oregon, fell back on a vagrancy charge.
Allen became a media sensation, noting his ability to pass and history of male-coded, physically demanding jobs. His previous brushes with the law were dredged up, including press coverage of his gender-crossing as early as 1900, when he was a teenager. A great deal was made of two women who had fallen in love with Allen and then, on learning his assigned sex, committed suicide in despair. Newspapers offered various speculations on the reason for Allen’s gender-crossing, including dress reform, disappointment in (heterosexual) love, and to enable his criminality. Allen offered the straightforward explanation that it was to gain better jobs.
While in prison, Allen was interviewed by an anthropology student working on a thesis about alternative gender expressions in primitive societies, who argued that Allen was criminalized by society solely due to not fitting in, and that in a different society, Allen could have been offered a social role aligned with his desires. This interpretation fictionalized Allen’s life as much as the newspapers had, inventing events and details to support the theory. The student denied that Allen sexually desired women (despite evidently being a lesbian herself), which was contradicted by other observers.
Other reports described Allen as a “sexual invert”—a category that could include both lesbians and trans men at that time. Allen’s own testimony indicates that he considered himself to have changed sex.
Overall, society wanted to fit Allen into a “progress narrative” (i.e., economic motives) but Allen’s assertions contradicted this.
In 1908, in Montana, Sammy Williams—a lumberjack and cook—died at age 80 and was discovered to have a female body. Despite occasional teasing about beardlessness, Williams’ gender had never been questioned. Like many similar cases, the story spread in newspapers across the country, which framed it as a progress narrative with a certain amount of sympathy.
Gender-crossing stories of this type were relatively common in newspapers in the second half of the 19th century, generally locating the subject in the West. Progress narratives were the typical framing and the media might disapprove, but often were merely curious. The reasons offered for cross-dressing both by the subjects and by the reporters focused on practicality, safety, or for economic advantage. Some returned to female dress when no longer traveling.
Another context for more obvious cross-dressing was sex work, where either partial or full male clothing was used as an advertisement, with their identity as a woman not being concealed. Ironically, cross-dressing was used both to engage in, and to avoid engaging in, sex work.
Other motivations for cross-dressing included to participate in “slumming” tourism, or to assist in changing identity after encounters with the law. Women might cross-dress to track down a male betrayer, to elope with a disapproved suitor, to escape an abusive husband, unwillingly as a kidnap victim, or to avoid detection. All of these motivations existed, but when moving past media sensationalism, we also find sexual and gender motivations—details that newspapers were more reluctant to promote.
Newspaper accounts of women in same-sex sexual relationships framed them as mentally unstable and potentially violent, as with the case of Alice Mitchell. While cross-dressing stories of the 1850s to 1880s generally avoided suggesting sexual motives, by the end of the century, this aspect was increasingly mentioned. This paralleled the development and spread of sexological theories that linked sexuality with gender presentation.
A news item is offered from 1889 describing a young woman complaining about the obsessive and unwanted physical attention of her older female cousin with whom she shared a bed. The older woman expressed a wish to marry her and proposed cross-dressing for this purpose.
News accounts often worked to feminize cross-dressing individuals, once their identity was known, giving and impression of “we could tell, of course.” This framing typically accompanied a positive attitude toward the person, especially when they were not perceived as claiming male identity.
The depictions in the press align with specific timelines. Feminized descriptions are common more toward the mid-19th century, but by the end of the century there was an increasing focus on sexuality and on gender identity, emphasizing masculinity. By the 1890s, cross-dressers were more likely to be described as appearing and acting masculine, and were more likely to be given backstories involving an early interest in male-coded activities. By the 1910s and 1920s, unmasked cross-dressers were more likely to be described as physically robust and to be awkward and unattractive if required to wear women’s clothing. And in these later decades, they were more likely to be described as flirting with women or having female romantic partners. [Note: the chapter has more specific case studies than I am noting here.]
This pattern of reporting around the turn of the century aligns with increasing anxieties about “new women” usurping men’s place in society.
This new era of cross-dressing stories includes Milton Matson, arrested in 1895 on a fraud-related charge. His original gender was revealed and he explained (though we may feel free to be skeptical of the details) that his parents had dressed him as a boy after his brother’s death, for reasons related to inheritance, and he’d been cross-dressing so long that it felt natural. He had always preferred male-coded activities and enjoyed courting women.
Eugene De Forest, arrested in 1915 for “masquerading as a man” had a similar story and had been living as a man for 25 years, including marriage to a woman (as well as an earlier marriage to a man).
Jack Garland, on the other hand, avoided charges of gender impersonation by freely admitting that she was a woman who chose to dress in male clothing. Garland first gained media attention in 1897, but later did appear to be passing as a man.
The author discusses what types of evidence we can have regarding how cross-dressers understood their own gender identity, as well as evidence for how their associates interacted with them with regard to gender. Individuals who were long-term members of a community were generally taken at face value, even if circumstance revealed their bodies. Whereas individuals who moved frequently and had no community ties were more likely to be shunned and treated as a sensational curiosity. But not all long-term community members enjoyed acceptance once revealed. Responses might include ridicule or ostracization.
The chapter concludes with a summary of the main themes and chronology.
Time period: 19th c20th cPlace: USAMisc tags: cross-dressingcross-gender roles/behaviorgender disguise f>mgender disguise m>ftransgender identityfemale husbandEvent / person: Harry Allen/Nell Pickerell & Isabelle MaxwellSammy WilliamsMilton MatsonEugene De Forest (Mary Bradley)Jack Garland (Elvira Virginia Mugarrieta / Babe Bean) View comments (0)
