When a man turned out to be a woman and vice versa, or the loudest gender deceptions in history

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Various reasons push men and women to represent themselves in the image of a person of the opposite sex. Someone simply seeks to identify themselves in this way, because this is how they feel, others overcome the stereotypes that society imposes on people of a certain gender. In any case, such deceptions are revealed sooner or later, and depending on the circumstances, the public's reaction can range from censure to criminal punishment.

Fanny and Stella are frivolous people who turned out to be men

Perhaps this is the only case in history when the audience who came to the performance was more interested in what was happening in the hall than on the stage. Two young ladies, dressed quite frankly (as far as it was possible in 1870), flirted so persistently and noisily with men, flirted themselves coquettishly with fans and laughed obscenely loudly, which attracted everyone's attention. The girls presented themselves as flirtatious names Fanny and Stella and by the middle of the evening had a lot of the most tempting offers to continue the "banquet" after the performance.

But the situation turned out to be even more amusing. Immediately after the beauties went out into the street, surrounded by newly minted fans, they were taken by the London police. The officer who arrested the "young ladies", apparently, was no less a troll than the suspects themselves, he publicly declared that they had every reason to suspect that the ladies were men in disguise and demanded that they ride with the police.

In fact, these were theatergoers Frederick Park and Ernest Bolton, they already had a scandalous reputation, in addition to playing in the theater, they often staged similar antics, walking the streets in the form of women and meeting men. As a result, they were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime. But the jury condemned them under a softer article, considering dressing in a woman's dress as petty hooliganism. The creative tandem broke up, although they both left for the USA.

As a joke

If Fanny and Stella, they are also Park and Bolton, were probably quite having fun when a crowd of gentlemen hovered behind them, who did not even suspect that these ladies were only dresses for women, then such behavior for the sake of fun was not something out of the ordinary out in the Victorian era.

However, double standards are not uncommon. There is no other way to name intolerance towards men who, for various reasons, decided to try on a woman's dress and towards transvestites. The latter term, despite the fact that it now has a different designation, was introduced into use to refer to men who disguised themselves in women's attire to perform in a theater or circus. Previously, only men were recruited for the performance, therefore it is not uncommon for a bearded man pulled into a corset to appear on the stage in the form of a young lady.

Morris Young had a high voice and a rather graceful physique, he always got exactly female roles, therefore he can be called one of the first known transvestites. Morris performed under the pseudonym Madame Pattirini. By the way, many viewers were sure that he was a woman.

Then there were no laws that would prohibit men from dressing up as women, but still they could be arrested for hooliganism or sodomy. Although sometimes even married couples changed into each other's outfits for fun. Very reminiscent of modern prank.

Jeanne d'Arc: it was worth it

The girl lived only 19 years, but apparently she had testosterone and courage for dozens of men, given that she had time to the age to which her peers barely get married, considering this an achievement. True, in order for Jeanne to succeed, she had to pretend to be a man.

She was sure that she had the strength to end the century-old war and help to overthrow Charles VII from the throne, for this she needed an army that no one would have entrusted to the young girl. That is why she changed into a man and went to convince the pretender to the throne that she had enough courage and courage to fight for the new king.

True, in the war itself, she will be called the Maid of Orleans, and then she will be completely burned at the stake, accused of crimes, among which was dressing up as a man. In any case, her name has become a household name.

Catalina Erazo could officially wear men's clothing

Catalina's desire to become a man was satisfied as much as possible, given that she was born in 1592. She signed up as a cabin boy, disguised as a man for this, then, as a conquistador, participated in the conquest of America by the Spaniards. For this, she also changed her name to a masculine one.

She managed to pass herself off as a young man for quite a long time, besides, in battle she was not inferior to men, and she owned weapons even better than some of them. However, she did not manage to hide her gender identity until the end of the war - she was wounded in battle, and then a spicy detail was revealed that the fighter was a girl. After she returned to Europe, the Pope, taking into account her merits, allowed her to wear men's clothing officially.

Margaret Ann Bulkley - a different role for the sake of her favorite profession

In order to do what she loved, Margaret was forced to give up her gender, parenting and other roles. Apparently it was worth it, because in the path she chose, Margaret, aka James Barry, managed to leave a noticeable mark.

In those years, there was no question of a woman receiving such an outstanding education and working as a doctor. However, the girl was determined and once, putting on a man's suit for admission to a medical university, she never took it off again. She receives a medical degree, leaves to work in a military environment in South Africa. It is there that she manages to carry out a caesarean section, as a result of which both the mother and the child remain alive.

She manages to keep her secret until her death, until documents emerge in the archives confirming that the outstanding surgeon was a woman. This is also confirmed by her maid, who washed the body before burial.

Chevalier d'Eon - whether he or she

If in all other cases it was still possible to assert with a certain degree of certainty that this person was a man or a woman by birth, then in the case of a French agent, only the date of birth and the date of death are known. Throughout his life, depending on the situation, he presented himself as a woman or a man.

Chevalier was an excellent swordsman, eloquent and able to win over a person. According to legend, at the masquerade, Louis XV mistook him for a girl and began to show signs of attention. This circumstance prompted him to play with his gender for profit.

