Amy Bock and the Western Tradition of Passing Women

Abstract

Amy Bock is popularly known as a Victorian/Edwardian con artist. She's famous for disguising herself as a man and marrying a woman. This exploit was presented in the media as an outrageous anomaly, deserving the most sensational attention. But in fact when Bock disguised herself as a man she was part of a tradition that stretches back centuries.

When white settlers colonised New Zealand, one of the more underground and obscure traditions they brought was that of cross-dressing women. Women who disguised themselves as men, lived as men, and convinced the world that they were men. In current argot, they 'passed' as men. From now on, I'll call them 'passing women'.