ABSTRACT Title of Thesis: THEY “BOAST OF DRESSING LIKE GENTLEMEN”: CROSS-DRESSING, PRINT CULTURE, AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY GENDER IDENTITY Julia Hemphill, Master of History, 2024 Thesis directed by: Professor Clare A. Lyons Department of History Nineteenth-century gender roles were very strict but cross-dressing challenged these extremely binary roles, often being written about in different forms of print media. The press published stories about cross-dressing people in different ways depending on the actions they took in male attire. Soldier women cross-dressed and entered the military, but were not reprimanded for their decisions because their amount of time in male attire was perceived to be finite and because they were performing a service for their country. Women and male-presenting people who wore male attire and went into male workplaces, took wives, and became heads of household were highly reprimanded in the press in lengthy articles and short stories. Finally, women who wore the reform dress and liberated themselves from enslavement in male attire were spoken about in the press in two competing ways, with people supporting their transgressions and others not. Looking at the different ways that print media discussed these women and male-presenting people is important for looking at how gender roles were structured, and for understanding why powerful men were only threatened by certain cross-dressers. THEY "BOAST OF DRESSING LIKE GENTLEMAN": CROSS-DRESSING, PRINT CULTURE, AND NINETEENTH CENTURY GENDER IDENTITY by Julia Kay Hemphill Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2024 Advisory Committee: Professor Clare A. Lyons, Chair Professor Christopher James Bonner Professor Katarina Keane ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Clare Lyons, for her continued support and invaluable guidance throughout my M.A. study and research. This project would not have been possible without her unparalleled knowledge of the subject, and her constant motivation and enthusiasm for my research. I could not have imagined a better professor to work with on my penultimate research. Secondly, I would like to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. Christopher Bonner and Dr. Katarina Keane, for their intriguing questions and insightful comments throughout the research process. Their encouragement and guidance throughout my time in the program was extremely helpful to the completion of this project. My sincere thanks goes to the professors whose classes were also important to building my historiographical knowledge: Dr. Robyn Muncy, Dr. Elsa Barkley Brown, and Dr. Julie Greene. I would also like to thank my colleagues in my department and cohort that have continued to support and encourage me throughout this research process, and made this process all the more fun: Rigby Phillips, Grace Baty, Ashley Nguyen, Andrea Gutmann Fuentes, Danielle Bing, Angie Lincoln, Chloe Kauffman, Mauricio Restrepo, Nathaniel Ament, Kelli Frangoulis, and Andrew Forschler. My biggest thanks go out to best friends, on-campus and off, for their unwavering support of my research: my roommates Morgan, Rachel, and Mikayla, my best friend Anika, my sister Ashlyn, and my cousins Megan and Tyler, and my best friend Alex. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents, Stephanie and Bret, for always believing in my ability to achieve at the highest degree, and encouraging me to pursue this degree. Without their support, none of this would have been possible. Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: “The Men Call Her Captain”: Soldier Women in the Civil War and Acceptable Cross-Dressing .................................................................................................................... 22 "Performing All The Duties Of A Soldier" ............................................................. 26 Chapter Two: "Did You Leave Your Husband In Bed, Whilst You Paraded About In His Breeches?": Lengthy Newspaper Articles, Line-Item Stories, and Disorderly Conduct … 39 "The Strangeness of Her Attire": Lengthy Newspaper Articles ............................. 52 "Are You A Male Or A Female?": Disorderly Conduct and Transgender People ...66 "Again In Town Yesterday, Dressed In Male Attire": Line Item Stories ................ 74 Chapter Three: "Unpleasant Notoriety": Reform Dress Women, Enslaved Women, and the Political Meanings of Pants ................................................................................................. 90 "Usurping One Of The Most Sacred Privileges Appertaining To Masculinity": Reform Dress Women ........................................................................................................... 92 "Disguised Herself in Male Attire": Enslaved Women and Cross-Dressing .......... 111 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 126 Primary Sources .................................................................................................................. 134 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 140 List of Figures Figure 1: Front Page of New York Dispatch………………………………………………… 53 Figure 2: Godey’s Lady’s Book, Cinched Waists ……………………………………………. 90 Figure 3: Godey’s Lady’s Book, Heavy Fabrics …………………………………………….. 91 Figure 4: Amelia Bloomer in the reform dress ……………………………………………… 92 1 Introduction On the evening of May 31, 1868, a person called “Julia H.” was discovered in male attire and subsequently arrested on a misdemeanor charge, after allegedly spending the last four years “leading a ‘fast’ life” under the alias of Charlie Morgan. A judge was summoned to deal with the case immediately upon the discovery, where Julia did not deny the misdemeanor charge, and the judge "proceeded to lecture the prisoner severely upon the impropriety and indecency of the practice of which she had been guilty." The story continued with the judge "[chastising] her to resume at once and permanently the apparel of her sex," and concluded with her discharge from the police station. The story was published the next morning, June 1, 1868, in the New York Times, and was titled "End of a Protracted Musquerade (sic) -- A Woman Arrested in Male Attire -- A Night Scene in a Police Court." The New York Times never mentioned “Julia H.” again, suggesting that there was the potential that Julia gave up male attire, that Julia was not reported on by the newspapers, or that Julia was never arrested again, even if they were a known cross-dresser in the community.1 This article tells us that "Julia H." had not only successfully passed as man, but had been labeled dangerous by society, and had preferred to live as a man. Descriptions of this person being in male attire for an extended period of time and “leading a ‘fast’ life” under a male name indicated that Julia had successfully passed a man and been involved in enough aspects of male society to become dangerous to nineteenth century gender hierarchies. This cross-dressing was considered to be immoral behavior that did not conform to the gender roles dictated by patriarchal structures governing society, and was therefore punishable by the city's authorities. These structures were responsible for keeping gender roles and hierarchies in place, making it 1 "End of a Protracted Musquerade -- A Woman Arrested in Male Attire -- A Night Scene in a Police Court," New York Times, June 1, 1868, 5. 2 clear when there were breaches in the gender order. Secondly, this newspaper article made it evident that these sorts of gender transgressions were immoral and wrong. The press provided biased commentary about Julia’s cross-dressing that indicated that this practice was not okay, specifically through language that declared this behavior indecent and improper and by showing how Julia had been living as a man. They continue by showing the reactions to the attire from a man in power, showing that the gender transgressions committed would not be well-received by the public. The title of the story even illustrated the opinions about this behavior being conveyed by the newspaper editors and reporter, calling out Julia for masquerading as a man. Thirdly, there is the possibility that this person identified as transgender. Julia's amount of time in male attire, the successful ability to pass as a man, and the taking of a man's name are all markers of a nineteenth century trans person. Of course this language would not have been used in that century to describe Julia. However, a queer reading of this story shows that there were people who had been born female during the nineteenth century who identified with male gender and practiced it in public, not only threatening male spheres, but challenging patriarchal gender structures. The possibility of Julia being trans is something that we must take into account when analyzing this article, but it is also important for understanding why men felt so threatened by gender non-conforming people. People who expressed non-normative gender in public space opened the door for gender non-conforming people to access male spheres, causing concern for the maintenance of gender roles and existing gender power dynamics in the nineteenth century. Of course, this specific story is of great importance to me. Finding a story that featured someone with both my first name and last initial was not something that I would have expected when I started this project. However, this connection to the archive made this project even more fascinating and important to tell. This story also does a fantastic job of showcasing my argument 3 in this thesis. It is a great example of the regulation of normative gender presentation by patriarchal structures for the purpose of keeping men and women in separate spheres, and for enforcing male power structures. These ideas were communicated to the public through sensational media, like the newspaper article above, for the purpose of cementing nineteenth century ideas about the gender binary and women's distinct and specific place in society. Most of the print media of the time that reported on non-normative gender and women’s cross-dressing was condemnatory, but was not always critical of these behaviors. This thesis aims to show the importance of using the press to think about gender distinctions in the nineteenth century, and show how dependent patriarchy was on the media for maintaining these distinctions. Preserving these gender categories was of the utmost importance to powerful men in the nineteenth century because of the threat that people performing non-normative gender posed to male spheres in society. Print media became the avenue through which men communicated acceptable and unacceptable gender performance. Historiography This thesis is centered in histories of gender in the nineteenth century, the history of cross-dressing, the histories of transgender and gender non-conforming peoples, and the history of sensational press in the nineteenth century. It adds to these fields by discussing the ways that non-normative gender presentation was discussed in print media to preserve the significance of existing gender categories and influence readership on the importance of maintaining patriarchal gender structures. The body of scholarship that I relied on to make interventions into the history of gender is vast.2 However, there were some modes of analysis that were more influential to this piece than 2 Laura L. Behling, The Masculine Woman in America, 1890-1935 (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Peter Boag, “The Trouble with Cross-dressers: Researching and Writing the History of Sexual and Gender Transgressiveness in the Nineteenth-Century American West,” Oregon Historical Quarterly 112, no. 3 (2011): 322; Peter Boag, 4 others. Clare Sears' Arresting Dress became a foundational text in thinking about how normative gender categories and ideas about masculinity and femininity were constructed by the state through cross-dressing law and the policing of non-normative gender. She writes, "cross-dressing laws performed parallel work on the grounds of gender, shaping the legal categories of man and woman and limiting who could lay claim to each."3 Her book focuses on how cross-dressing law impacted belonging in society, indicating the government institutions marked "problem bodies," defined by Sears as social threats because of "their performance of cheap labor... participation in marginal street economies... [and] departure from gender norms."4 She argues that these "problem bodies" were then considered to be without humanity, living outside the boundaries of social categories, and therefore nuisances to society. This understanding of gender non-conforming people was instrumental to how I am thinking about the subjects discussed by 4 ibid., 6. 