Passing , a term that figures commonly in questions of racial identity, as in black passing as white, in this context refers to a woman who is successful in being viewed by others as a man, that is, by creating a male gender identity. To pass combines physical elements primarily haircut and clothing with behaviors and mannerisms associated with the male gender.
Cross-dressing is an essential component of gender passing. The term became common in the s and s, sometimes referring to butch-femme relationships in which the butch passed as a male at all times. It also designated one partner in a couple who would pass so that they could go out in public, to a straight nightclub or restaurant, without encountering problems.
The s also saw a popularization of psychological assessments of a lesbian as a man trapped in a woman's body , inadvertently encouraging some women to pass. As Marjorie Garber noted, gender passing can produce "a failure of definitional distinction, a borderline that becomes permeable, that permits border crossings from one apparently distinct category to another" p.
Examples of women who cross-dressed and married other women begin to appear in legal records and chronicles in Renaissance β Europe. Many of these accounts offer examples of a young woman who in her guise as a male earns a living and is well-liked in the town, until the truth of the relationship comes out.
In such cases the woman who passed as the male partner was likely to receive harsher punishment than was her wife , and was frequently put to death. The latter consequence was apparently even more prevalent when some instrument was used to counterfeit male genitalia. Whereas these cases are often considered early examples of the existence of lesbians, it is not always clear how homoerotic desire intersects with economic realities and individual independence.
