ARTICLE

AS IT WAS THEN ETC

Rosemary, England

"I dressed as a boy...a khaki bandage around my head... I browned my face and hands. . . my height of course was my great advantage. . .a rather untidy young man. I could let myself in and out by a latch key; in hotels it was more difficult. I never felt so free as when I stepped off the kerb, down Piccadilly, alone, and knowing that if I met my mother she would take no notice of me. I walked along smoking a cigarette, buying a newspaper off a little boy who called me "sir", and being accosted now and then by women."

Vita Sackville-West's words written about herself in the Autumn of 1920 portray a mirror image of our position today when we venture out into the street. The carefully laid plan and anxiety over appearance; the boldness of smoking in the street and the ecstacy of being addressed as sir; the feeling of release "in the unaccustomed freedom of breeches and gaiters".

Society was emerging from the severe Victorian polarization of sexual roles. The activity that Vita was indulging in could have brought disgrace to a lady, particularly a "society" lady; the wife of a Cabinet Minister in trousers-absolutely scandalous!! True,she was not really one of us, for her intellectual and physical passion for Violet Trefusis would indicate her nature to be that of optional homosexual (I used to think bisexual referred to erotic cyclists). How therefore do her experiences relate to our condition?

She was indulging in reversed gender role remote from her sexual activity and the fascination lies in the detailed description of her appear- ance, as severely contrary to her social code as ours now is. It's been fifty four years since Vita strode the streets of London and today the Vitas

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