Watser?
02-12-2007, 06:06 PM
This sounds like an interesting book
Imagine you're a poor servant girl living in The Netherlands in the eighteenth century. Your prospects aren't good. What do you do? Well, you could always become a man. That's what many women of the time did. It was illegal but they felt it was worth the risk. Most became soldiers and sailors and many even became famous.
Two Dutch social historians have now written a book on women who dressed as men in the 17th and 18th centuries. Lotte van de Pol and Rudolf Dekker trawled the Dutch historical archives, mostly records of court proceedings, and found that the phenomenon was far more common than expected.
Most of the time it was purely for economic reasons, where the choice was either prostitution or military service, but for some there was a sexual motive. A few even married other women.
Increasing Income
"Women cross dressing could gain in various ways," explains Rudolf Dekker. "They could earn immense income, they had possibilities for some kind of a career in the army, or navy and if they were successful they had at least shown some male qualities, like bravery, and these were valued in a positive way.
"Of course they have to find an excuse for not having a beard but in general a woman dressed as a man looks younger and most of them, as far as we can judge, looked like attractive young men. They looked like boys but that was no problem because the general idea was that when a child was six years old, he or she should begin to work for a living. So, if a woman of 20 looked like a boy of 14 or 15 it was not a problem to enter military service or to have a job aboard a ship."
Hygiene Problems
The lower standards of hygiene in those days also helped to avoid detection, people didn't undress or wash as much as they do today. But dressing and acting as a man all day every day, proved too difficult for most women.
"They were usually detected after rather a short time," says Lotte van de Pol.
"Sometimes after only a few weeks or a few months. Only a very few managed to live for many years as a man. Sometimes the performance was just not good enough. Or, in a ship in crowded quarters where common sailors lived together it was of course extremely difficult if you had to change your clothes or even go out for a pee, or even worse if you are menstruating."
More here (http://www.radionetherlands.nl/radioprogrammes/dutchhorizons/070207dh) (btw the link doesn't always work well in Firefox)
Imagine you're a poor servant girl living in The Netherlands in the eighteenth century. Your prospects aren't good. What do you do? Well, you could always become a man. That's what many women of the time did. It was illegal but they felt it was worth the risk. Most became soldiers and sailors and many even became famous.
Two Dutch social historians have now written a book on women who dressed as men in the 17th and 18th centuries. Lotte van de Pol and Rudolf Dekker trawled the Dutch historical archives, mostly records of court proceedings, and found that the phenomenon was far more common than expected.
Most of the time it was purely for economic reasons, where the choice was either prostitution or military service, but for some there was a sexual motive. A few even married other women.
Increasing Income
"Women cross dressing could gain in various ways," explains Rudolf Dekker. "They could earn immense income, they had possibilities for some kind of a career in the army, or navy and if they were successful they had at least shown some male qualities, like bravery, and these were valued in a positive way.
"Of course they have to find an excuse for not having a beard but in general a woman dressed as a man looks younger and most of them, as far as we can judge, looked like attractive young men. They looked like boys but that was no problem because the general idea was that when a child was six years old, he or she should begin to work for a living. So, if a woman of 20 looked like a boy of 14 or 15 it was not a problem to enter military service or to have a job aboard a ship."
Hygiene Problems
The lower standards of hygiene in those days also helped to avoid detection, people didn't undress or wash as much as they do today. But dressing and acting as a man all day every day, proved too difficult for most women.
"They were usually detected after rather a short time," says Lotte van de Pol.
"Sometimes after only a few weeks or a few months. Only a very few managed to live for many years as a man. Sometimes the performance was just not good enough. Or, in a ship in crowded quarters where common sailors lived together it was of course extremely difficult if you had to change your clothes or even go out for a pee, or even worse if you are menstruating."
More here (http://www.radionetherlands.nl/radioprogrammes/dutchhorizons/070207dh) (btw the link doesn't always work well in Firefox)