The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern EuropeIn 17th and 18th century Europe, especially Holland, England and Germany, so many women chose to dress and live as men, that an underground tradition of female transvestism within the popular culture can be detected. This study, based upon 119 well-documented Dutch cases of female transvestism, is the first of its kind and tells us how these women adapted to male life and why, once discovered, reactions to them were both fierce and varied. It also explores the reasons why they chose to change gender. Special attention is devoted to transvestism by one partner as the only way in which lesbian love was conceiveable in this period. |
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Page 33
... Holland was relatively prosperous : there were no famines and the standard of living was higher than elsewhere in Europe . The Dutch North Sea coast was an economically flourishing area , to which large streams of immigrants and ...
... Holland was relatively prosperous : there were no famines and the standard of living was higher than elsewhere in Europe . The Dutch North Sea coast was an economically flourishing area , to which large streams of immigrants and ...
Page 34
... Holland , where a surplus of women existed in the lower classes . But it was commonly believed that even an unmarried woman could have a prosperous and easy life there . And there was another advantage : no one demanded an ...
... Holland , where a surplus of women existed in the lower classes . But it was commonly believed that even an unmarried woman could have a prosperous and easy life there . And there was another advantage : no one demanded an ...
Page 81
... Holland at the first opportunity - for what else could he do with a single white woman among all those men , so far from the fatherland ? The only alternative was that she should marry as soon as possible , so he would no longer be ...
... Holland at the first opportunity - for what else could he do with a single white woman among all those men , so far from the fatherland ? The only alternative was that she should marry as soon as possible , so he would no longer be ...
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The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe Rudolf M. Dekker,Lotte van de Pol No preview available - 1989 |
Common terms and phrases
adventures Amsterdam RA Anna ARA VOC army arrested autobiography Barbara Adriaens biography Breda C. R. Boxer Catalina de Erauso Chapter concerning Cornelia court criminal Dekker Den Haag discovered disguised women dressed in men's Dutch Republic Dutch translation eighteenth century Elisabeth English entry Europe example female cross-dressing female sailors female soldier female transvestism femmes gender Geschiedenis Gijsse girl Gouda Haag Haarlem Hannah Snell Hendrickje hermaphroditism Heroine Hilletje Holland homosexuality husband Indies Jacobs Johanna judicial archives Kersteman Leiden lesbian living London lover male homosexuals Maria van Antwerpen Maritgen Jans marriage married Mary Ann Talbot Meer motives Netherlands Nieuwe nineteenth century Paris Pieter popular prison prostitutes punishment reactions reality relationship Renée Bordereau role Rotterdam sentence seventeenth and eighteenth seventeenth century ship sodomy songs story sworn virgins theme tradition of female transsexuality transvestism trial tribady Trijn Jurriaens Trijntje Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam virginity VOC reis VOC-sailor VOC-soldier Willem woman