A History of Women in Men's Clothes by Norena Shopland;

Author:Norena Shopland;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY /Women
Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Soldiers

Women who disguised themselves to go to war have fascinated people for centuries, from those who led armies to those who served alongside ordinary servicemen. Women like Calamity Jane, who dressed in men’s clothes, or Joan of Arc, whose statue in Paris is perhaps the only public sculpture of a cross-dressing female soldier. And not just individuals, but whole armies of women: from the legendary Amazons, after whom most women warriors are named, to the Dahomey of Benin, who featured in a 2019 documentary by Lupita Nyong’o (whose character in the film Black Panther was based on the Dahomey). However, these women did not disguise themselves and they achieved their reputation because they were women.

A few of those who cross-dressed gained fame such as Lakshmibai, Rhani of Jhansi, who was killed leading rebels against British rule in 1857. She has been featured in numerous novels and films and was the inspiration for the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, a 1942 women’s army fighting for Indian independence. Courtesan Azizan Bai fought in the same war in male attire but was captured by the British. Other women who have gained fame include Mary Anne Talbot, Emilia Plater, Lola Montez, Hannah Snell, Phoebe Hassell, Dr Barry and Dr Mary Walker, and many others have become familiar. However, this chapter is designed to highlight a few of the thousands of women whose fame exists only in a line or two in a newspaper – and many of their real identities will never be known.

Arguably the first female cross-dressing soldier was Epipole of Carystus of Greek mythology, who fought against Troy. When discovered, she was stoned to death. This extreme judgement is rare, as men throughout history have been fairly indulgent of female soldiers and tended towards benevolence.

From ancient times onwards, there was a small stream of stories until the eighteenth century when ballads and broadsheets featuring female soldiers and sailors became extremely popular. ‘Mother Drum’ claimed she was inspired by the ballad of Mary Ambree, a female soldier who was at the siege of Ghent.1 Another name from the eighteenth century is Aal de Dragonder (Aal the Dragoon), who was stabbed to death during an altercation over a game of cards sometime in 1710. When discovered to be a woman, her body was donated to Rotterdam Medical School. The skeleton and stuffed skin were put on display holding a sword and sitting on the stuffed carcase of a horse. As only criminals were denied burial, this has been seen as some sort of ‘posthumous punishment.’2

The earliest consistent records of cross-dressing female soldiers come from the French Revolution, and because so many women were disguising themselves, a new law was enacted: ‘Ruling Number 22 of Chief of Police Dubois of the 16th Brumaire of year nine,’ (7 November 1800) that banned any woman from wearing men’s clothes. However, for those women whose jobs required more modest clothing, women could apply for a police permit.

The new law was not particularly effective and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) saw the number of women fighting as men soar.

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