Nowadays, a person who wears clothes more characteristic of the opposite sex can hardly surprise anyone. Now a lot of people are dissatisfied with their gender affiliation, are happy to use the capabilities of modern medicine and change their gender.
However, all this became possible not so long ago, while throughout the history of mankind, people were born who, not wanting to put up with what mother nature had done to them, wore clothes, adopted habits and were engaged in a work characteristic of representatives of the other sex.
In this collection, we will talk about the 10 most famous women who, in life, pretended to be men.
10. Billy Tipton
Billy Lee Tipton is a famous American pianist and saxophonist. In fact, this illustrious jazz musician was born a woman and was named Dorothy Lucille Tipton.
But already in his mature years, he obtained men's documents for himself and joined the jazz ensemble, having left for Kansas City (Missouri).
Incredibly, his secret did not prevent him from marrying as many as five times! Billy said to each of his spouses that he had to wear a bandage for life, which supposedly was the result of a car accident. This also explained the impossibility of having children, although he nevertheless became a father to three adopted boys.
In 1989, Billy died of a stomach ulcer. And only then did the whole truth about his gender reveal to his family.
9. Mary Ann Talbot
Mary Ann Evans is a famous English writer who published her works all her life under the male pseudonym George Eliot.
The future writer was born in a poor, but very respected bourgeois English family. Her father worked as a manager in foreign estates, and also had his own farm.
Real fame for Mary Ann Talbot after the publication of her Middlemarch novel.
The writer of 1880 died as a result of pneumonia.
8. Hua Mulan
Hua Mulan is a character in a famous Chinese poem. In the story, this girl went to war instead of her elderly father, pretending to be a man.
The poem “Song of Mulan” was created in the VI century, but the original version did not survive today, in contrast to the later interpretation recorded in the collection of the XII century. Whether Hua Mulan had a real prototype is still unknown.
7. Dorothy Lawrence
The biography of this woman clearly shows what sacrifices are made for those who want to become a real journalist. Dorothy had to change into a men's suit and go to the front line only in order to become a war correspondent and to be able to cover events directly from the battlefield.
However, this adventure ended in litigation and espionage charges. But, according to Dorothy herself, it was worth it. All that she had to go through at the front, she later described in her autobiographical book, The Only Female Soldier in England.
6. Papess John
Popess Ionna is a legendary and semi-mythical historical figure who allegedly occupied the papal throne under the name of John VIII. In the list of popes currently accepted, the name of John VIII denotes the real pope, who ruled in a later period.
According to legend, at age 12, this girl met with a monk from the monastery of Fulda and left with him, dressed in men's clothes, on the holy Mount Athos.
After long wanderings, she settled in Rome, where at first she held the post of notary curia, then cardinal and, finally, the Pope.
And she successfully managed to hide her gender until, during one of the processions, she began giving birth, as a result of which she died (or was killed by participants in the procession discouraged by monstrous deception).
5. Catalina Erazo
This legendary woman was born into a Basque family. All the men in her family were soldiers in the city of San Sebastian. From the age of four she was brought up in a Dominican monastery, so that if no one marries her, she can take tonsure.
When she was fifteen, she was severely beaten by nuns, which prompted the girl to decisive action - she fled from the monastery, dressed in a man’s dress.
For several months she wandered around Spain, engaging in different people, and calling herself Francisco de Loyola. In Bilbao, she entered the service of a young boy on a ship that headed for the New World.
Arriving in the city of Concepcion in Chile, she enlisted as Alonso Diaz Ramirez de Guzmán. In the Araucan War, she took part in battles led by several captains.
Catalina during the performance of military duty fully showed courage in battle. One of her notable merits was the repulsion of the Spanish flag from the Indians. For this, the girl was appointed lieutenant governor and held this post for five years.
She knew how to handle weapons well, took part in many battles and duels. A severe wound forced her to reveal her true gender to Bishop Agustin de Carvajal. Having received forgiveness from him, she hid in a monastery.
4. Nadezhda Durova
Durova, Nadezhda Andreevna - army captain, writer. This woman became the prototype of the famous Shura Azarova from the “Hussar ballad”.
This woman was born in 1783. Her father was a hussar captain. From the first years of her life, Nadezhda found herself in a saturated military environment. The girl was distinguished by an energetic character and playing dolls, she preferred horse riding.
As soon as the girl reached adulthood, she was immediately married. Of course, this marriage was unhappy, so Hope very quickly left her husband, leaving him a little son.
Having dressed in a man’s suit and cut her hair, she decides to leave after her true lover, portraying a batman for those around him.
To avoid being exposed, the woman had to leave Yesaul and ask for a place in the Lancers regiment. There she entered under the assumed name of Alexander Vasilievich Sokolov.
During the performance of military duty, Nadezhda was awarded several military awards and the rank of army captain.
2. Francis Clayton
This young lady was famous for fighting under the name of Jack Williams on the side of the Union (northern states) during the Civil War in the USA.
It was not difficult for her to impersonate a man as a man: in addition to her tall and thin physique, she was subject to all male vices - drinking alcohol, smoking and abuse. But, despite this, her deception was revealed, after which she had to leave military service.
2. James Barry
James Miranda Stuart Barry is an English doctor and military surgeon who has been serving in South Africa for a long time. At the end of his medical career, he is inspector general.
He was engaged in the treatment of the wounded and sick British military, as well as improving the living standards of the indigenous population of Africa. His main professional achievements are considered to be the first cesarean section performed on the African continent, during which both the mother and the child remained alive.
The true sex of Barry became known to the public and his colleagues only after his death.
1. Joan of Arc
An amazing biography of Joan of Arc, canonized by the Catholic Church, haunts neither historians nor theologians.
The legendary liberator of the French lands is devoted to literary works, paintings, films, plays and musical works. In France one cannot find a city where the name of this martyr would not be immortalized.
Being a 17-year-old illiterate girl, she became commander-in-chief of the French troops, who, under her command, defeated the British army.
At that time, a woman wearing a man’s dress was not only condemned, but could even be executed for heresy. However, in their native country, Joan made an exception.
And here, for her judges, who subsequently sentenced her to death by burning, her wearing men's military ammunition was an additional argument in favor of her guilt.