3 Clare Sears, Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascinations in Nineteenth Century San Francisco (Durham: Duke University Press, 2014), 13. Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past (Univ of California Press, 2012); Vern L. Bullough and Bonnie Bullough, Cross Dressing, Sex and Gender (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993); A. Cheree Carlson, The Crimes of Womanhood: Defining Femininity in a Court of Law, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009) Susan M Cruea, “Changing Ideals of Womanhood During the Nineteenth-Century Woman Movement”American transcendental Quarterly 19, no. 3 (September 2005): 187-204; Lisa Duggan, Sapphic Slashers: Sex, Violence, and American Modernity (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000); Mary Elliott, “When Girls Will Be Boys: ‘Bad’ Endings and Subversive Middles in Nineteenth-Century Tomboy Narratives and Twentieth-Century Lesbian Pulp Novels,” 1998; Gayle V. Fischer, “She Ought To Be A 'female-Man":’ Dress Reform In The Oneida Community, 1848-1879,”Mid America 77, no. 3 (1995): 237–65; Gayle V. Fischer, Pantaloons and Power: Nineteenth Century Dress Reform in the United States (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2001); Colin R. Johnson, Just Queer Folks: Gender and Sexuality in Rural America (Temple University Press, 2013); Greta LaFleur, “Sex and ‘Unsex’: Histories of Gender Trouble in Eighteenth-Century North America,” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 12, no. 3 (2014): 469–99; Joanne J. Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2002); Andrew Reilly and Ben Barry, eds., Crossing Gender Boundaries: Fashion to Create, Disrupt, and Transcend (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020); Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix, “Acting Between the Spheres: Charlotte Cushman as Androgyne,” Theatre Survey 37, no. 2 (November 1996): 23–66; Elizabeth Reis, Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex, Second edition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021); Bryan C. Rindfleisch, “‘What It Means to Be a Man’: Contested Masculinity in the Early Republic and Antebellum America”: Masculinity in the Early Republic and Antebellum America,” History Compass 10, no. 11 (November 2012): 852–65; Clare Sears, Arresting Dress: Cross-Dressing, Law, and Fascination in Nineteenth Century San Francisco (Durham N.C.: Duke University Press, 2014); Emily Skidmore, True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (New York: New York University Press, 2017); Noreena Shopland, A History of Women in Men’s Clothes: From Cross-Dressing to Empowerment (Yorkshire, GB: Penn and Sword History, 2021); Susan Stryker, Transgender History, Seal Studies (Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2008); Martha Vicinus, “‘They Wonder to Which Sex I Belong’: The Historical Roots of the Modern Lesbian Identity,” Feminist Studies 18, no. 3 (1992): 467. 5 the media in the nineteenth century. Both of her arguments that discuss the construction of binary gender categories and gender non-conforming people as being nuisances to society because of their transgressions will be applied to this thesis to show how print media was, in many cases, used as an avenue for maintaining patriarchal structures, separate spheres of men and women, and policing transgressive behaviors. Occasionally, newspapers and other forms of print media would publish stories that supported the transgressive behaviors of women in the nineteenth century. However, most of the time, they were critical of their decisions to combat binary gender categories and made their displeasure with these actions known. This connects to Sears' concept of "problem bodies" and the establishment of categories for masculinity and femininity. Authors of these articles were making binary gender categories clear to their reader by illustrating their displeasure with these gender transgressions and noting that these crossdressers were menaces to society. Sears also introduces the concept of "trans-ing analysis," which she identifies as similar to trans and queer history but with a "specific focus on the historical production and subsequent operations of the boundary between normative and non-normative gender."5 In applying this argument to my own research, "trans-ing analysis" will be used to think about how print media was instrumental for the maintaining of patriarchal structures and gender categories. Normative gender was made clear to the public in the newspapers by illustrating what non-normative gender looked like. It was clear from the language used in these accounts that people who expressed non-normative gender did not belong to specific social categories, and therefore could not belong to society. Another foundational text in histories of gender, transgender people, and print media can be found in Emily Skidmore's True Sex. In this text, Skidmore argues that people who did not identify with their biological sex and wanted to perform the gender of the opposite sex were 5 ibid., 9. 6 usually accepted by their communities. These people had to adhere to binary gender roles, and perform their chosen gender in normative ways. Trans men, then, were occupying a social economic role as head of household, but people did not intervene in their gender performance. Skidmore shows that this acceptance came mostly from rural communities, and held fast even while newspapers continued to publish articles that outed trans folks as “female husbands, and sexual inverts.” When the newspapers outed them for the "true sex," the communities they lived within had to grapple with their understandings of gender and their feelings about their neighbors. Skidmore argues that rural communities were often more accepting of these people, even though the newspapers attempted to create conflict over binary gender categories.6 This analysis will be applied to showcase how print media was used by men to create understandings of acceptable gender. It was not the newspapers themselves that created these binary gender categories, but they were a fundamental piece in maintaining patriarchal structures, whether their readers bought the story or not. People who were threatened by these gender non-conforming people made their displeasure known in the press, demonstrating what normative gender looked like and the dangers that came from people who did not conform. They did so with the understanding that their readers would agree with their interpretations of gender and continue to implement them in their daily lives. In Skidmore's book, she argues that these meanings of gender did not always translate over to action from the readers of the paper, but rather acceptance of those who did not fit traditional gender categories. In my research, it is unclear what the readers of the media believed about cross-dressing people, however, the media was still used as a format for conveying male displeasure with the existence of non-normative people to newspaper readership. 6 Emily Skidmore, True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (New York: New York University Press, 2017): 7. 7 This thesis also builds on histories of print media and sensational press during the nineteenth century. The most foundational text in this specific historiography was Lisa Duggan's Sapphic Slashers, which illustrated how American modernity and social categories were created through stories that ran in newspapers. These sensational stories, printed in local newspapers, were able to create national meanings of gender, race, and normativity. Duggan emphasizes the perceived threats that these non-normative people created for the development of the white home. Her sources focus on lesbian love murder stories and lynchings as she notes that both of these groups became "threats to white masculinity and... the stability of the white home," the most important in political and economic hierarchies.7 This argument will be instrumental to this thesis by showing how cross-dressing people were perceived to be threats to male power. Their entrance into male sphere for differing periods of time convinced men that these people aimed to change gender categories and challenge masculinity for the purpose of entering into male society permanently. The cross-dressing women written about in the latter chapters certainly were perceived to be bending gender hierarchies and roles for an indefinite amount of time. It was the combination of both assuming male gender and doing so seemingly permanently that made these women seem most dangerous to men maintaining patriarchy. Their ability to pass as men successfully caused concern for men who had stake in maintaining white masculinity and traditional gender roles, as it threatened their power and sphere of influence. On the other hand, the gender transgressions that soldier women were performing were not perceived to be dangerous to gender hierarchy. Part of the reason was that newspaper editors and reporters assumed that their time spent cross-dressing would be limited to the war time, and that after the conflict had ended, they would go back to their domestic roles. Soldier women were not as 7 Lisa Duggan, Sapphic Slashers: Sex, Violence, and American Modernity (Durham: Duke University Press, 2000): 3. 8 threatening to white masculinity and gender roles because men believed these women would not be cross-dressing for long, and that their service to the country was an excusable reason for women to wear male attire. Additionally, Duggan deals with the concept of sensational press in her book. Stories that dealt with lesbian love murders and lynchings recurred in newspapers often enough that they began to have recognizable plot lines, characters, and endings. Duggan asserts that "it was in the pages of the mass circulation press particularly that such stories were meaningfully attached to national themes and widely disseminated into an imagined national public."8 She continues on to say that these sensational stories naturalized "inequalities as reflections of character and moral order," effectively creating "others" in public space.9 This thesis uses her argument to think about how newspapers were used to create meaningful stories that would attract readership and unify the public's understanding of gender categories. Crossdressers and gender non-conforming people became consistent characters used to prove that women entering male spheres were dangerous to society and needed to be punished. They threatened the moral order of society, while also challenging white masculinity and traditional gender roles, giving men another reason to print salacious stories about them that pushed back on their gender transgressions. These three texts became the foundational scholarship for this thesis in thinking about how gender could be created by nineteenth century society, and maintained through the print media. Their focus on gender and its relationship with the public showcases how important patriarchal institutions were in maintaining the gender binary and keeping women in their designated spheres. The combination of these analytical tools has allowed me to think about how print media was essential in allowing men to communicate proper gender expression to the 9 ibid., 35. 8 ibid., 32. 