Marcia Dawkins
Posted: September 21, 2010 02:06 PM
The Powers and Problems of Passing as a Boy
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-alesan-dawkins/the-powers-and-problems-o_b_733488.htmlWhile conducting research for my forthcoming book on passing-- the fact of being accepted, or representing oneself successfully as, a member of a different group--I came across the amazing story of Ellen and William Craft. The Crafts were an enslaved couple who escaped when Ellen passed as Mr. Johnson--a wealthy, white, disabled master--who was attended by William, his slave in 1848. After a series of harrowing encounters aboard, trains, boats and carriage rides over the course of four days, the Crafts arrived in Philadelphia and ultimately escaped to London. The Crafts became what we might now call "reality stars" as they gained media attention from antislavery and mainstream press. They told their story in the book Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, and donated the proceeds to further the abolitionist cause.
The Craft's story led me to search for contemporary instances of passing that would bring an updated social currency to the issue. I was about to write about Brandon Teena when my search yielded surprising and powerful results in the form of a New York Times story by Jenny Nordberg entitled "Afghan Boys Are Prized So Girls Live the Part".
