It's outside the purview of LLG, but I find myself wondering--why is it so much more acceptable for women to dress in men's clothing than the other way around? Not denying that these women may have excited some disapproval through their masculine dress, but I don't think any man could have slipped so easily from feminine to masculine attire.
Bryher of course, long term partner of HD; Valentine Ackland, partner of Sylvia Townsend Warner. Jane Heap, editor of Little Review and publisher of Ulysses; Radclyffe Hall's partner Una Troubridge; Natalie Clifford Barney, legendary hostess and saloniste and her artist friend and queer-chronicler Romaine Brooks; Claude Cahun and Gluck, though neither are exactly literary ladies.
Eve Langley (1904-1974) was an Australian novelist and poet, whose most famous work was The Pea Pickers (1942). This is a fictionalised account of her 1920s adventure with her sister June, when they worked their way around the countryside of Gippsland, Victoria, as agricultural labourers, dressed in men’s attire and calling themselves by men’s names. Her writing explores the conflict between being an artist and being a woman.
What a wonderful list. Love the photos!
It's outside the purview of LLG, but I find myself wondering--why is it so much more acceptable for women to dress in men's clothing than the other way around? Not denying that these women may have excited some disapproval through their masculine dress, but I don't think any man could have slipped so easily from feminine to masculine attire.
Lynne, I actually thought of that while posting the piece, and I agree. The reasons for this can add up to a treatise unto itself!
Bryher of course, long term partner of HD; Valentine Ackland, partner of Sylvia Townsend Warner. Jane Heap, editor of Little Review and publisher of Ulysses; Radclyffe Hall's partner Una Troubridge; Natalie Clifford Barney, legendary hostess and saloniste and her artist friend and queer-chronicler Romaine Brooks; Claude Cahun and Gluck, though neither are exactly literary ladies.
Thank you for these additions, Francis. You know the modernist period so well.
Eve Langley (1904-1974) was an Australian novelist and poet, whose most famous work was The Pea Pickers (1942). This is a fictionalised account of her 1920s adventure with her sister June, when they worked their way around the countryside of Gippsland, Victoria, as agricultural labourers, dressed in men’s attire and calling themselves by men’s names. Her writing explores the conflict between being an artist and being a woman.
Thank you, Teresa. Eve Langley sounds fascinating and I've added her to the Literary Ladies website's wish list.