9 public, and criminalize the women who did not conform to the traditional gender roles and spheres women were supposed to participate in. Methods To do this research, I did keyword searches in many different newspapers. Because these articles turned up many results, narrowing my field of study was necessary to find specific trends. The earliest date I used when searching for these articles was 1840, about ten years before the popularization of the reform dress. I chose this year because of its proximity to many radical political movements. I wanted to understand if negative ideas about women in male attire were prominent in the early antebellum period as the reform dress was being introduced. The latest date in this study is the year 1880, which I chose because of its relatively close in time to when women were criminalized for wearing pants and riding bicycles, a trend that caused great chaos at the end of the nineteenth century, around 1890.10 I wanted to know if ideas about women wearing pants were also said to be leading to a breakdown in society before the bicycle era. Additionally, I chose this year because of its proximity to the Civil War. I wanted to keep my research in the ante- and postbellum periods for the purpose of studying mid-nineteenth century constructions of gender and gender roles. Because of the volume of sources that were available, I had to reduce my search results down by what city the newspaper was published in. When originally searching for these stories, I found that I could get the most results from Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. I wanted to choose cities that had a high rate of publishing these stories to better find trends that could pop up among them, and to see how cities were constructing meanings of gender. Oftentimes, we as Americans think that there is more freedom in cities because of the high population and the ability to be anonymous. With this in mind, I 10 Patricia Marks, Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers: The New Woman in the Popular Press, (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2015), 4-5, 22. 10 wondered if these present day ideas of the American city were true in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. were chosen for this study because of the high rate of articles they produced about people wearing male attire, but also because of the importance of these cities in the mid-nineteenth century. Analyzing the patterns of printed articles in these cities would likely have influenced the readership beyond them. Their importance in the nineteenth century meant that smaller newspapers across the country would want to print stories from these cities as a way to gain credibility. George H. Douglas, in The Golden Age of the Newspaper writes that “by the 1840s New York was the leading commercial city of the United States.”11 His book also details the rise of specific New York City papers, such as the Tribune and the Herald, illustrating their prominence not just as city newspapers, but nationally in kick starting the age of the newspaper. The prominence of these newspapers adds to the influence that the city of New York would have had on the United States as a whole in the mid-nineteenth century. Additionally, Douglas notes Boston to be the "cultural capital of the nation," noting that New York had passed it up in economic relevance. Nevertheless, Boston remained an important city throughout the nineteenth century, playing a large role in abolitionist discourse and becoming a haven for social and cultural upheaval. As Stephen Kantrowitz notes in More Than Freedom, "Boston's African Americans were intimately involved in, and often at the forefront of, regional and national movements."12 Similarly, Washington, D.C. was on the rise as a major city in the mid-nineteenth century. Faye Haskins, in her book The Evening Star: The Rise and Fall of a Great Washington Area Newspaper, writes that "by the opening of the Civil War, Washington was no longer a southern backwater capital, but was on the verge of becoming 12 Stephen Kantrowitz,More Than Freedom:Fighting for Black Citizenship in a White Republic, 1829-1889 (New York: Penguin Books, 2013), 4-7. 11 George H. Douglas, The Golden Age of the Newspaper (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999), 23. 11 the epicenter of events and decisions that would change and shape the future of the nation."13 All of these cities were extremely important to the makeup of American society in the mid-nineteenth century, whether this was economically, culturally, or politically. Finally, keyword searches allowed me to find stories that mentioned women wearing men's clothes. For the subjects mentioned in Chapter 1, keyword searches for “female soldier” with a more specific date range of 1860-1865 gave me results that pertained to women who wore male attire to join the army. In Chapter 2, searches for “male attire” and “disorderly conduct,” as well as sifting through police and arrest sections of these newspapers, provided me with sources that discussed women who cross-dressed and were written about in either long stories, short paragraphs, or line items. And in Chapter 3, searches for “reform dress,” “dress reform,” and “Bloomer” yielded results pertaining to the reform dress women, while searches for “slave” and “male attire” together produced sources that dealt with enslaved women. Chapter 3 also uses sources outside of newspapers, such as periodicals and published papers dealing with either reform dress or enslaved women. After reading many different newspapers and forms of print media from across the country, these phrases seemed to be the ones that would yield the most results, also allowing me a larger body of evidence through which to see important trends. In finding these sources, I used many prominent American print media databases provided through the University of Maryland.14 When researching newspapers, America’s 14 The databases used in this thesis were accessed through the University Of Maryland Library. For newspapers, the databases used were the following: “America’s Historical Newspapers,” Readex, Accessed September, 2023, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/?p=EANX; National Endowment for the Humanities, “Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers,” Library of Congress, Accessed September, 2023, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/; “Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers,” GALE Primary Sources, Accessed September, 2023, https://go.gale.com/ps/start.do?p=NCNP&u=umd_um. For periodicals, the databases used were the following: “American Antiquarian Society (AAS): Historical Periodicals Collection,” EBSCOhost, Accessed March, 2023, https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/search/advanced?vid=0&sid=e4db54ed-7ee4-4d82-8f7d-fb7a14dace64%40redis; “American Periodicals Series,” ProQuest, Accessed March, 2023, https://www.proquest.com/americanperiodicals/advanced?accountid=14696&parentSessionId=qFfL2HwYDlksv2bv 13 Faye Haskins, The Evening Star: The Rise and Fall of a Great Washington Newspaper (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), 13. 12 Historical Newspapers, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, and Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers were the three places that I found most of my source material. When researching periodicals, American Antiquarian Society: Historical Periodicals Collection, American Periodicals Series, and Women and Social Movements in the U.S. were used to find sources. These sources are only used in Chapter 3 to communicate the competing arguments being made over the practicality of women wearing the reform dress, and enslaved women disguising themselves as men to escape enslavement. However, newspapers are the type of source most used in this thesis. Among these newspapers, a few publications stick out as most notable in this thesis, those being Washington, D.C.’s Evening Star, New York City’s the Herald, the Tribune, the Dispatch, and the Times, and Boston’s Daily Atlas. These publications were most prominent in printing stories about women entering into men’s spheres in male attire. There is the possibility that these papers printed more of these stories because their editors and reporters were very interested in these stories and in maintaining gender hierarchies. There is also the possibility that because these newspapers were reprinted often in smaller publications, having more salacious news stories meant that their paper would receive recognition. It is also possible that the newspapers in major cities like these printed more salacious and critical stories because gender transgressions were more problematic in these places. Here, I am drawing on Emily Skidmore’s analysis of trans men at the turn of the century, and thinking about how rural communities were more accepting of people who portrayed the gender opposite of their physical sex. In her book, newspapers from bigger cities continued to print salacious stories of trans men living in smaller communities, but it did not change how the neighbors and community members treated these people. There is the potential that because cities were not S51eDWphjoPV2vqybFWw7VnDQSU%3D; “Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000,” Alexander Street, Accessed March, 2023, https://search.alexanderstreet.com/wass. 13 close knit communities, they were more susceptible to judging non-normative people who existed in them. The women who cross-dressed in the newspapers and other print media used in this thesis were probably perceived as everyday immoral characters that roamed the streets of the big cities, rather than neighbors and beloved community members that had chosen to conform to one gender presentation or the other. It’s possible that the lack of community in a big city, and the lack of conformity to a specific gender binary in these cities, made these gender transgressions more problematic and sensational, leading to the amount of stories written about these women. The reason print media was chosen to be the body of sources for this project was because of the importance newspapers played in shaping public discourse in the nineteenth century. They were paramount in connecting the country to each other, and spreading messages about social norms. In the case of this thesis, newspapers were important in illustrating the importance of maintaining binary gender roles and keeping men’s spheres reserved for biological men. This thesis aims to show that the press’ influence in public discourse was the reason they could make such comments about gender roles and the appropriate nature of women’s dress. Chapter Summaries This thesis consists of three chapters that discuss the many different kinds of women who transgressed gender and their different entrances into society. Chapter 1 examines the crossdressers that were not considered to be threatening to nineteenth century gender hierarchies. Soldier women were thought to be performing normative gender when they dressed in male attire and joined the army. It was common for women to step out of prescribed gender roles during wartime, but it was also common for men to be signing up for the military. And, as these soldier women were performing male gender, signing up for the army would have been normative 14 behavior. These women were not only tolerated in the press, but even celebrated for their heroic actions. The press printed stories about soldier women that detailed their time in the military, and sometimes their discoveries in male attire. Even when their discoveries were printed, the newspaper still held the women up in high regard. Their normative behaviors and the expectation of women to step out of domestic spheres during war time made it easy for the print media to endorse their cross-dressing. These women were not threatening to patriarchal structures and did not concern powerful men with their cross-dressing. They were not perceived to be challenging male spheres, or attempting to become men indefinitely, even though some cross-dressing soldiers continued to live as men after the war. However, the patriarchy still did not feel threatened by these gender transgressions. Soldier women were not aligning themselves with radical political positions, nor were they entering into male spheres that were largely off limits to women. The way that the press perceived these women to be non-threatening to male power when they entered into male corners of society changed the way that they reported on them. These women were given much more grace for their transgressions and even praised them for joining the army. These women