Friday, October 17, 2008, 3:00–5:00 p.m.
Clothes Make the Man: Cross-Dressing and the Law in Early Modern Spain
Jack Norton, University of Illinois at Chicago
Commentator: Valentina Tikoff, DePaul University

Cross-dressing has a long and significant history in Europe, with both real and fictional women taking on male personas to suit their needs. Using a comparative early modern european framework, this paper assesses how Spanish law addressed female cross-dressing. By studying both the law and legal commentaries, I hope to explain how cross-dressing both aided and thwarted women's economic advancement.

All papers are pre-circulated electronically to those who plan to attend the seminar in person. For a copy of the paper, e-mail Jenny Butler at scholl@newberry.org, or call 312-255-3524. Please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.

Co-sponsored by the History Departments of Northeastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture at the University of Chicago