Trans*history
Narratives
Joan of Arc donned military garb to fight for France in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). This miniature portrait in oil of the French heroine in battle gear was painted in about 1485.
Trans* individuals have always been a part of human history. Both men and women have taken on characteristics of the opposite gender. Sometimes the change is for practical reasons. For example, in many cultures, women couldn’t fight in wars, but men could, so Joan of Arc (1412–1431) dressed as a man to fight for France. Sometimes it was for theatrical performances. For example, in Shakespeare’s time, men played women’s parts on the English stage. Sometimes it was simply a matter of personal preference.
Gender-flexible individuals lived in early human cultures. Archaeologists in the Czech Republic have discovered the five-thousand-year-old remains of a person who was likely gender flexible. The ancient Greeks also had a tradition of gender flexibility. For example, during ancient Greek feasts and rites to celebrate Dionysus, the god of wine, women wore strap-on phalluses (penises), and men wore women’s clothing. Similarly, the Greek goddess Athena—the goddess of intellect, arts, and warfare—was often depicted as a male warrior.
Another early group of trans* people were eunuchs, who were common in ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, the early Persian Empire, and many different Asian cultures. Eunuchs were castrated males (some cultures removed the penis as well as the testicles) who had many functions in ancient societies, often as servants or slaves and sometimes as guards for women. Eunuch priests known as Galli played a role in religious practices in ancient Rome as early as 204 BCE. They wore women’s clothing, jewelry, long bleached hair, and heavy makeup. Much later, in the fifteenth century CE, the Chinese eunuch admiral warrior Zheng He (1371–1433, birth name Ma He) navigated the Chinese treasure fleet around much of the world.
Royal Gender Bending
The Roman emperor Elagabalus (203–222 CE) may have been one of the first trans* individuals in a public position. Some sources say he married both men and women, wore makeup, dressed as a woman, and offered surgeons a great deal of money to equip him with female genitalia.
Another notable example of a trans* head of state is Queen Christina of Sweden, who ruled during the seventeenth century. Some sources speculate that Christina was an intersex individual. Reports agree that Christina had both feminine and masculine physical traits. In a time when women were supposed to be demure and quiet, Christina was boisterous and engaged in worldly affairs. After Christina gave up the throne (partially because Christina had decided not to marry and produce an heir), Christina sometimes went by the name Count Dohna. Unlike most European women of the age, Christina spent much time in the company of men (including popes and cardinals), enjoying pursuits in the male-dominated realms of arts and sciences. At this time in history, women were not allowed these privileges.
War is often a trigger for a gender shift for women. As a young teen, French heroine Joan of Arc responded to a religious vision directing her to drive out English occupiers of France during the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). Joining the French army, she cut her hair short and wore men’s clothing. Interpretations differ as to whether she wore men’s clothes because she wanted to or because it was prudent for her safety. In an all-male army, she would likely have feared physical assaults such as rape. When she was discovered to be cross-dressing, her superiors demanded that she give up her male clothing, and she agreed to do so. However, the army leaders did not provide her with gear appropriate to females, so she donned her male clothing again. Joan of Arc was ultimately accused of heresy (acting against established religious doctrine) and of cross-dressing and was burned at the stake in 1431.
Centuries later, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Deborah Sampson served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) under the name Robert Shurtleff. Careful physical examinations were not required by the military in early wars, so the army simply accepted her claim to be male. Sampson took ill during the conflict and required medical attention. The doctor tending to her discovered her biological sex but did not reveal her secret.
After the war, Sampson married and had children. She also petitioned the State of Massachusetts to be paid for her service in the military. The General Court of Massachusetts agreed to her request, saying she had served honorably and bravely while maintaining her virtue as a woman. As she got older, she petitioned to receive a military pension to better support her family and her farm. It took almost twenty years and several petitions to the US Congress, but she was finally granted a pension similar to that of other male soldiers.
Jennie Hodgers served as Albert Cashier in the Union army’s 95th Illinois Regiment during the American Civil War. Hodgers kept the male identity after the war ended.
Many women also served as soldiers, spies, or male nurses in the American Civil War (1861–1865). The few whose names are known include Frances Clalin (Jack Williams), Sarah Pritchard (Samuel “Sammy” Blalock), and Sarah Edmonds (Franklin “Flint” Thompson). All three of these women served in the Union army, donning male uniforms and, in some cases, taking on expected male behaviors such as gambling, drinking, smoking, and swearing. They were all considered model soldiers. Each resumed her life as a traditional female homemaker after the war was over.
Jennie Hodgers also enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War. She chose to continue living as her male self, Albert Cashier, after the war. As a man, Cashier was legally allowed to vote and to claim a veteran’s pension. His secret was discovered after the war when he broke his leg, but the physician who treated him kept his secret. As Albert got older, he developed dementia and was moved to a state hospital for the insane. When nursing attendants discovered Albert had a female body, he was forced to wear a dress. Nevertheless, when Albert died in 1915, “Albert D. J. Cashier” was engraved on his tombstone. In the 1970s, a second tombstone with both of Albert’s names was placed next to the first one.