were praised, though, because their transgressions were more normative and made sense to the men of the time period. Soldier women are discussed first in this thesis to showcase how the press was reporting on women that they approved of cross-dressing. It is important to establish how the newspaper editors and reporters were thinking about cross-dressing when it was not threatening to male power. This lack of danger that came from their use of male attire was apparent when reading print media about soldier women because the newspapers didn’t criticize them for their transgressions. Chapter 2 discusses the lengthy stories and short line-items that newspapers published reprimanding women who entered into male spheres, such as workplaces and marriages. This 15 entrance into traditionally male spheres threatened patriarchal structures and created concern among men that cross-dressing women would be taking on their roles, leading to them being reprimanded in the press. Newspapers and print media became the avenue through which these concerned men conveyed ideas about gender boundaries and roles to the public, and where they saw women belonging in society. Cross-dressing women and non-normative people challenged gender hierarchies and performed male citizenship when wearing male attire, and the newspaper editors and reporters claimed they did this to become like men and take over men's roles. The reasoning these people had for dressing in male attire, as put forward by the press, were for taking care of families by working or just wanting to live as men. The press was able to create meanings of normative gender by publishing stories that showcased how dangerous these crossdressers were to the gendered order of society. This chapter argues that people who were written about in lengthy articles and short line-items were used as a metric for maintaining gender categories and defining normative gender. These gender non-conforming people caused men to be concerned with the ease that they accessed male power, leading to lengthy stories condemning cross-dressing and the disruption of gender hierarchy, or short line-items printed in police or criminal report sections that reminded readers of the dangers of cross-dressing. Chapter 3 examines the more politically radical crossdressers of the mid-nineteenth century to showcase that their treatment in the press for wearing male attire was directly linked to their political views. This chapter explores two different groups of women: women who argued for the adoption of the reform dress and enslaved women who liberated themselves disguised as men. Reform dress women adopted a new fashion that contained a loose-fitting dress and Bloomer pants underneath, hoping to combat health problems present in normal women’s clothing of the day and to give themselves more independence in movement. However, 16 their associations with radical political beliefs, such as abolition and women's suffrage, as well as the belief that pants were strictly male clothing, meant that they would be attacked and vilified in the press. The commentary newspapers printed about enslaved women wearing male attire fell into two distinct narratives. Those that were pro-slavery were concerned with the ability of women to occupy male gender and especially in their violations of the Fugitive Slave Act. Additionally, some enslaved women were able to pass as white, and pro-slavery newspaper articles then became concerned with their ability to use white male gender as a means of escaping enslavement. Abolitionist articles used the women who cross-dressed as figures for their movement, and discussed their bravery in using these tactics to escape enslavement. They often used these stories to show the humanity present in enslaved people and give reasons as to why they should not be treated like chattel, but did not comment on the threats these enslaved women presented to gender hierarchy or racial categories. This was likely to increase the chances that their message would not be perceived as too radical. This chapter argues that print media in both the cases of reform dress women and enslaved women was used as a method for spreading ideas either supporting or opposing their adoption of male attire. More radical publications and groups supported these women in adopting male clothing, usually arguing that this would push society towards a more equal makeup. Those that wanted to keep gender and racial hierarchies strict and in line with the normative social structure opposed these women's entrance into male spheres and argued that they attempted to become men and challenge the separate spheres that governed men and women. This chapter aims to display the complicated nature of women wearing male clothing by showing these different arguments for or against these groups wearing male attire, as well as the different responses that came from society’s perception of the danger these women posed to the social hierarchy. 17 A Note on Language There are a few terms throughout this thesis that need to be defined in the context that they are being understood. These terms can be thought about in many different ways and have different understandings in the historical context they are being presented in. The first is the concept of male citizenship. In this thesis, the concept of male citizenship is more expansive and extends beyond voting rights to include male access to public space and power structures. This was something that was only available fully to white men, and gave them unrestricted access and belonging in public spaces, but especially in places of work, in romantic relationships, and on the streets of major cities. Male citizenship, then, was used to create male only spaces. The patriarchy was able to create gender hierarchy in public space and regulate non-normative gender by asserting that there were spaces that only men were allowed to access and participate in.15 Additionally, they were able to regulate who was allowed to use white male citizenship by regulating non-normative people through the media. Those that used male citizenship when they were not given access to this sphere were demonized by the press for blurring the lines between men's and women's spheres, and causing a breakdown in social hierarchies. In this thesis, white male citizenship is being understood as access and unquestioned belonging in public space. This was both used by crossdressers to access male spheres, and defined by men in the press to regulate who was allowed to use white male citizenship in public. The term sensational press will be used frequently in this thesis, and will be defined a few different ways. Sensational stories could be ones that were printed on the front pages, had eye-catching headlines, or took up great space in the print media. But, sensational press could also be shorter paragraph stories buried in the newspaper’s pages, or even short line-items that 15 See for examples: Blanton and Cook, They Fought Like Demons; Bullough and Bullough, Cross-Dressing, Sex and Gender; Duggan, Sapphic Slashers; Fischer, Pantaloons and Power; Isenberg, Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America; Reis, Bodies in Doubt; Sears, Arresting Dress; Skidmore, True Sex. 18 only listed a person’s name and gender transgression. Long stories are probably what come to mind when thinking about sensational press, but surprisingly, the shorter articles were often reprinted in other newspapers or print media, and were more widespread than lengthy articles. These stories can also be considered sensational because of the meanings they meant to bring to the public. All stories that dealt with gender transgressions and women wearing male attire provide some sort of opinion on the role of gender hierarchies and the maintenance of them. Whether these opinions were concealed or more overt, they make these articles sensational.16 These stories about women cross-dressing began to have predictable plot lines and characters that readers would recognize. Additionally, these stories were meant to be read by a wide viewership so that ideas about proper gender categories and gender roles would be communicated to the public. Stories that contained these opinions about proper gender roles and separate spheres for men and women were sensational in both their content and what they aimed to achieve. Public space in this thesis also needs to be defined. In the mid-to-late nineteenth century, public space was only available to certain people, often white Americans. However, while women were able to exist physically in some forms of public space, they were not given access to every piece of it. This was because of the prevalence of the separate spheres ideology in nineteenth century society. Men were allowed to occupy political, economic, and social spaces that women were not given access to, resulting in the development of male and female public spheres. When cross-dressing women accessed these spheres performing male gender, they threatened the sanctity of the male sphere. These spheres included workplaces, marriages, family life, and even being out and about on the streets. Spaces like these were reserved male gender performance for men, and kept power in the hands of white men. Men used print media to dictate 16 See for examples: Duggan, Sapphic Slashers; Sears, Arresting Dress; Skidmore, True Sex. 19 these spaces as male only, especially when they showcased the dangers that came from women entering into them. The last major term in this thesis that needs to be defined is the use of the term transgender. Many of the people that wore male attire and made attempts to enter into male spaces had been living as men for years, or had continued to wear male attire after their initial discovery. Their persistence in entering into male spaces and in wearing male attire suggests that these people did not identify with their assigned gender at birth, but rather the gender they felt most represented them. Gender roles and categories were in the process of being rigidly defined at this point, with specific distinctions being made between what a man was and what a woman was. Of course, historians will never know for sure how these people were thinking about their own gender and the nineteenth century gender binary. They certainly wouldn’t have labeled themselves as transgender, as this term did not yet exist. In this thesis, I am understanding these people to be transgender, but to be behaving heteronormatively. It is unclear if these people understood that they could be both female and masculine. They might have understood gender to be binary, as the nineteenth century was a time of hardened gender categories. If they felt like masculinity represented their gender feelings more, and that they had been confined to a gender category that didn’t represent them, then there is the possibility that they took on the gender presentation and roles of the opposite gender. Conforming to male gender, in this case, made their behavior heteronormative and following the gender binary. This could be seen in the ways that these people presented themselves to the outside world, dressing and living as men for extended periods of time, and taking male names to refer to themselves. However, their true gender presentations were not always accepted by nineteenth century people, perceiving their gender transgressions to be threatening both patriarchy and white masculinity. The print media in 20 these cities perceived these people as threats to the gender binary even if they were conforming to it because they believed that people practicing non-normative gender should not have access to structures of power reserved for biological men.17 Their performance of their true sex was met with opposition because these people did not fit within specific social categories. In this thesis, considering subjects to be trans is a challenge because this language was not used in the nineteenth century, but also in the ways that the media was identifying these people. Describing these crossdressers as women in the press presents challenges for the historian interpreting these texts. However, I want to think about potentially transgender people with the respect that they deserve and give them agency in their decisions to live as men. Conclusion Overall, this thesis argues that print media was used by men to convey normative gender to the public and regulate people who cross-dressed and portrayed male gender in public when they were not supposed to. It is important to understand this research because of the impacts that these gender categories and national understandings of gender would come to play later on. Additionally, it is important to think about the roles of print media in establishing gender normativity in nineteenth century America, and how its role in upholding patriarchy would go on to influence future understandings of gender. Both the maintenance of patriarchy and the use of print media to do this were important to understanding nineteenth century culture and values. Newspapers and other forms of press were read widely and were able to be so influential because of their readership. Likewise, rigid gender categories of the nineteenth century were enforced for the purpose of maintaining patriarchy and separate spheres for men and women. This 17 See for examples: Bullough and Bullough, Cross-Dressing, Sex, and Gender; Reis, Bodies in Doubt; Sears, Arresting Dress; Skidmore, True Sex. 21 combination of the cultural importance of newspapers and more established gender categories aligned with arguments against women cross-dressing and entering male spheres. 