In this Book
- Just One of the Boys: Female-to-Male Cross-Dressing on the American Variety Stage
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: University of Illinois Press
- Series: Music in American Life
Gillian M. Rodger uses the development of male impersonation from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century to illuminate the history of the variety show. Exploding notions of high- and lowbrow entertainment, Rodger looks at how both performers and forms consistently expanded upward toward respectable—and richer—audiences. At the same time, she illuminates a lost theatrical world where women made fun of middle-class restrictions even as they bumped up against rules imposed in part by audiences. Onstage, the actresses' changing performance styles reflected gender construction in the working class and shifts in class affiliation by parts of the audiences. Rodger observes how restrictive standards of femininity increasingly bound male impersonators as new gender constructions allowed women greater access to public space while tolerating less independent behavior from them.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- pp. 1-16
- 9. Male Impersonation in the New Century
- pp. 169-188
- Bibliography
- pp. 219-234
Additional Information
Copyright
2018