(no subject)

[arcticturtle.livejournal.com]

Hi! I really guess I ought to participate here. I'm a 32-year old CD with 3 horses and n cats. ("So... shouldn't you be off at some Tri-Ess meeting in an outdated prom gown?") I'm a fanatic Christian, a datageek, and blah blah blah... OK, enough about me.

I'm also a history geek, and as an introductory gift, I offer tasty transgender tidbits from America's Women by Gail Collins.

a woman named Eliza, who carried her daughter to freedom across the frigid Ohio River... she was sheltered at the home of the Rankin family, one of the most active stations on the Underground Railroad that aided fugitive slaves. Cutting her hair to disguise herself and her daughter as boys, she made her way to Canada. But the following year, she reappeared at the Rankins', once again disguised as a man and determined to rescue the rest of her family... At twilight Mr. Rankin, disguised in women's clothing, distracted the slave catchers. (p. 175)

An estimated 400 women disguised themselves as men to fight in the Civil War. (p. 193)

Even the spring proms at many schools were all-girls affairs. At Smith, the sophomores escorted the freshmen to the annual Freshman Frolic. The Cosmopolitan reporte in 1901: "Each soph considers herself a cavalier for the freshman to whom whe is assigned. She sends her flowers, calls for her, fills her order of dance, introduces her partners, fetches ice and frappes between dances and takes her to supper... and if the freshman has taken advantage of the opportunity and made the desired hit, there are dates for future meetings and jollifications, and a good night over the balusters, as lingering and cordial as any freshie has left behind her." In many of these events, the girls playing "cavalier" dressed as men, and the colleges were nervous enough about what this all meant to ban any photo-taking. (p. 293)