Men have also been known to dress as women during war, though usually to escape service or capture. In the mythical story of the Greek hero Achilles, famous as a warrior in the Trojan War, Achilles’ mother disguises him as a young girl to avoid sending him off to battle. He is eventually discovered, reclaims a male identity, and leads the Greeks to victory. This episode of the Achilles myth was later popularized in paintings, plays, ballet, and especially opera. Another famous case is that of Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles led a rebellion against the British government in the mid-1700s in an unsuccessful attempt to restore his family to the throne. Facing capture in Scotland, he dressed as a female servant to flee pursuing government forces.
Gender in Indigenous Cultures
Zuni artisan We’wha visited Washington, DC, in 1886. The two-spirit representative became a celebrity and was the subject of portraits such as this one by American government photographer John K. Hillers during that visit.
Some indigenous cultures preserve the trans*-friendly gender roles their cultures have held for thousands of years. In fact, the languages of many indigenous cultures have words for individuals known as two-spirits, or people who express a gender identity that combines both male and female gender roles. (Previously, two-spirits were referred to as berdaches, but that term is now considered insulting.) As examples, the Lakota word for a two-spirit person is winkte, the Navajo word is nádleehí, the Crow word is boté, the Potawatomi word is m’netokwe, and the Zuni word is lhamana.
In many tribes’ histories, two-spirit individuals had mixed gender roles and often wore the clothes of the gender opposite their sex. Sometimes two-spirits expressed both gender roles simultaneously. A two-spirit individual who was biologically male but female-gendered might have fought in war and had access to male sweat lodges but still performed domestic tasks such as cooking. In some tribes, these individuals could have romantic and family partnerships with either sex. They were often viewed as possessing extraordinary gifts. For example, some tribes viewed two-spirits as gifted healers. In other tribes, two-spirit individuals were honored with the responsibility of making sacred items such as pottery or dance regalia. Individuals who are two-spirit in the modern world may have mixed or single gender roles, depending on the tribe.
Barcheeampe (Biawacheeitche, Woman Chief, or Pine Leaf) was born into the Gros Ventre tribe around 1800 and was captured by the Apsáalooke (Crow) when she was ten. As a two-spirit individual, she participated with superior skill in masculine pursuits such as hunting and fighting. Even though she dressed as a woman, she led many successful war parties. Before she was killed by the Gros Ventre in 1854, she was considered a high-ranking leader among the Crow.
We’wha, born into a male body, was a two-spirit member of the Zuni people. She was an accomplished weaver and potter. As an official representative of her tribe, she made a trip to Washington, DC, in 1886 as part of a larger cultural mission, organized by American anthropologists, to introduce indigenous peoples to the nation’s capital. While there, she socialized with politicians and high-ranking government officials, the social elite, and President Grover Cleveland. She also demonstrated her weaving skills and worked with anthropologists at the Smithsonian Institution.
Gender Fluidity around the World
In Thailand, kathoey are a group of trans* individuals who include gay men, men who dress as women, trans* women, a third gender combining male and female, and intersex individuals. Some kathoey undergo feminizing procedures, such as breast implants, and some wear makeup while others do not. Generally, kathoey are accepted in Thai culture and work as models, hairstylists, or cabaret performers. The most internationally recognized kathoey is Parinya Charoenphol (Kiatbusaba), or Nong Tum (Thoom), a Thai kickboxer. Her life was the basis for the 2003 Thai film Beautiful Boxer.
Transgender individuals known as hijra are recognized across the Asian subcontinent as a distinct gender group.
In India and other nations of South Asia, hijra are a group of trans* individuals with a long historical tradition in the region. Similar to kathoey, they are biological males who adopt feminine gender roles and dress. Sometimes hijra are castrated and become eunuchs, and a few are intersex. Hijra renounce their sexuality and do not participate in sexual activity for themselves, though some do sex work to generate income. In Bangladesh they are now considered their own gender, distinct from men and women.
Some hijra live in all-hijra communities, which tend to protect the safety of these individuals, who often encounter job, housing, and health-care discrimination. However, hijra have a special place in the Hindu and Muslim faiths. Often viewed as possessing magical powers, they are sometimes called upon to bless weddings and the births of baby boys to bring good luck and fertility.
In Albania and other Balkan countries, women called burneshas (sworn virgins) take permanent vows of celibacy in order to carry out male roles in their culture. By making the choice to switch gender roles, the sworn virgins are allowed to inherit property, care for widows, and act as the head of a household. As a sworn virgin, the woman is also allowed to smoke, carry a gun, use a male name, and wear male clothes. She also avoids being sold into marriage. The Albanian sworn virgin is believed to be the only formalized, socially defined cross-dressing role in European cultures.
