Petra Heitfeldt
Durchbrochene Konzepte von Weiblichkeit und Männlichkeit.
Rollentausch in Kriegen des späten Mittelalters
Broken Concepts of Femininity and Masculinity
Reversal of Roles during Wars of the late Middle Ages
English abstract
The author deals with men and women who experienced the role of the opposite sex in war situations of the 14th, 15th and 16th century. For various reasons men decided to act as women - and vice versa. The author illustrates war situations that led to cross-dressing, and she shows how people acted in the clothes and the roles of the opposite sex. The analysis focuses on the contemporary concept of femininity and masculinity and its social impact. The concept of assigned and demanded features and skills related to gender influenced both the actions of the persons who by changing their clothes reversed their roles, and the way they were perceived by society. Moreover, the increasing standardization of clothing in the 14th and 15th century had an important function. People reacted to this process as differently as to role models in art and literature which presented behaviour which was desired or unwelcome.
The diversity of cultural ideals and the discourses linked to them marked a frame of action where it could be sensible to reverse roles by changing clothes. Both men and women extended their scope for action by impersonating the opposite sex. However, their actions neither brought the social value system down nor did they revoke the increasingly polarized view of femininity and masculinity which by then became more and more polarized, nor the role expectations linked to it.