How Women would Pretend to be Men to Access Male Privileges (Essay Sample)

Twelfth Nights
Name
Institution
Gender identity refers to individuals' perceptions concerning gender, which may not match their birth sex. The idea has been discussed by various authors since history, considering that males and females are treated differently in society. The men were respected and allowed to make both home and community decisions, while females were discriminated and commanded to stay at home, doing chores, and taking care of kids. ‘Twelve night’ play by William Shakespeare shows how women would pretend to be men to access male privileges like in securing jobs. The paper assesses how the issues of gender identity and alternative sexualities register differently between the play and James Bulman’s article ‘bearding the queen: male cross-dressing at the new globe.'
‘Twelve nights’ play discusses the gender identity topic differently from Bulman’s ideas. The play involves a character named Viola, who realizes that males are treated differently from females in the society. It is the case as the play was done during the Elizabethan period, where gender roles were clear, limiting women in many areas. Viola wanted to access men's privileges, where she assumed a male's identity changing her name to Cesario. The character dresses and plays the roles of a man to secure a job. The new status makes Viola to be treated well by other characters in the play. The taking of a male persona makes the audience understand how gender differences in society determine how people are treated. For example, if Viola did not assume the male gender, she would not have secured a job.
Viola's success in assuming the male gender shows that gender identity is a fluid concept that can be altered from time to time. The nature of the aspect is also questioned regarding the character's interaction with others. For example, Olivia fell in love with Cesario without the realization that the role was a female. The notion means that heterosexual and homosexual distinctions are not as reliable as expected. Moreover, there are several instances where other figures claim Cesario to be an effeminate man, indicating that one's biological sexual organs do not determine abilities. The fluidity of sexual identity is noted where Olivia falls in love with Caserio. As Shakespeare says, Olivia found Cesario as ‘womanly looking man’ (Shakespeare, 2001), which got her attracted. On the other hand, while the play ends, Orsino loves Caserio because of the realization she was Viola. The general idea discussed by Shakespeare here is that gender identity could be changed to enable females to access male's privilege as it helped Viola secure job.
James Bulman, in the text 'bearding the queen: male cross-dressing at the new globe,' registers the sexual identity topic differently. The scholar claims that the practice should be avoided as it interferes with the nature of humans. The idea is influenced by societal traditions, where characters in plays were allowed to put opposite sexes’ clothes but avoid it is real life. The restriction was done to eliminate the idea that one would switch sexual identity. According to Bulman, changing from one orientation to the other leads to cultural anxiety. Gender role causes this because people changing are expected to play roles they are not used. For example, Viola had to work, which would lead to anxiety as females were expected to stay at home. The text also argues that informing the audience that sexual identity is fluid would increase chances of homosexuality, which is against the societal practices. The