22 Chapter 1 - "The Men Call Her Captain": Soldier Women in the Civil War and Acceptable Cross-Dressing On May 10, 1863, the New York Sunday Dispatch "War Matters" column included a story about a seventeen year old soldier named Frank Martin. Martin was in the midst of transporting some rebel prisoners when he was recruited to the barracks by the Colonel of that base. The Dispatch writes of Martin: "He soon won the esteem of his superior officers and became a general favorite with all connected with the barracks." However, Martin wasn't what he seemed, as the soldier was soon found out to be a woman in disguise. After begging to keep her position, Frank (no other name was ever given) was allowed to remain in the army. The press went on to commend her for her service, stating that the General "was favorably impressed with her daring bravery... she is represented as an excellent horseman and has been honored with the position of regimental bugler in the regiment." Frank was also described with characteristics of female beauty and the perfect example of domesticity. At one point, she was noted for her excellent manners and conversational skills, a surprise to the writer because of her recent endeavors and associates. When interviewed, Frank tells the newspaper that she has found other women in the army, and even "assisted in burying three female soldiers at different times."18 These descriptions of Frank only added to her portrayal as a hero. In addition to painting her as a hero, the newspaper used these descriptions of Frank to gender her as female, even while using a male name and attire to describe her. Gendering her as female allowed the newspaper to assert that Frank was not a threat to masculinity. Her service for her country, combined with the respect that she was clearly shown from the men who associated with her, and the men's sphere she chose to enter into all gave the newspaper cause for hailing her as a hero.19 However, making 19 Deanne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War (New York: Vintage Books, 2002): 5-6. 18 "War Matters -- A Romantic History -- How Women Join the Army," Sunday Dispatch, May 10, 1863, 6. 23 sure to distinguish her from men in some way allowed the newspaper more freedom in expressing pride for her service. Her feminine characteristics add to the lack of danger she presented to patriarchal structures, and the emphasis of these by the newspaper, combined with its endorsement of her entrance into this sect of male society, offer a great example of the treatment of soldier women in the press. These articles would take every opportunity possible to showcase their gratitude and respect for the women in the military. Not only did the newspapers congratulate the women on their achievements in the army, but they often did not question their choices of wearing male attire, why they entered into this male sphere, or if they should be allowed to do this at all. This was striking, considering the ways that women who wore male attire in the subsequent chapters had been so strongly reprimanded for stepping into men's spheres in men's clothing. There were some instances where certain women were not discussed poorly for wearing pants or male attire. Sometimes this came in the form of praise for the women who stepped outside of their spheres for their country. In wartime, gender roles became blurred as men left the home for the army, giving women the ability to step into men’s roles while they were away.20 20 Blanton and Cook, They Fought Like Demons, 5; Rosemarie Zaggari, Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007): 2-4. For more examples of soldier women during the Civil War, see: Jesse Alemán, “Wars of Rebellion: US Hispanic Writers and Their American Civil Wars,” American Literary History 25, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 54-68; DeAnne Blanton, “Women Soldiers of the Civil War,” Prologue Magazine 25, no.1 (Spring 1993): 27-33; DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers of the American Civil War (Baton Rouge: University of Lousiana Press, 2002; Katherine Brackett, “Remembering the Nancy Harts: A Female Militia, Gender, and Memory,” The Georgia Historical Society 102, no. 4 (2018): 303-337; Catherine Clinton and Nina Silber, Battle Scars : Gender and Sexuality in the American Civil War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006); Michael Conklin, “Walk Like A Man: The Jennie Hodgers Story,” History Magazine 11, no. 2 (Dec. 2009): 27-29; Mary M. Cronin, “Daughters of the New Revolutionary War: Representations of Confederate Women and Gun Culture in the Confederate Press, 1861–1864,” American Journalism 28, no. 4 (Oct. 2011): 55-80; Sylvia G. Dannett, She Rode with the Generals: The True and Incredible Story of Sarah Emma Seeyle, alias Franklin Thompson (New York: Thomas Nelsons and Sons, 1960); Tom Derreck, “Soldier Girl: The Emma Edmonds Story,” Beaver 82, no. 4 (Aug/Sept. 2002): 26-32; Drew Gilpin Faust,Mothers of Invention : Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996); Thaviola Glymph, The Women's Fight: The Civil War's Battles for Home, Freedom, and Nation (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2020); Richard Hall, “They All Fought At Bull Run,”Minerva: Women and War IX, no. 3 (Nov. 1991): 48-54; Richard Hall,Women on the Civil War Battlefront (Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 2006); Janet E. Kaufman, “‘Under The Petticoat Flag’: Women Soldiers In The Confederate Army,” Southern Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the South 23, no. 4 (1984): 24 While some women just did male jobs on the home front, some women volunteered for the army and stepped into men’s roles this way. But, they were not criticized for doing so. In this chapter, I will argue that the newspapers wrote about soldier women in more forgiving and accepting ways than many other crossdressers were discussed, particularly because soldier women did not directly threaten nineteenth century patriarchal structures. The press wrote about female soldiers in ways that, at most, implied these women were national heroes, and, at the very least, tolerated their presence because of their willingness to serve their country. Oftentimes, the cross-dressing detailed in articles about soldier women did not entail them seeking work, did not have them seeking wives, and did not associate them with radical political thoughts and actions. Additionally, their cross-dressing was aligned with a popular venture for nineteenth century men for the time, allowing them access to the male sphere of the army. The gendered order present in the late 1840s and early 1850s changed drastically at the start of the Civil War. As men went off to war and left the domestic fronts, women’s roles expanded. However, even when women stepped into men’s roles and became soldiers, they were commended for their bravery and ability to perform in these capacities. Because their move away from the domestic sphere was necessitated by wartime, they were not punished for threatening the patriarchy. Their use of male gender and men’s clothing was an acceptable transgression. They did not challenge men’s power because they conformed to it in service of their country, meaning that the newspaper did not release stories that passed judgment on these women. Stories 363-375; Elizabeth D. Leonard, Yankee Women: Gender Battles in the Civil War (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1994); Elizabeth D. Leonard, All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999); Stephanie McCurry, Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010); Stephanie McCurry,Women's War: Fighting and Surviving the American Civil War (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019); Marianne Monson, Women of the Blue and Gray: True Civil War Stories of Mothers, Medics, Soldiers, and Spies (Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain, 2018); Bonnie Tsui, She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War (Guilford: TwoDot, 2006); Donald H. Winkler, Stealing Secrets: How a Few, Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered the Course of the Civil War (Illinois: Cumberland House, 2010). 25 published about soldier women were sensational enough to draw attention from readers while also allowing the newspaper to use different language and reasoning for communicating and maintaining normative gender. For soldier women, their passing as men was not as reprimanded as the women and crossdressers who will be discussed in Chapters 2 and 3. Their service to the country during the war gave them the space to be accepted by society. They were performing manhood in a non-transgressive way by adopting male attire and becoming soldiers. Not only were they serving their country, but their cross-dressing was imagined to be only for a short amount of time. This was much different than dress reform women and the long articles reprimanding women who entered male spheres. For these women, they were perceived to be performing male gender for longer, or maybe even infinite, periods of time. This threat to patriarchy and male citizenship was not tolerated at all, while the soldier women’s brief period cross-dressing conformed to male citizenship while simultaneously not threatening men’s spheres. They were often following husbands or family members into war, which potentially made these women seem less dangerous as crossdressers. The danger of women wearing male attire came from them asserting themselves into distinctly male spaces in society, such as the workforce, heads of families, political debates and ventures, and the debates of citizenship. If they were following family members into war, they were likely going to be in some sort of caretaking role, so sneaking in as men maybe didn't matter to the public as much. Following male family members into war and the short lengths of time they would be cross-dressing, combined with their service to the country made their cross-dressing tolerable and sometimes heroic. They were sometimes celebrated for these gender transgressions, and other times, the press was indifferent to these women being in male attire. Nonetheless, the reasons for their wearing of male attire and the lack 26 of danger it posed to prescribed gender roles allowed these women to get away with wearing pants while others couldn't. Most importantly, the decision for soldier women to practice male gender was not radical for the time period. Many men were volunteering, and many women were working in hospitals and had stepped outside of their traditionally domestic sphere to be of service to the army. Soldier women were conforming to normative masculine practices when they enlisted and did not attempt to change ideas of womanhood, or completely challenge male power in a sphere that had always been reserved for them. Soldier women, on the other hand, were