Thread by @LottieHistory

Happy #WomensHistoryMonth Throughout history women have cross-dressed for a number of reasons, none of them to be 'trans' or 'non-binary' despite what some nefarious 'LGBT historians' will tell you. Here's some of them. #twitterhistorians

Kit Cavanagh (1667-1739). Irishwoman Kit inherited a pub in her teens, and ran it with her husband (with whom she had two children). At the age of 26 she was pregnant with her third when her husband suddenly went missing. It was rumoured he'd been forced in to the British army

against his will, a common occurrence called press ganging. Instead of accepting it, Kit waited until she'd given birth, gave her children to her mother to look after, and just after turning 27 she cut her hair off and joined the British army as a man. She took part in several

battles, and despite living and fighting with soldiers, no one knew she was a woman for 13 years until she needed surgery for a war wound. She was honourably discharged with full pension, and did find her husband eventually but learned he'd joined the army willingly and

deserted his family. After he died, Kit married again, and reunited with her children, opening a new pub in Dublin, and travelling round England to tell her tale. She is buried with full military honours at the Royal Hospital Chelsea with other military Chelsea Pensioners.

Dame Enid Russell-Smith (1903-1989). She was one of the first three women to ever join the civil service (in 1925) and worked her way up to a senior position (but always below men). She is mostly known for helping to introduce the NHS after WWII. Not really a cross-dresser, but

was known for winning judo tournaments and popularising the sport for women in the 1930s and 40s. She always wanted to be photographed (above) in her judo trousers instead of dresses, and wanted to talk about being one of the first British women to be awarded a black belt.

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was one of France's most popular stage actors. She liked playing both male and female characters, including, famously, Hamlet in 1899 in both Paris and London. She was one of the first women to wear trouser suits in public, she had several tailored for

herself. It became one of the things she was most known for, and people put it down to 'eccentricity of the artist' rather than her making a political statement about what women could wear. She enjoyed playing around with gender expression. #WomensHistoryMonth

Marina the Monk (circa 5th century). Many women have cross dressed to escape danger, and Marina was fleeing an arranged marriage when she was just 13. She joined a monastery and concealed her sex for over 30 years, even agreeing she had fathered a local woman's child to stay safe

Anne Bonny (1697-1721?). Irishwoman Anne was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy lawyer and his maid. To keep Anne's identity secret from his wife, the lawyer dressed Anne as a boy and trained her to be his clerk. When Anne was 10 the lawyer decided to move to the Caribbean

with Anne and her mother (still his maid/lover) and start a new life as a merchant. At age 16 Anne married a British sailor and was disowned by her father. Bored as a poor housewife, Anne met a pirate and became his lover. They joined a pirate ship together, with Anne disguised

as a man (it was thought to be unlucky to have women on a pirate ship). Her sex was only revealed when she became pregnant and she forced off the ship at Cuba. She later stole a ship with another female pirate and took part in a number of battles. Only in her early 20s, Anne was

arrested and sentenced to death. Because she was pregnant at the time she was allowed to wait until she'd given birth before being hanged. The records end there, so no one knows if she escaped or if the record of her death was simply lost. #WomensHistoryMonth

Dorothy Lawrence (1896-1964). At age 19 Dorothy joined the army as a man so she could write an expose of life in the WWI trenches. She went through training and was sent to France. 10 days later she became ill and her sex was revealed, she was arrested and said to be a prostitute

Dorothy found that no one would publish her article on her return, and had to wait until the end of the war to publish a book. The war office heavily censored it, and it was not the success she wanted it to be. She suffered from mental health problems, admitting to a doctor that

she'd been raped by a church youth leader when she was 13. Following this she was admitted to an asylum at the age of 29, and was institutionalised until her death, age 68. It was felt that her trying to pass as a male soldier had been lunacy rather than daring.

A happier one to end on - George Sand (1804-1876) was a female French novelist who outsold Victor Hugo and other male authors of her time. In 1800 Paris noblewomen wearing men's clothing was fashionable but only allowed with a permit that said they needed trousers for practical

reasons like horse riding. Sand caused a stir by wearing male clothing to social events, and smoked in public too. Despite being married, she had a number of well known lovers. Victor Hugo said "Sand cannot decide if she's male or female", but Sand was resolutely proud to be a

woman, and determined not to need any kind of permit or approval to live her life on her terms. She started her own newspaper and wrote frequently about womens rights. Transing gender non-conforming women erases womens history #WomensHistoryMonth #twitterhistorians @WomensHistNet