The Identity Of The Exquisite Slave

The Identity of “The Exquisite Slave”

The attire of men and women in the nineteenth century covered the roles they

were supposed to play. An individual's sex and the psychological concept of gender

identity were used to predict the wearing of stereotypic sex-related clothing. The style of

made dress belied his nature as somewhat more free from restrictions whereas the

woman, bound by corsets and strict dress-codes, found herself held back in clothing as in society. The corset is probably the most controversial garment in the history of fashion. A sphere of influence, behavior and conduct was assigned to both sexes; each was valued for different qualities. These gender distinctions do not allow any overlap between the two sexes. For a woman to forsake the clothes and character of women for that of men sounded horrible. Such a practice would create sexual ambiguity - a woman would assume the clothes of a man and thus the manner and actions of a man, yet her physical nature denied her that right. Self fashioning creates monstrations - a woman ceases to be a woman after she has assumed male garb and can never hope to be a man.

An aversion to self fashioning has its roots in the Bible: "Which is Adam and which is Eve?” asks one child. “I don’t know,” answers the other, “but I could tell if they had their clothes on” (Roberts p.3). On August 13, 1597 Queen Elizabeth announced a sumptuary (dealing with attire) proclamation which defined the "separate categories for men's and women's apparel: each took the form of a long list of proscribed items of dress with an indication of who alone was permitted to wear them" (Marden p.27). This law sought to prohibit the rise in classes that was transpiring - ambitious individuals began to dress as finely as the upper class. Later on, this proclamation would be sighted in cases of dressing 'above' one's gender.

Society had accepted female self fashioning from Shakespeare's time as necessary. The sight of girls actually caught disguised in men's clothing. However, if caught in such an uncompromising situation without a valid excuse (types of excuses nineteenth century society deemed valid ), women would expect severe punishments. In cases where women dressed in male attire for acting (as in the case of an actress playing the part of Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It or Viola in his Twelfth Night), for attaining the love of her husband, or for her country (as a soldier to go to war), society forgave the act, Several female saints of the Middle Ages poised as men, including St. Joan, St. Anna, St. Wilgefortis. St. Joan was put to trial by the Inquisition for her cross-dressing. If caught in men's clothing, the authorities "blinded [the women] in the pillory, displayed as fairground freaks, publicly whipped, or prosecuted for fraud - not, interestingly enough, for sexual misdemeanor" (Marsden p.22-23). Men at this time could not even ponder the possibility of female desire for male attire, much less the possibility of sexual relations between two females. Men believed that females assumed their fashion of clothing as an act of empowerment and this offended their sensibilities.

Self fashioning blurred the specific distinctions between men and women. Quite simply, men wore pants and women wore dresses. The basic design for clothes of each gender fit the behavior accepted of each. In short, the male symbolized the appetites, strength, and action. Thus, his clothing allowed for heavy activity: formfitting, tight garb that protected against the elements. A man could run, fight (if need be), climb, or cut in his attire. One critic of Roberts’ article was David Kunzle wrote:

The restrictions placed upon women are now no longer of the gross physical kind. “Binding” is practiced by the fashion industry in a covert and psychological rather than physical manner. Advertising, fashion magazines, and stores, with the aid of new psychological and social sciences, create a climate in which a woman is to feel “bound” in order to achieve an illusory self-validation, to buy and buying, “improving” herself, competing, denying age (Kunzle p.11).

What I interpreted out of that passage is that women are no longer bound to corsets