(Un)Masking Desire: Cross-dressing and the crisis of gender in New Woman fiction

‘Grisley “L” business’: Re-valuing Female Masculinity and Butch Subjectivity in Tipping the Velvet and The Night Watch

“…Importantly, one of the reformist behaviours of the New Woman was to mix "masculine" dress and "feminine" pursuits. 31 Here Waters draws on this history to "anticipate" the figure of the butch lesbian and, in doing so, re-conceives of her origins in the nineteenth century. In the novel, in exchange for bed and free board in Florence's home, Nancy becomes a housekeeper to Florence and her brother, Ralph.…”

“…But during this daytime "job", Nancy combines butch aesthetics with a domestic role, a move that attacks Victorian patriarchy by highlighting both the constructed (and constricting) nature of "feminine" and "masculine" dress and, by implication, of "feminine" and "masculine" spheres. 32 It is through her portrayal of Kay, however, that Waters focuses on butch subjectivity. 35 Notably, echoing her concern regarding the portrayal of Nancy in the adaptation of Tipping the Velvet, Waters has expressed similar views regarding the portrayal of Kay in the recent BBC production of The Night Watch (2012).…”

The “Hybrid Hero” in Western Dime Novels

“…In the Deadwood Dick series, such reviews provide further insight into the hybridity that characterizes Calamity's appearance, and in particular, into the changing norms and gendered dress behaviors of mid-to late-19th-century American society, particularly on the Western frontier. However, it also may reflect changes in gender norms and gendered dress behaviors brought on by the New Woman movement occurring in the final years of the 19th century (Heilmann, 2000). Although many of these value words further substantiate the androgyny of Calamity's character by incorporating masculine and feminine characteristics, some of them demonstrate the negative responses of some characters to Calamity's nontraditional gender performance.…”

“…For instance, throughout the series, there were over 40 instances in which characters in the novel invoked value words-or evaluations and appraisals that impart social value or worth (or lack thereof; Stone, 1995)-to describe Calamity's subversively gendered appearance, including: girl-inbreeches, girl dare-devil, boss gal, mountain knight, eccentric girl/creature, and reckless bucchario of the hills. Much of the discourse on the New Woman movement was created in popular literature such as dime novels, featuring heroines like Calamity Jane who appeared and behaved in resistance to socially constructed ideals of masculinity and femininity (Heilmann, 2000). The first two books of the series, in particular, included several negative reviews of Calamity's appearance by both female and male characters.…”

“…The ideals of the New Woman also were demonstrated by female characters featured in popular fiction; Heilmann (2000) notes that ''female crossdressing developed as a theme in fin-de-sie`cle feminist fiction,'' which conceptualized ''concerns of the first women's movement in the metaphor of masquerade'' (p. 85). As the New Woman movement was taking hold in the late 19th century, women were asserting their independence by entering the workforce and going to school, as well as by challenging traditional dress norms.…”