Significance of the Attire of Men and Women in the 18th Century Essay

Significance of the Attire of Men and Women in the 18th vitamin C The tog up of men and women in the eighteenth century cemented the roles they were supposed to play. The look of made dress belied his reputation as somewhat more issue from restrictions whereas the woman, bound by corsets and strict dress-codes found herself held back in raiment as in society. A sphere of influence, behavior and conduct was appoint to both sexes each was valued for different qualities. These sexual urge distinctions do not allow any overlap between the two sexes. (Marsden, 21) In argus-eyed of this, society viewed cross-dressing (the practice of one gender dressing themselves in the attire of the other) as a threat to its own structure. For a woman to lay waste to the clothes and character of women for that of men sounded monstrous. Such a practice would acquire sexual ambiguity - a woman would assume the clothes of a man and thus the manner and actions of a man, yet her physical natu re denied her that right. Cross-dressing creates monstrations - a woman ceases to be a woman after she has pretended male garb and can never hope to be a man. An aversion to cross-dressing has its roots in the Bible The women shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a womans dress up for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy theology (qtd. in Garber, 28). On August 13, 1597 Queen Elizabeth announced a restrictive (dealing with attire) proclamation which defined the separate categories for mens and womens apparel each took the form of a long list of proscribed items of dress with an indication of who only if was permitted to wear them (Garber, 26). This law sought to prohibit the rise in classes that was flow - ambitious ind... ...both may wear the prototypical shirt and pants, the gender distinctions become blur. Men feared the predilection of women as sexually aggressive as men - or perhaps worse, women who pursued other women. mite simply, the idea of gender-swapping caused fear and anger. Individuals designed the practice to work outside of the uniform mixer structure such actions were seen as threats to the social structure. Thus, society acted strictly towards those who survey themselves above social gender laws. Works CitedGarber, Marjorie. Vested Interests Cross Dressing and Cultural Anxiety. peeled York Routledge. 1992. 21-41, 211-215. Marsden, Jean I. Modesty Unshackled Dorothy Jordan and the Dangers of Cross-Dressing. Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture vol. 22. Ed. by Patricia B. Craddock and Carla H. Hay. eastward Lansing, Michigan Colleagues Press Inc. 1992. 21-36.