The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe

In 17th- and 18th-century Europe, especially in Holland, England, and Germany, many women chose to dress and live as men. Based upon 119 well-documented Dutch cases of female transvestism, this study reveals how these women adapted to male life and why. Special attention is devoted to transvestism by one partner as the only way in which lesbian love was conceivable during the time.