Dugaw, Dianne. 1989. Warrior Women and Popular Balladry 1650-1850

By popular demand, we return to the topic of cross-dressing and passing women with a study of ballads featuring a woman joining the military in disguise (typically with a romance-related motivation). All of the ballads involve, at heart, a heterosexual romance, however several play at the implications of attraction and desire in cross-gender contexts. And the building-block motifs of gender disguise, claiming cross-gender roles in society, and the ability to take action outside restrictive female spaces are all clearly relevant to creating historic lesbian characters.

Due to length, the entries for this book will be split up into two or three postings (it depends on how many advance postings I have in queue by Wednesday since I won't have time to work on the project this coming weekend).