Dressing masculine: female sex workers' sartorial expression in early modern Italy

我的项目旨在研究近代早期男性气质和男性服饰的历史。有证据表明，在近代早期的意大利，有相当数量的女性性工作者穿着男性服装。然而，目前还没有一项研究调查这种男性化表达的形式以及女性对性别不一致的动机。我的目的是填补学术界的这一空白，并探讨以下问题。性工作者选择男性服装仅仅是出于职业原因（如当局所担心的那样，是为了吸引同性恋男性客户），还是为了表达身份？推而广之，这里是否有一个同性恋和/或跨性别的历史被揭露？在启蒙运动前的欧洲，现代早期的服装表达能告诉我们什么关于性别界限的渗透性？我打算使用梅毒医院记录，法庭记录，流行小册子和旅行写作的组合作为源材料。梅毒医院的医生详细记录了病人的着装。由于性工作者特别受影响，因此对意大利各地梅毒医院记录的研究可以深入了解女性性工作者穿着男性服装的普遍程度，穿什么样的服装以及它们的物质性。法庭记录将有助于揭示性工作者变装的动机。旅游写作、流行的小册子和出版物将提供嵌入城市空间的服装表达的证据。

My project intends to queer the history of masculinity and masculine dress in early modern history. There is evidence fora significant number of female sex workers wearing masculine attire in early modern Italy. However, there is yet to be astudy that investigates the forms that this masculine expression took and women's motivations for gender nonconformity.My aim is to fill this gap in the scholarship, and to explore the following questions. Did sex workers choose masculineattire for only professional reasons (to attract homosexual male clients, as authorities worried), or as an expression ofidentity? By extension, is there a queer and/or trans history to be brought to light here? What can sartorial expression tellus about the permeability of gender boundaries in early modern, pre-Enlightenment Europe? I intend to use acombination of syphilis hospital records, court records, popular pamphlets and travel writing as source material. Syphilishospitals recorded detailed notes on patients' attire. Since sex workers were particularly afflicted, an exploration ofsyphilis hospital records from across Italy could provide insight into how common it was for female sex workers to wearmasculine attire, what kinds of garments were worn, and their materiality. Court record accounts will be useful foruncovering sex workers' motivations for cross-dressing. Travel writing, popular pamphlets and publications will provideevidence of sartorial expression embedded in urban space.