not taking on a male role in society for an extended period of time. More importantly, the male role they were taking on was normative, and for someone performing male gender, expected. Wearing male attire, for them, was not something they would likely be doing for decades, but only a few years, and was always seen as temporary by the press. The lack of radical political affiliation and prescribed period of time they would be in men's clothes, combined with their service record, and reasons they went into the army, made these women so much less dangerous to the gendered structures of society, and therefore able to escape the judgment of society and the press. "Performing All the Duties of Soldier" Many women, at the start of the Civil War, decided that they would adopt soldiers’ clothes and fight amongst the ranks of men. Most of these women joined the army with little to no resistance or discovery. When, and if, they were discovered, they faced minor consequences and honorable celebrations of their patriotism. These women's entrance into a male sphere was not a threat to patriarchal structures that existed, mostly because of their service to the country. Because they were not behaving radically, and were aligning themselves with traditional American values while cross-dressing, their gender transgressions were excused. The articles 27 that commended these women often cited their bravery, their dedication to their country, and the reasons why they were good soldiers. An example of this can be found in the July 27, 1862 print of the Sunday Dispatch, in which the paper discusses an eighteen year old woman named Sarah Taylor, a member of the First Tennessee Regiment. The newspaper described her as "adept at the sword exercise, and sure with the pistol," and even went as far as to note that "the men call her Captain Taylor."21 These descriptions by the newspaper can tell us two things: one, the woman was a fantastic soldier and quite familiar with masculine enterprises such as fighting and shooting. Two, this woman had earned enough respect throughout her service to receive the title of Captain, and had much admiration amongst her fellow soldiers. Even though Taylor had left her prescribed domestic role for the battlefield, her abilities as a soldier and successful passing as a man had earned her the respect of the men she served with, and society's respect. This respect was given because she was passing as a man, doing something that was considered very normal for men to do, and providing a military service to the country. The latter was enough alone to garner respect from society, however, the fact that this respect was coming from the newspaper itself suggested that society respected these women, too. The respect she received from her fellow soldiers suggests a societal acceptance of her in the role of a military official. Again, this came from her ability to pass as a man while doing something that was not considered radical, and providing a service to the country. Her presentation of male gender was not a challenge to patriarchal structures or men’s power. In the eyes of men, her wearing of male attire was not threatening, and her ability to perform a service that would continue to uphold those same patriarchal structures meant that she would not become a challenge to their beliefs. The language 21 "A Female Soldier," Sunday Dispatch, July 27, 1862, 6. 28 the newspapers use showcased exactly how other people felt about these women, and that the respect given to these women was also a popular belief.22 This woman not only received respect from her fellow soldiers and military officials, but from the newspaper as well. Sentiments about women who wore male attire and joined the military were generally positive and showcased ideas about gender that aligned with patriarchal structures. Soldier women’s transgressions were not dangerous and did not concern men with a vested interest in maintaining patriarchy. They were not considered to be dangerous because of the length of time the women cross-dressed and the reasons that they assumed male attire. This was the reason that the newspapers could endorse them so heavily and be so enthusiastic about their participation in a male sphere. Soldier women took on male roles, but were not transgressing gender for the purpose of becoming men, at least according to the newspaper. Their purposes for wearing male attire felt less sinister to men who were upholding patriarchy and the strict nineteenth century categories. This praise can be seen in many other newspaper articles as well. Another example of commending a female soldier was in The National Republican on September 17, 1861, where a "thoroughly disguised" woman was discovered. She was said to have "performed all the duties of a soldier, without suspicion," and would not have been discovered had her father not come searching for her. The piece of this short line-item that praised the woman most was "performed all the duties of a soldier," showcasing exactly how traditionally male duties were being performed just as well by a woman. Additionally, the army 22 Newspapers, in these cases, were used to successfully create national understandings of women who became soldiers. Duggan asserts that the stories local newspapers in the late nineteenth century "produced and circulated national meanings." She goes on to say that these institutions "defined the meaning of 'Americanness.'" In these articles about soldier women, the continued opinion that these women were heroes that embodied the American spirit and culture is prevalent. It is clear that newspapers in Boston, New York, and Washington wanted to make it clear to the public that the women who were becoming soldiers radiated ideas of 'Americanness,' and should therefore be celebrated. Duggan, Sapphic Slashers, 14. 29 would not have discovered her had it not been for a family member that came to see her, suggesting that the woman passed as a man successfully and likely had earned the respect of the fellow soldiers in her camp. While there wasn't much in this article that indicated praise from the newspaper, the small bits that did spoke volumes about how they felt about women becoming soldiers. They spoke about them with a respect that many other cross-dressing women did not get, and it was because these women were performing male gender in a normative way, and providing their service to the country.23 The National Republican published another story of a discovered female soldier on October 11, 1861. This woman had followed her husband into war when he enlisted without her consent, and was placed in the same regiment as him. The colonel of this regiment knew of her sex and placed her in a messenger's role. She was wounded in battle, mustered out, and then re-enlisted, this time with her husband. Her sex was again known in this regiment to a few officers and her husband, however, she stated that she left the army because of the way her husband was treating her. The newspaper wrote: "One would scarcely believe that such a delicate creature could have withstood the fatigues of a camp like she has... to say the least, she has braved a great deal of hardships." The woman ended up serving for close to six months in total, and the article does not shy away from mentioning the conditions of her service. In this article, the compliments were a bit different. Not only did the paper commend the woman's service and bravery throughout her time in the army, but also made sure to note her delicacy as a woman. This was a tactic often used in articles about female soldiers who had been discovered and were moving out of military service. Adding in details about their feminine characteristics made them seem all the less dangerous for cross-dressing, and well aware of their places in society.24 24 "A Bit of Romance -- A Female Disguised as a Soldier," The National Republican, October 11, 1861, 4. 23 "Military Matters," The National Republican, September 17, 1861, 2. 30 Likewise, on October 4, 1863, the New York Dispatch ran a first-person account of a woman's time as a soldier who had joined the army with her brothers. They began the article by saying: Her appearance, manners, style of conversation, and the account she gives of herself, place her quite above the ordinary class of women who affect the garb of the opposite sex. All who converse with her are impressed with the conviction that her history is true. In light gray pants, vest and coat, and felt hat, she looks like a sprightly boy of fourteen.25 Again, the compliments here were mostly directed at the woman's femininity and her place as a woman. However, the compliments she received also highlighted her perception among the public. The length of the story that was told in the woman’s words showed how committed the Dispatch was to praising the woman’s actions. She noted that the commanding officer knew her true sex and allowed her to remain in soldier's clothes. She also detailed a moment quite scary for her when a fellow soldier suspected and attacked her. In a moment of self-defense the woman shot him with her pistol. After nursing him back to health, the man sent her "a written apology, very humble, and begging for forgiveness in such a manner" that the woman forgave him. She ran into more trouble than she did in the military later in the article for wearing male attire in public, leading to several arrests. Nonetheless, these mistakes were not as important to the press, as they distinguished her above other women who wore male attire. The positive language they used to speak about the woman was absolutely because of her service to the military, along with the demeanor she exhibited in the interview. Her cross-dressing was, again, not dangerous to patriarchal structures and existing gender roles. She did not threaten the normative gender order when she performed male gender. Her use of male gender was not perceived to be for the purpose of taking on male power or using male citizenship to access a restricted space in society. Instead, she was perceived as a woman who had stepped up to fulfill a 25 "Genuine Romance in Real Life," New York Dispatch, October 4, 1863, 9. 31 duty that some men did not have the courage to do. The fact that she maintained her docile nature and the good manners that nineteenth century women were supposed to have was an added bonus. Not only did she step into an acceptable men’s sphere and provide exemplary service to the military, but she retained the womanly qualities she was meant to have, and that she would be expected to return to after her stay in the army was over. The newspaper showcased that feminine characteristics were meant to be a priority for nineteenth century women by emphasizing this woman’s feminine characteristics before telling the audience about her wearing male attire. This was to signify that these women who cross-dressed as soldiers were not a threat to the existent gender categories. They were people who most likely did not continue to cross-dress after the war, and while this woman did, she was considered to be a different class of woman than other women that cross-dressed. The press displayed that this meant she stayed in her sphere, she kept her feminine qualities, and she did not engage in radical reasons for wearing pants. The accounts mentioned above show just how important women were to the war effort and in positions in the army. While these roles may have not been traditionally female roles, American women took their place next to men with confidence. They stepped into roles that were not asked of them and were respected for their bravery and sacrifice by society and the newspapers. Because they were performing male gender and found themselves in traditionally male roles that were not radical nor threatening to the gendered fabric of society, these soldier women were protected from criticism. The press made sure that their audience knew the women had feminine characteristics or were doing their duties as soldiers, all to showcase how soldier women were not a danger to gender structures in nineteenth century society. 