8 women who gave themselves away as men to become famous and got their way

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

History knows many examples when women, for one reason or another, were forced to pretend to be men. And there were many reasons for this. Often in many countries, the fairer sex was prejudiced, and they did not have the opportunity to choose any profession. After all, as it was believed, the lot of girls is to get married, have children and do housework and household chores. Not to mention the fact that only men could become soldiers and conduct military service. So some women were forced to impersonate those who were not. There were also those who, thanks to this, even managed to become famous.

1. Jeanne d'Arc

The "Maid of Orleans" was destined to become the national heroine of France and raise the morale of her compatriots. Although, it would seem, she had no chance of leading people: a young girl, the daughter of an ordinary peasant. However, d'Ark herself believed that God had sent her to Earth for a special mission: to save her country from enemies. She was not going to retreat from her own, and, having changed into men's clothes, went to the Dauphin and was able to convince him of her mission. And the future king believed him (her), allocating military forces for the liberation of Orleans. However, Jeanne was later captured and charged with many crimes, including witchcraft and posing as a man. Everyone knows the ending of this sad story: Jeanne d'Arc was burned at the stake.

2 / Rena Kanokogi

Even in the progressive 20th century, at the beginning there were exclusively male sports, and judo was one of them. And in order to compete in a tournament in New York, Kanokogi showed miracles of disguise: she cut her hair short, tightened her chest with bandages and decided to fight an opponent. Surprisingly, Rena won not only a victory, but also became a triumphant of the competition. Doubts about gender among the organizers of the tournament arose only at the awards ceremony, when the athlete came for the gold medal. They asked if she was a girl, and, having received an affirmative answer, deprived of the well-deserved award. However, 50 years later, the medal was returned to the winner.

3. The Brontë sisters

"Poems by Carrer, Ellis and Acton Bells" was the title of the collection published in 1846. Few people can be surprised that writers and poets take pseudonyms for themselves, but almost no one knew that the sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte were hiding under male names.

Later, the girls decided to go on an independent voyage, and each of them published books that have become classics of literature. Emily, who was known as Ellis Bell, wrote her only novel, Wuthering Heights. A few years later, Charlotte (aka Carrer) released Jane Eyre. Agnes Gray is the result of Anne's work, who was hiding under the name Acton. Later, the sisters admitted that women writers were treated with prejudice in their time, so they decided that it would be easier to make their way if they write on behalf of men.

4. J. K. Rowling

But even today, it turns out, stereotypes about women who write books are still alive. At least before releasing the Harry Potter story, J. K. Rowling was asked not to write her full name on the cover, but to indicate only her initials. The publishers felt that teenage boys would not want to buy books written by a woman. This is how the signature “J. K. Rowling”(“K”in honor of the writer’s grandmother Kathleen).

Later, having become famous, Joan decided to use a male pseudonym: the novel "Call of the Cuckoo" was published under the authorship of Robert Galbraith. Rowling explained that she wanted to see how her work was appreciated, not knowing that she was the author. True, it was not possible to keep the secret: after a couple of months, everyone found out who was hiding under a man's name.

5. Catalina Eraso

A nun-lieutenant - under this nickname the semi-legendary woman-conquistador remained in history. Moreover, for a long time, many of her colleagues had no idea that she was not a man at all.

This story took place in the 15th century, when many Spanish adventurers went to the New World in search of the mysterious country of El Dorado. Among them was Eraso. True, then the cabin boy was known under the name Alonso Diaz Ramirez de Guzman. The brave Catalina was a virtuoso master of weapons and took part in battles on an equal basis with men. The fact that she was a woman, it turned out quite by chance after she was threatened with prison for the crime - then she confessed to the bishop. True, returning to Europe, Eraso achieved a meeting with King Philip IV, who allowed her to bear a male name, and the Pope gave the go-ahead to part with the female wardrobe.

6. Anna Maria Lane

In general, for many centuries (and now also) military service was considered exclusively a man's business. But there were always women who were ready to prove that they are no worse than the representatives of the stronger sex capable of wielding weapons. True, Anna Maria Lane, posing as a soldier, did not want to become famous as a strong employee, but pursued a different goal: she wanted to be next to her husband, who went to fight. However, in those days there was no need to go through a medical examination, so the brave Lane took a long time pretending to be a guy, not afraid to be revealed. The colleagues found out that she was a woman only after she was wounded. True, having recovered, Anna Maria returned to the service.

7. Nadezhda Durova

Domestic history also knows an example of how an ordinary girl became a brave soldier. And you probably heard about Nadezhda Durova, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. Although it all started quite prosaically: at the age of 18, Nadia got married, gave birth to a child. However, later she realized that she did not want a quiet family life and, having changed into a man's dress and becoming Alexander Sokolov, she began service first in the Cossack regiment, then continued in the Uhlan regiment. The truth about her was learned only after she inadvertently wrote a letter to her father, signing her name. However, Emperor Alexander I personally gave permission to continue military service to Durova. But even after retiring, Nadezhda did not stop wearing men's clothes and asked to contact her as to Sokolov.

7. Margaret Ann Bulkley

Surgeon is another profession that has long been considered exclusively male. And Margaret Ann dreamed of devoting herself to medicine and therefore, calling herself James Barry, entered the university, and then went to South Africa. Bulkeley was the first to perform a caesarean section on a hot continent, and both a woman and a child survived after the operation, but no one knew that Dr. Barry was a woman. Moreover, this became known only a hundred years after her death from archival documents.