Abstract
“She’s so queer. I want you to see her, she’s got a moustache:” The Representation of Women’s Facial Hair in Nineteenth-Century Literature, 1845-1905.
Mentions of women’s moustaches in nineteenth-century fiction are fleeting, usually limited to a single sentence within a novel, but the rate at which they appear is surprisingly high and demands further attention. Moustachioed female characters appear in work by canonical authors such as Thomas Hardy, Émile Zola and William Thackeray but despite the innumerable studies that have been dedicated to these authors, none have concentrated on this recurring marker of gendered identity.
It is not only the unexpectedly high number of times that women’s facial hair is mentioned that is significant, but also the different ways in which it is represented. The hirsute woman invariably represents non-conformity, ‘ugliness,’ and a rejection of ‘feminine’ ideals. However, this is counterbalanced by a small but significant body of literature that depicts a moustachioed woman as beautiful and desirable.
This paper is founded in “feminist ethics” which aims to “understand, criticise and correct” how gender operates (Lindemann 2005). Using an approach that combines feminist, queer and transgender theory, I aim to enhance our understanding of the nineteenth-century “female” body, criticise the binaries that surround it and “correct” (or nuance) our assumptions regarding gender transgression. By carrying-out an extensive survey of literature that spans across both genre and form, I will elevate the subject of women’s facial hair as a subject in its own right for its usefulness in evaluating cultural attitudes towards women and their appearances.
Mentions of women’s moustaches in nineteenth-century fiction are fleeting, usually limited to a single sentence within a novel, but the rate at which they appear is surprisingly high and demands further attention. Moustachioed female characters appear in work by canonical authors such as Thomas Hardy, Émile Zola and William Thackeray but despite the innumerable studies that have been dedicated to these authors, none have concentrated on this recurring marker of gendered identity.
It is not only the unexpectedly high number of times that women’s facial hair is mentioned that is significant, but also the different ways in which it is represented. The hirsute woman invariably represents non-conformity, ‘ugliness,’ and a rejection of ‘feminine’ ideals. However, this is counterbalanced by a small but significant body of literature that depicts a moustachioed woman as beautiful and desirable.
This paper is founded in “feminist ethics” which aims to “understand, criticise and correct” how gender operates (Lindemann 2005). Using an approach that combines feminist, queer and transgender theory, I aim to enhance our understanding of the nineteenth-century “female” body, criticise the binaries that surround it and “correct” (or nuance) our assumptions regarding gender transgression. By carrying-out an extensive survey of literature that spans across both genre and form, I will elevate the subject of women’s facial hair as a subject in its own right for its usefulness in evaluating cultural attitudes towards women and their appearances.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 31 Mar 2023 |
Event | Teesside University Post-Graduate Conference: Ethical Relationship of Socio-economics, Gender, Race and Politics as represented in Literature and Culture - Online (UK) Duration: 31 Mar 2023 → 31 Mar 2023 |
Conference
Conference | Teesside University Post-Graduate Conference |
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Period | 31/03/23 → 31/03/23 |