He was also in Russia as Leah de Beaumont, where he was sent to improve diplomatic relations between Russia and France. By the way, the false Lie managed to get Elizabeth's favor.

Despite his fragile physique and falsetto, Chevalier was a fairly confident officer and possessed a cunning mind, which more than once helped him to obtain information and influence interstate relations, especially since for the latter he did not even hesitate to play a different gender role. Not every officer could.

Nadezhda Durova managed to become a mother and a hussar

The image of Nadi as an officer of the Russian Imperial Army was also conveyed in the film "The Hussar Ballad", because the case was, indeed, out of the ordinary. As befits all girls, at the age of 18 she got married, gave birth to a child, but this did not help to feel like a woman to the fullest. She changed her name and joins the regiment. Since then, her military career begins.

Her deception is quickly revealed, and out of stupidity - she wrote a letter to her father on behalf of Nadia, which gave herself away. However, this story did not turn out to be any special punishments for her, because by this time she had already managed to gain respect among her military colleagues. The emperor personally authorized her to continue her service. Until the end of her life, she signed with a man's name and wore men's clothes.

Rena Kanokogi - mother of judo

Previously, there was no women's judo competition, but Rena did. And in 1959, in America, she entered the men's competition in her favorite sport under a man's name. To do this, she prudently cut her hair short, pulled her chest. The woman chose a name for herself, which would later become her pseudonym - Rusty.

Rena-Rusty won the men's championship and right at the time of the presentation of the award, she decided to admit that she was a woman. She was deprived of her title before she could be handed over, but by this act she achieved more - she attracted public attention (not counting the fact that she snapped on the noses of all male participants, of course) to the problem of women's sports. As a result, women's judo was included even in the list of the Olympic Games.

Boris Gorbonos she is Alla Borisovna

Now this story seems anecdotal, but it took place, because in the Union there were enough restrictions and prohibitions that creative people bypassed a lot. Alla Pugacheva is a composer of several works, including for the film "The Woman Who Sings", despite the fact that it was dedicated to her life and work, her name as a composer could not appear in the credits. The reason for this was bureaucratic obstacles that prohibit composers who are not members of the Union of Composers of the USSR from working at the film studio. Then Alla Borisovna was "renamed" to Boris Gorbons.

The talented "boy" was noticed at Mosfilm, then a legend was created that this young man lives in Lyubertsy, has a disability. Well, to be "honest" to the end, Alla Borisovna was even photographed. For this, she put on a wig and a mustache.

J. K. Rowling and target audience

If Joan had known what a sensation her book was, perhaps she was bolder and would not have made concessions to the publisher, who offered to hide her name behind her initials so that the author could pass for a man. This is how J. K. Rowling was born. This was motivated by the fact that the target audience of the book, teenagers, would not want to read a book written by a woman, and even the age of their mother.

True, it was not possible to hide the true author for a long time, after she had a resounding success, there were more than enough people who wanted not only to know the name of the writer, but also to get to know him personally. And teenagers, by the way, were not at all embarrassed by the fact that the author is a woman. By the way, she also signed her other novel with a male name, and a different one.

Caster Semenya, whose gender was found out for almost six months

The 2009 World Championships in Athletics became historic because of the global scandal that erupted in Berlin. The spectators, and the judges, drew attention to the athlete representing South Africa Caster Semenya, despite the fact that female athletes, in principle, do not have magnificent and feminine forms, Semenya, even among them, looked masculine, which attracted attention.

The athlete passed the gender test in her homeland, but it was immediately questioned, demonstrations began in South Africa in support of the athlete, whom the whole world is trying to bait just for her appearance. For six months, doctors and specialists of the games found out the sex of the athlete, and they did it so carefully, realizing all the responsibility. In the end, a verdict was passed that allowed the runner to continue changing clothes in the women's locker room.

Semenya continued speaking, and everyone around was already resigned to this whole story, but suddenly Semenya made an offer to her colleague - a girl, by the way, whose gender there was no doubt. Social networks demonstrated the entire arsenal of courtship - bouquets, ransom, and in all this mess, Semenya acts as a groom.

Tamara and Irina Press

The history of the sisters-athletes has no official confirmation and is based only on conjectures and speculation. At the 1960 Olympics, the Press sisters literally blew up the public. No, there were no complaints about their appearance. Irina took gold in the running, Tamara in the shot put. Four years later, they repeated the success, again taking on gold. The rivals were anxiously awaiting the next Olympics, because they were clear favorites.

But as soon as it was announced that a gender test would be introduced, the sisters immediately withdrew their candidacies, which only confirmed the fears of the foreign press, which has long called them not sisters, but brothers. The official version was health problems, in particular with the back. By the way, even during checks at previous Olympics, doctors questioned their gender, calling them hermaphrodites. But they easily sacrificed their sports careers, wanting to keep their secret a secret.

Many stories with a "change" of sex are associated with the desire to bypass the obstacles that society has put, and from century to century. But it seems that the current one will be a turning point, because not only the minority movement is gaining more and more popularity, but also the gender-free parenting that flourishes in the West.