Cross-dressing and Gender Performance

This week's readings, in addition to being entertaining, encourage us to think about gender and the performance of gender roles in early America. We see characters "putting on" and "taking off" different genders in different situations, to accomplish different goals.

We discussed in class tonight that dressing as men allowed these female characters certain liberties not generally afforded to women in early America. Of course, women in contemporary society move around much more freely and have many more opportunities, but are there still times that women must "put on" masculinity in order to achieve certain goals? And conversely, can we think of any times men may be encouraged by society to "perform femininity"?

Please discuss these ideas in your posting. And remember that your blog posting is due by 5 on Thursday and your response to your peers by 5 on Friday.

Parents, teach your children well...

Our discussion of Charlotte Temple covered many interesting topics, but one of the most thought provoking was our exploration of agency in the text. Who was to blame for Charlotte's fall? And could it have been prevented? We get the impression that her parents did all they could to keep her out of harm's way, yet despite their efforts, the text did not provide a happy ending for Charlotte.

In your posting, please discuss the portrayal of Charlotte's parents—their actions, words, thoughts—and compare them to contemporary parenting roles. How have things change? How have they stayed the same? What can contemporary parents do to keep their children safe? How can parents today save their daughters and sons from a “treacherous heart” leads to betrayal and abuse?