"Oh You Kid" (Standing Woman Dressed as Man, smiling)
Unknown American, American
about 1910s
Gelatin silver print
Image: 4 15/16 × 2 3/8 in. (12.5 × 6.1 cm)
Sheet: 5 3/8 × 3 1/2 in. (13.7 × 8.9 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Peter J. Cohen
2017.62.93
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in print, bottom edge of image, partially cut off: Oh You Kid; Inscribed, on reverse, in brown ink: Hello Chum. How are you any / way. I hear you have another / little cousin. Is Aunt-Mat-to your / place if she is why dont- you / + Mama come up. I caught a / bad cold + have Bronchitis again but / expect to get over it in less than a / year this time Until soon with Love Edith
Label
In 1923, the US attorney general declared it legal for women to wear pants in public. This photograph, dated to sometime in the 1910s, was therefore taken in an era where seeing a woman in pants was not only scandalous but actually illegal. Despite the very real consequences she could have faced, the subject of this photograph chose to not only dress in pants but also be photographed in them. Although people have long policed gender—quite literally, in this time period, but also through our observations of others—the benefits of performing masculinity must have outweighed the risks for this particular woman.
From the 2026 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 131, I Remember Who I Am When I'm With You, curated by Madeleine A. Saraisky ‘26, Class of 1954 Intern
Course History
ARTH 28.10, Fashion in Art, Kristin O'Rourke, Fall 2022
Exhibition History
A Space for Dialogue 131, I Remember Who I Am When I'm With You, Madeleine A. Saraisky ‘26, Class of 1954 Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 18 - August 30, 2026.
Provenance
Peter J. Cohen, New York, New York; given to present collection, 2017.
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