32 The respect given to female soldiers did not always come in the form of honoration and high praise, but through inclusion into the conversation about the war and a toleration of their presence in this sphere. These stories do not use the same language of honoration and heroics that previous papers have used, but instead provide the facts of the case, usually listing where the woman served, and that she was being discharged from the army. One example of this can be found in the New York Dispatch's December 27, 1863 edition, where they give an indifferent description of a female soldier who followed her lover into war. There was no real commentary on her, other than she had been a prisoner of war for a while, and was looking "roughened." The newspaper remained relatively impartial in this case.26 Likewise, the Evening Star ran two stories about female soldiers, both in June 1864, also following lovers or husbands and attempting to see them while they were on the front. These articles also remained indifferent to the women wearing male attire and joining the army.27 Their treatment in the press was much different than other women who stepped out of the domestic sphere, and into male clothing. Their aim to find the men they loved and join with them, as well as their quick discoveries and release from the army, made these women less dangerous in the eyes of society. They were not passing as men or in male attire for very long, and had the intention of finding the men that they were attached to. Additionally, these women did not work other jobs in male attire, nor did they attempt to do anything else as men. In the eyes of the newspaper editors and reporters, these women simply wanted to spend time with loved ones and contribute to the war effort, and were caught doing so. Similarly, the Sunday Dispatch released a short article on February 15, 1863 detailing the life of a woman who served in the army for eighteen months, participating in three battles, and being mustered out after an injury revealed her sex. This article was also indifferent to her 27 "Local News -- A Female Soldier," Evening Star, June 24, 1864, 2; "A Female Soldier," Evening Star, June 30, 1864, 1. 26 "Miscellaneous War Items," New York Dispatch, December 27, 1863, 1. 33 wearing male clothing and does not comment on the peculiarity of it.28 Another article, published in the New York Dispatch told the story of a girl who was granted permission to enlist in the army by her parents to "revenge the death of her brother." She was found out after a fellow soldier suggested she get a more feminine job than a lieutenant and was sent back home. Again, there is no commentary about the girl herself, or her wearing male attire, other than the comment that was made to her in the story.29 And again, both of these women were caught and sent away, making them less dangerous crossdressers. These women were not following men into war however, but their service records, and the reasons they entered the war made them able to avoid judgment from the press. Like the indifferent articles pertaining to female soldiers in the paragraph above, these women were thought to only be participating in the army for a short time, and were mustered out upon their discovery. And, according to the newspaper, they did not attempt to remain in male attire after their discoveries, suggesting that they only stepped out of their domestic sphere for a short while to honorably serve their country. It was these kinds of women who were not seen as a danger when they decided to wear male clothing, mostly because they were perceived by society as performing a service, and not wanting to become men. They had stepped out of their domestic sphere, of course, but at a time when women were taking on more non-domestic tasks anyway. Additionally, these women did not attempt to become men, but were sometimes described as joining the army for some ulterior motive, such as following a family member into service. They did not pose a threat to the gendered fabric of society because when discovered, they would likely be moved out of service. And on the occasions they were not mustered out or discovered quickly, their military service record shielded them from judgment, seen as an honorable action to have taken in society, woman or not. 29 "Another Female Soldier," New York Dispatch, October 18, 1863, 6. 28 "A Female Soldier," Sunday Dispatch, February 15, 1863, 3. 34 Revering, or at least respecting, female soldiers was not something that was just found in newspapers, however. Other forms of print media showcased the widespread beliefs that these women were patriotic figures and respected by much of society. Some of the most interesting accounts discussing soldier women came from other soldiers. The ability to pass as a man was essential to the female soldier’s participation in politics, which consisted of befriending and deceiving their fellow soldiers. This is especially prevalent in the diary of one male soldier, who after befriending Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias Franklin Thompson, described his friendship with her in great detail. Jerome Robbins was privy to knowledge about Sarah’s true identity but continued to remain friends with her throughout their service together. His descriptions of their relationship in his diaries are most revealing, describing his friendship with ‘Frank’ as “doubly increased” after she revealed her true identity to him.30 In addition, Robbins makes sure to take extra care of leaving this information in his diary, so as to not get Edmonds thrown out of the army.31 This friendship illustrates the possibility women had to form friendships with, and garner respect from, their male counterparts and displays how they could be treated like just another soldier. Their ability to pass successfully as men, and keep that secret until absolutely necessary, illustrated how their political power and ability to be in the army was completely reliant on their disguise as the opposite gender, as well as the toleration and willing cooperation of male soldiers in aiding their disguise. In newspapers outside of Boston, New York and Washington, women were also honored for their service by the government and by their communities. The examples in some of these newspapers illustrated the proud feelings exhibited by the rest of the country for women who became soldiers. This reverence for female soldiers can be found in multiple newspapers when 31 Elizabeth D. Leonard, “Introduction” inMemoirs of Soldier Nurse and Spy: A Woman’s Adventures in the Union Army by Sarah Emma Edmonds (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1999). 30 Jerome John Robbins, Diary Entry Nov. 11 1861. 35 female soldiers were discovered. The Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph discussed the ideas of women in the army, stating “the battlefield is certainly not the sphere of women,” but went on to describe their admiration for the “intrepidity and bravery” of female soldiers.32 The San Francisco Bulletin, in describing a woman who died serving, compared her courage to that of a lion on the battlefield.33 The Gallipolis Journal described a woman’s service in the army as patriotic and determined and expresses a tone of sadness when they discover she is forced out of the military due to regulations.34 These accounts of female soldiers displaying their ability to fight for their country like men were greatly important. It allowed women the ability to step into men’s political sphere and be taken seriously, but it also gave women the opportunity to free themselves of traditional women’s clothing. These accounts also illustrate the respect that both armies had for their female soldiers and the lack of apprehension they had for awarding female soldiers with bravery. Additionally, the newspapers could communicate the reverence for soldier women from both their communities and the government. Publishing examples that showed respect coming from people outside of the newspaper, and from positions of authority, gave these women credibility in their cross-dressing, and the newspapers credibility in endorsing their behavior. For example, both Sarah Emma Edmonds and a soldier named Albert D. J. Cashier were given pensions by the federal government for their service in the military. While Edmonds applied for the pension as a woman, Cashier did not use his birth name or sex when applying for the pension. In fact, Cashier continued to live as a man after the war was over, working on farms throughout the Chicago area.35 Using Skidmore’s methods of analysis, it would seem that 35 “Obituary of Albert D.J. Cashier,” Omaha Daily News, Oct. 12, 1915, 11. 34 "A Female Soldier," Gallipolis Journal, May 7, 1863, 2. 33 "The Romance of War -- A Female Soldier," San Francisco Daily Bulletin, June 26, 1863, 1. 32 "Items of Interest," Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph, March 30, 1863, 2. 36 Cashier’s “true sex” was decided as he enlisted in the army. While Cashier’s “true sex” was not revealed to anyone until his death, his ability to live and pass as a man according to the state-defined constructions of what a man was show how much gender categories were challenged in the nineteenth century. These gender challenges not only helped soldier women succeed in the army, but aided trans men who joined the army to continue performing male gender roles after they left. Another example can be found in the case of another soldier, Otto Schaefer, who continued to live as a man after the war and received a soldier’s burial from the veterans in the community. Even though they had no previous knowledge of his true biological sex, the soldier’s burial and honoring of his chosen gender were prioritized by them upon his death.36 Again, continuing to live as a man after the war gave many of these cross-dressing soldiers respect, and presumably, political power that they didn’t have when performing female gender. But, were female soldiers who lived as women after the war given the respect that soldiers who continued to live as men were? It was their ability to pass as men that gave them political power, but their lack of continuance to live as men after the war most likely stole this power away from them. Those who continued to live as men held onto their respect from society and their political power in general. While women did disguise themselves as men to join the military, their bravery is respected by many sources, even if only briefly. However, some newspapers still felt hesitant with awarding them praise given the clash with traditional gender roles. Many of these more indifferent newspapers felt the need to cite how beautiful the women looked, how they came from respectable families, or their affinity towards domestic tasks while also showing small support for them in male attire and in the army. Indifferent newspapers made sure they highlighted respectability and nineteenth century feminine values that would be acceptable to 36 Leonard, All the Daring of a Soldier, 206. 37 society: values like family, beauty, and the domestic sphere of women. These newspaper articles commended the women’s bravery and service while reminding their readers that soldier women still embodied traditional feminine qualities. Associating these women with feminine attributes also emphasized the lack of danger they posed to the gendered fabric of society and how men should not be worried about female soldiers taking their roles. The respect and toleration of female soldiers by the general public may have been just about the bravery it took to participate in war, but there were potentially other reasons for the accolades these women received from the public. The act of participating in society in a way that advantaged the state, provided service for it, and created a form of propaganda was tolerated and celebrated in nineteenth century America for exactly that: it was additional labor and bodies who were willing to die for the promotion of the state’s values. Women who gave up their lives and livelihoods to join the army were involving themselves in a normative political struggle, much differently than those reform women were. Instead of taking up radical causes and advocating for large change publicly, or stepping out of their sphere in a way that men would be threatened by, they took up a cause that was more normalized and valiant in the eyes of the United States, and more importantly, in the eyes of men during that time. Military service was considered to be a more respectable form of service to the country than protesting against the government and parading around in male attire in spaces they were not welcome. The brutish nature of war, the bravery and stamina required to participate, and the place that war had in politics all seemed to be reasons to restrict women from participating. Men did not imagine women to have the physical capabilities and political prowess to participate in the army. They believed this action to be far out of the scope of women’s involvement in society, and maybe thought these women made a political statement when joining the army. To combat the belief that women took on 38 political statements when joining the army, newspapers discussed why they were joining or commending their service to distract readers. While women were very much expected and encouraged to stay in the domestic sphere, they took on men’s roles in an “acceptable” manner that the rest of society could get behind. 