For this second edition of Tropetacular, I would like to talk about a lifelong favorite trope of mine, which can unfortunately have some very problematic permutations. Today, we’re going to talk about cross-dressing heroines.
First, a Gender Disclaimer
Since this is such a heavily gendered trope, I want to get a couple of things out of the way. First, gender is a spectrum. There’s a lot more options than “girl” and “boy” (or “woman” and “man”). Some versions of this trope do acknowledge things like genderfluidity, whereas a lot are still pretty binaryist.
Second, clothing does not have an inherent gender. That said, many societies have had some pretty firm ideas about what sort of garments, hairstyles, adornments, and colors were appropriate for men and women, and that’s what these stories are about. Of course, this trope usually relies on more than just cross-dressing, as girls take on male names and mannerisms to further their disguise. But just so we’re clear, I think everyone should be able to wear what they want, and express their gender (or lack thereof) however they want.
Ok, let’s get to the trope!
Historic Precedent
History is full of stories of people who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) donning the clothing and identities of men in their culture. There were many reasons to do this: safety, access to different opportunities, and gender identity, among others.
Thanks to the incomplete and biased nature of historical records, we’ll never know the real reasons most of these AFAB people chose to live their lives temporarily or permanently as men. We can only look at the evidence and guess whether they preferred their male identity, whether they wished they could pursue their goals while embracing their femininity, or whether they enjoyed having a more fluid gender identity.
Why is This Trope So Popular?
These stories, whether historical, apocryphal, or fully fictional, capture our imagination. I can’t speak for everyone, but for my younger self, girls dressed like boys delighted me because they thumbed their nose at authority. The Powers That Be said “This is only for boys!” and some clever girl said “Ok, I’m a boy now!” and then usually proceeded to be better at the thing than all the boys who were assigned male at birth.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, there were a lot of “girl power” narratives, and media was full of tomboy figures who were “just like the guys.” These young women disguised as men fit perfectly into both of those tropes. They weren’t like other girls. They didn’t need girly things. They were strong and confident and cutely androgynous.
For a girl like me, who enjoyed being a girl but also wanted to be allowed to do anything a boy could do, these characters were like catnip. They proved girls were just as competent as boys. And maybe for people who were assigned female at birth but didn’t want to be girls, they gave a small (socially acceptable by 80s and 90s standards) glimpse that something else could be possible.
Do I Like Cross-Dressing Heroines?
For a long time this was a favorite trope of mine and I’d read pretty much any book I found that had a female character disguising herself with a male identity. But then I came across a few troubling incarnations of it, and now I am pretty careful about it.
One book, whose title I have long since forgotten, made me so mad with how it handled this trope that it inspired me to work on a book of my own. That was actually my first NaNoWriMo project, and it was about a person who was assigned female at birth, disguised themself as a man, but didn’t really identify with either gender. I’m probably not the right person to ever actually tell that story, so I don’t think it will ever see the light of day (also I couldn’t figure out where the plot was going). But at least I got my feelings out about bad cross-dressing narratives.
Heck Yes, Not For Me, No Thank You
When this trope is good, it’s good. But when it’s bad, it can actually be downright harmful. Let’s look at some of the permutations of cross-dressing heroines.
Heck Yes
At its best, this trope either gives us a fun rollicking adventure where a female character goes against the patriarchy and emerges victorious, or it gives us an interesting exploration of gender that might result in an AFAB character embracing a non-binary, genderfluid, or masculine identity.
Not For Me
I don’t really enjoy lazy interpretations of this trope that aren’t interested in examining gender roles and the patriarchy, and are just in it for the adventure and/or romance.
No Thank You
Unfortunately, the worst examples of this trope can deal in homophobia and transphobia. The unnamed book that made me mad spent way too much time with a male character thinking “Gosh I sure do like my new guy friend but not like THAT because I’m not GAY, nope nope #nohomo” and the disguised female character thinking “Oh that handsome man sure likes me but it’s because he thinks I’m a fellow man, he must be gay and he will be so disappointed when he learns I’m actually a woman!” These two seemed more concerned with possible gayness than with the actual plot. Oh and don’t even get me started on the bi erasure.
This also seems to trivialize the very real danger faced by actual trans people, who can face violence and even death from bigots.
Examples of Girls Dressing Like Boys
I’m going to mostly stick with a few more recent examples of this trope, because I don’t feel confident in my ability to talk about things that I read years ago.
The Shadow Series by Lila Bowen (first book, Wake of Vultures)
This series starts with Nettie Lonesome disguising herself as a man for safety after she flees her abusive “adoptive family” (who act more like enslavers), and SPOILER ALERT ends with Rhett Walker pretty comfortably settled into his identity as a trans man. There’s a lot of complicated gender feelings along the way. As a cis woman myself I certainly can’t speak to how well this book handles the trans masculine experience. Nor can I speak to how it handles matters of race. But it is a pretty epic Weird Western adventure with a diverse cast of characters.
She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
In this book, a nameless young woman steps fully into her brother’s identity in order to try to also claim his great destiny. Zhu Chongba is a driven character, not necessarily likeable, but definitely compelling. This is not a rollicking adventure story: this is the story of someone doing whatever it takes to achieve greatness.
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur
In a time and place where it’s not unusual for parents of young girls to disguise them as boys for safety, 18-year-old Hwani makes the decision to disguise herself as a young scholar in order to investigate her father’s disappearance. What I love about this story is it ends up flipping the trope on its head. Hwani quickly discovers that her male disguise is hampering her investigation, because she really needs to be able talk to the young women of the village, who are not comfortable talking to an unrelated man. So she has to abandon her ruse, and much of the book is about women working together to solve the case that Hwani’s father was working when he disappeared. So often, books about cross-dressing heroines focus on what a woman can’t do, so it was refreshing that the success of Hwani’s investigation relied on her own femininity and her willingness to believe and work with other women rather than relying on men.
Honorable Mention: Tamora Pierce
I was a broke teenager who had to rely on the used bookstore and the library. I only ever got my hands on one or two Tamora Pierce books, but I know she’s considered one of the best authors for this particular trope and is dearly loved by many people in my age bracket. My understanding is that her work stands up pretty well to today’s standards, so it may be worth checking out her backlist if you love crossdressing heroines.
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