The Chevalier d'Eon in Dr. Who

A word from our sponsor:

The Breast Form Store Little Imperfections Big Rewards Sale Banner Ad (Save up to 50% off)

There have been some new Dr. Who audio adventures made with David Tennant and Billy Piper.

There are 3 of them. This one features the Chevalier d'Eon. I should think most of us have heard of the Chevalier d'Eon .

Eonism

the adoption by a male of a female role, or vice versa, as in transvestism. Eonism is named for Charles Eon de Beaumont, a French political adventurer who died in 1810 after posing as a woman for many years.

I discovered her story when I first got dialup internet. There are so many versions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001c63k

I'm not sure if the link will work outside the UK

If you believe some accounts it could be "forced crossdressing"

d’Eon was meant to return to France in women’s dress, but d’Eon was still wearing his Dragoon captain’s uniform, as much a symbol of his political power as gender, when he stepped off the boat. It took several months and a royal decree, but he was eventually coaxed out of it. He was handed over to Rose Bertin, famous clothing director to Marie Antionette, in whom he supposedly confided, “Truthfully, Mademoiselle, I do not yet know what I need…. I only know that it is more difficult to equip a lady than a company of Dragoons from head to foot.”

On November 21, 1777, Mademoiselle la Chevaliere d’Eon was formally presented at the court at Versailles, “reborn” after a four-hour toilette that included powdered hair, an elaborate dress and make-up. Contemporary reports nastily remarked that d’Eon was not an attractive woman: “She had nothing of our sex but the petticoats and the curls which suited her horribly,” declared one female courtier.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-incredible-chevali...

Click Like or Love to appropriately show your appreciation for this post: