The transformation of a photograph of the transgender lesbian activist Frances Kellor (1873 – 1952) raises important questions concerning our current perceptions of gender. The photograph shows Kellor in her full masculine guise.[i] Months thereafter, a line-drawing rendition of the image appeared.[ii] The contrast between the photograph and the line-drawing provides a contrast between what Kellor really looked like and an artistic rendition for public consumption. The newspaper redrew her as they would like to have seen a female leader – they feminized this giant figure.
Frances Kellor had her likeness in the
newspapers a lot. She garnered wide publicity for her studies of
African-American women in southern penitentiaries. Her work leading up to the
founding of the National Urban League received a lot of attention, as did her
undercover work for domestic workers. When Theodore Roosevelt told crowds
about Kellor taking him to homeless shelters, she needed no introduction. But
at the time of the images, the public would have read of her monthly as the
head of the movement that greeted immigrants –the Americanization movement.
At first glance, the
photograph of Kellor could be one of a man. An acquaintance from
childhood claimed dislike of young Kellor was widespread because she walked and
talked like a boy. Here we see a thirty-seven year old Kellor dressed in
men’s clothes. She has a tie on and a shirt that accentuates extremely
broad shoulders. Kellor worked as a basketball coach and rowed on
the Cornell boating team she helped form. The expression on this reformer’s
face gives the impression that she is busy and businesslike. The mess on her
desk provides another clue that could lead an unsuspecting reader
to think ‘male.’
The drawing rendition of
this photograph could not but retain the masculine tie and shirt. But
several essentials have been feminized. While a Romanesque slightly florid
design accompanies the photo, we now have a full flower below Kellor and
another above her. The hair has feminized streaks and sits a bit looser. The
eyebrows have been stylized. And the harried expression in the photograph
has been transmuted into a welcoming feminine smile.
The differences between the
photo and the drawing are subtle. To totally feminize this short-haired,
tie wearing, broad-shouldered person, would require a total falsification.
And, perhaps my perception that a slight hint of breasts appears in the drawn
version verges on the paranoid. Furthermore, we could argue that newspapers
routinely work to make people appear more appealing. Still, in this case,
it seems the aggregate of the small changes, making Kellor more “appealing,”
results in a much more feminine appearance overall.
Today it is still news when
Lady Gaga
or others act as ‘gender benders.’ The media’s shock reflects our
fascination with this chink in the armor of the dominant gender paradigm.
And while at first blush the rare attention to ‘gender benders’ might not seem
socially significant, it should raise our awareness of the constancy of
normalized gender depictions. Female celebrities’ femininity, their dress, and
make-up get hyped daily. And while these women may love performing these gender
roles, Kellor’s photograph makeover reminds us of the longstanding and constant
public pressure to bend girls to femininity and alternatives.
But what does this matter?
The line-drawing rendition of the
photograph sat above a headline that read, “Little Sister of the Alien Comes to
Teach.” No male in Kellor’s position would have been described as a “Little
Brother.” Upon becoming the first woman to head a New York State Bureau, a
surprised New York Times told readers that they would have thought, “the head
of the New York State Bureau of Industries and Immigration would be some
big strong man.”[iii]
Earlier the Times exclaimed that if anyone had suggested a year earlier that a
woman would have had held Kellor’s position in a Presidential campaign they
would have been “thought mad.”[iv]
With such a powerful known history, this depiction of Kellor as “little” and
familial illustrates how feminized images of women can diminish them.
Not only can the reception of
Kellor’s masculine image tell us something about gender perceptions, her
example can remind us of means to fight it. Kellor advocated using sports –
particularly basketball - to make women more masculine. Specifically, she
thought sports would get women out of the home and off gossipy topics and into
the street publically fighting injustices. In 1916 Kellor opened a women’s
campaign for Presidential candidate Charles Evans Hughes with a “historical
discussion of men’s campaign trains and the masculine way of working.”[v]
And, of course, in contrast to the more feminine settlement house workers
around her, Kellor often dressed as a man.
The drawing of Kellor identifies
her as “Miss Frances Alice Kellor.” As a teen Kellor wrote under the name of ‘Alice
Kellar.’ After leaving her hometown, she only wrote under the more androgynous
name Frances Kellor. This feminized depiction of this ‘little sister’ marked her
gender by revising her girlish first name. Not all women would be comfortable
changing names, dressing as a man, or adopting “masculine” styles of activism;
nor should they have to. But we would do well to understand the dynamics in
public presentations of gender. To this end, we would do well to teach Kellor’s
example and depictions of gender in today’s media.
Finally, these comparisons
model something of a victory in public perception. The photograph appeared in
The New York Times in April of 1912. The article it illustrated showed Kellor
scouring filthy conditions in industrial sites. The ‘Little Sister’
drawing was printed in The Los Angeles Times in November of 1913. The text
noted Kellor was a “remarkable woman” for leading a New York Bureau. Kellor’s
level of achievement was new for women on the West Coast. The drawing and the
headline had not yet caught up with the possibility of powerful masculine
women. But the photo running earlier in the East Coast paper showed that
activism had laid the groundwork for seeing women as powerful.
[i] “Preying Upon
Helpless Immigrants After They Land,” The New York Times, April 14,
1912, SM10
[ii] “Little Sister of
the Alien Comes to Teach,” Los Angeles Times, November 10, 1913, II1
[iii] “A Good
Samaritan for Hapless Alien Hosts is Miss Frances Kellor,” New – York
Tribune, May 12, 1912, A4
[iv] “Women as A
Factor In the Political Campaign: For the First Time in American History
Their Active Support Is Openly Sought by All Parties,” The New York Times, Sept.
1,1912, SM9
[v] “Tells Why
Hughes Asks Women’s Aid,” The New York Times, Aug. 7, 1916, 9