39 Chapter 2 - "Did You Leave Your Husband In Bed, Whilst You Paraded About In His Breeches?": Lengthy Newspaper Articles, Line-Item Stories, and Disorderly Conduct On November 9, 1879, the Boston Daily Globe reprinted an article about a woman who had been cross-dressing as a man for twenty years. This woman used the name Edward De Lacy Evans, and was never suspected to be of the opposite gender in the many years she worked in the stone mills and mines, or when she married three separate women. The article started by calling the woman a "female lunatic discovered in male attire," and then continued to say that she might have never been discovered if not for a recent hospital visit. Evans and her current wife had just welcomed a child, which the article makes sure to point out was quite strange, and added that Evans' third wife was unaware of her husband's true sex. After the birth of their child, the press reported that Evans had fallen into a state of being "absent-minded and lethargic," requiring a visit to the hospital. Evans' condition at the hospital was described as "demented" and "dangerous to others." Evans continued to fool the hospital staff, as her gender was labeled male, and the sitter who was watching her all day never suspected her true sex. The newspaper also remarks that Evans' second wife had not said anything about the supposed husband. A description of the Evans' appearance reads, "In appearance the man personator is feminine as regards to the formation of features, but carries a decidedly masculine expression." This description makes it clear that the person was successfully passing as a man, and the testimony from the wives and hospital staff show that she would not have been discovered on any given day. However, it is this physical description paired with the length of time spent in male attire, as well as the taking of wives, that make the newspaper pass judgment on the person.37 37 "In Male Attire: A Woman Who for Twenty Years Played a Man's Part and Was Married as a Man," Boston Daily Globe, November 9, 1879, 6. 40 Working in men's spheres and taking wives were some of the main critiques of cross-dressing people mentioned in lengthy newspaper articles. Those who aimed to protect the gendered hierarchies present in the nineteenth century believed people who wore pants were dangerous to the fabric of society. This can be seen when reading newspaper articles about crossdressers, especially those that are quite lengthy and discuss disorderly conduct charges. Articles that aimed to discourage others from cross-dressing and entering the sphere opposite their gender took up more space on the page, had eye-grabbing headlines, and often featured people being arrested for disorderly conduct. All of these trends show that the newspapers in Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. used their influence to communicate gender roles that were acceptable in public space. The ways that they commented on the cross-dressing people, the amount of space they allowed per page for these stories, and the kinds of stories they reprinted all illustrated that they were invested in maintaining proper gender roles and national understandings of womanhood.38 Alternatively, the Washington, D.C. Evening Star published a short item on September 2, 1858 about a woman discovered wearing male attire. It reads: "The officers in Covington, KY., have captured a good-looking girl, 15 years old, who was dressed in male attire, and has been living in the woods near the city for sometime, subsisting on stolen poultry and provisions." This line-item did not include any further developments, did not include the girl's name, and did not explain why she was wearing male attire. It sort of offered commentary when describing the girl as "good-looking," but did not pass judgment on her wearing male attire, nor her living 38 Clare Sears in Arresting Dress discusses the ways that cross-dressing law created gender categories and distinguished who was allowed to be called a man or a woman. This argument will be applied here, but in thinking about how newspapers can create the same meanings as cross-dressing laws. Additionally, Lisa Duggan's Sapphic Slashers demonstrates how newspapers were used to create national meanings of gender, race, etc. I will be applying this argument to cross-dressing articles to show how local newspapers created and perpetuated national meanings surrounding women entering into male spheres and dressing as men. 41 situation.39 Compared to the description of Evans in the lengthy article, this short description of a woman cross-dressing was a bit odd. Why was the newspaper not mentioning the girl's personal life, her criminal activity, or her family? And why hadn't they addressed the perceived dangers of wearing male attire at all? Was it possible that cross-dressing people that did not overtly disrupt traditionally male political and economic spheres, and did not try to move into male roles, were safe from the criticisms of the press and society? There were many possibilities that came from this lack of commentary. First, the newspaper was potentially expressing tolerance for specific crossdressers who wore male attire in public. This woman was not entering into a workplace or a marriage pretending to be a man, therefore, her threat to patriarchal structures was far smaller, and potentially gave the newspaper reason to not comment on their disdain for this behavior. These gender non-conforming people might not have had to worry about the shame and humiliation that came from being written about extensively in newspapers for wearing male attire, all because their transgressions were seen as trivial in comparison to many others who wore male attire. Another potential reason that the newspapers did not comment directly on the gender transgressions of these people was because they didn't feel they needed to remind their audience of their opinions on gender hierarchy and the un-acceptability of these people wearing men's clothing. The same newspapers that had released scathing reviews of crossdressers passing as men were also releasing these shorter articles that detailed very little about the subjects specifically, and just discussed the gender transgression itself. The lack of detail printed in these short stories became a way to showcase the public's alignment with the newspaper editors and reporters' opinions on the performance of non-normative gender. They didn’t need to go into lots of detail about the gender transgressions themselves, because the public had read lengthier 39 Evening Star, September 2, 1858, 2. 42 articles from these same newspapers, and was aware of how the editors and reporters of those newspapers perceived cross-dressing people. Additionally, the newspaper could also potentially get away with printing less detail in these stories because the public agreed with their commentary about non-normative gender expression. The public did not need to be convinced of the immorality that these people possessed, nor did they need to be educated on the need for separate gender spheres.40 Long stories explaining these ideas were not worth publishing, and would not aid the newspaper editors and reporters in maintaining gender hierarchy, if their readership was allied with them on the importance of normative gender categories and separate spheres. 40 Gender separation and gender categories were very prominent by the mid-nineteenth century. This was not something that began with the rise of cross-dressing or women in male attire, but before the birth of the United States. In Kathleen Brown’s Good Wives, she discusses that as European nations wee expanding their empires overseas “sexual difference became a pressing question.” She continues on to show how the English used the institution of marriage to highlight this sexual difference and clearly define who was “European” in the New World. Brown writes, “Depictions of ‘good’ women [were] described as hardworking, pious, quiet, and submissive wives…”Elizabeth Reis, in Damned Women, describes how gender separation was constructed through the understanding of the soul to be feminine, and the body to the protector of the soul. For women in Puritan New England, however, “a woman’s feminine soul, jeopardized in a woman’s feminine body, was frail, submissive and passive — qualities that most New Englanders thought would allow her to become either a wife to Christ or a drudge to Satan.” Women, in this example, must be submissive in order to save themselves from becoming tempted by Satan and immorality. As Rosemarie Zaggari illustrated in Revolutionary Backlash, “…distinctions between the sexes came to be seen not in terms of custom or tradition but as the result of innate, biological differences. Women’s bodies were not just different from men’s; they were inferior. As a result, the exclusion of women from the polity came to be considered not as unfair, arbitrary, or capricious but as the recognition of scientific ‘fact.’”She continues on in Chapter 4 to say, “Over time, attitudes towards women’s indirect political influence became absorbed into the discourse of separate spheres… According to its proponents, men and women occupied separate but equal roles in society….Women would prevail in the domestic sphere...” These prevailing ideas about gender separation were ingrained in nineteenth century society by the time newspapers began to criticize women for cross dressing. Brown, Good Wives, 14-16; Elizabeth Reis, Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997): 94; Zagarri, Revolutionary Backlash, 7, 134. Separate spheres ideology became even more important to American society after the Industrial Revolution, however. Linda Kerber illustrates this change best in her article “Separate Spheres, Female Worlds, Woman's Place: The Rhetoric of Women's History.” She writes, “The patriarchal variant of separate spheres was not congruent with capitalist social relations; capitalism required that men's and women's economic relations be renegotiated…Capitalism had the potential to enhance the position of women by loosening patriarchal control of property and removing factors that shielded property from the pressures of the marketplace…As the patriarchal corporate economy broke down, the traditional version of the separate sphere was destabilized.” She goes on to say that reading nineteenth century defenses of separate spheres is through thinking about the breakdown of them, and looking at how the fragments of them were rebuilt to maintain male power. Linda K. Kerber, “Separate Spheres, Female Worlds, Woman’s Place: The Rhetoric of Women’s History,” The Journal of American History 75, no. 1 (June 1998): 21-22. 43 This chapter will discuss the lengthy stories printed in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. area newspapers between the mid-1840s through 1880 to analyze why such long stories were printed about women and gender non-conforming people wearing men's clothes. In researching the newspapers published in these cities, visible trends emerged that showed why these newspapers were so adamantly against cross-dressing, and why they took up so much space in the press to humiliate them. T