From the Huffington Post of May 3, 2013

From a blog by Marlo Thomas

The Curious History of Women Who 'Passed'                 As Men In Pursuit of a Dream

Of the many things I can't imagine myself doing -- like jumping out of an airplane -- I'd have to say that posing as a man would be pretty difficult for me. And who'd believe it? I'd make such a tiny little guy.
Before Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria and Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot -- throughout history and in almost every culture -- disguising one's gender has been a common plotline in folklore, literature and theater. Cross-dressing gods and goddesses frequently populated Greek, Norse and Hindu mythology; and Shakespeare's plotlines often featured women characters posing as men-- sometimes for their own safety, other times to break out of the submissive role society had forced on them.
Outside of fiction, women's attempts to "pass" as a man have often been a desperate response to professional or societal roadblocks. Some felt they needed to adopt the masquerade in order to break into male-dominated fields. Others simply wanted to get a job -- make a living, support themselves -- the way men always had. And the examples span a broad range of circumstances.
From George Eliot in the 19th century to J.K. Rowling today, women authors have often chosen non-gender-specific pen names (or blatantly male names) to ensure that their work be taken seriously. Eighteenth century Swede Brita Hagberg enlisted in the Army as "Petter" to search for her soldier husband -- who was missing -- and wound up being decorated for battlefield bravery. And in 1901, when prominent New York politician Murray Hall died, it was revealed he was really a she: Mary Anderson, a woman who for 25 years had practiced politics as a man -- playing poker with the boys, smoking cigars and swigging whiskey. It was a gutsy move, and one that reflected an era in which women weren't even allowed to vote.
And the list goes on -- from war correspondents to musicians to judo champions. These were women who took a deep breath and took a gamble, defying the boundaries of gender in order to live the lives they always wanted to live.
Here are just a few of their amazing stories.

Joanne Rowling, the author who whipped up the magical world of Harry Potter, was asked by her publisher to use only her initials on the cover of the first Potter book. The reason? That a female name would dissuade the target audience -- young boys -- from buying the book. Joanne complied, choosing K as her second initial, after her grandmother Kathleen Rowling. Was the charade worth it? Ask her accountant.

Kathrine Switzer was a marathon enthusiast, so in 1967 she signed up for the male-only Boston Marathon, using the name K.V. Switzer to hide hergender. As she ran, an official attempted to forcibly remove her from the race, but her boyfriend pushed the intruder aside. A photo of the incident landed in papers around the world, leading the Amateur Athletic Union to ban women from competing with male athletes. However, in 1972, the Boston Athletic Association began admitting woman in the Boston Marathon. Kathrine went on to win the 1974 New York City Marathon and in 2011 was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Although women were permitted to publish works using their own names in the 1800s, Mary Ann Evans wanted her novels to be taken seriously, and not presumed to be the frothy romances expected of women writers of that time. So she adopted “George Eliot” as her pen name, and churned out works that tackled such complex subjects as religion, philosophy and politics. Middlemarch, written in 1872, is the novel that she is best known for and widely considered a literary masterpiece.

Charlotte (pictured), Emily and Anne Bronte all became writers at a young age. Their first work, simply called Poems, was released under their pen names -- Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell -- because their publisher feared that using their real names could hurt the company’s reputation. After many attempts to have their novels published, all three sisters finally found success in 1847 -- with Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights and Anne’s Agnes Grey. All three books were met with praise; and only after they reached their literary acclaim did the sisters reveal their true identities

Billy Lee Tipton” was born as Dorothy Lucille Tipton, and was interested in music from an early age. She played piano and saxophone, dressing as a man during performances and adopting her father’s nickname, Billy, in order to be accepted in the jazz scene. Soon she began passing as a man full-time, touring with other musicians and ultimately forming the Billy Tipton Trio. Billy's true gender wasn’t revealed until her death, nearly fifty years later, when the mass media publicized her story. 

Known as a tough girl around Coney Island, Rena Kanokogi was introduced to judo by a male friend in the 1950s and soon became the only female member of the judo team at the Brooklyn Central YMCA. It didn’t take long for her to realize that opportunities for women to compete were sparse. So she posed as a man, competed in the 1959 New York State YMCA judo championships -- and won. When officials learned her true identity, she was forced to return her medal -- but that didn’t stop her. She traveled to Japan to train at renowned Kokodan Institute, organized the first women's judo world championship at Madison Square Garden, and was a driving force behind the inclusion of women’s judo in the Summer Olympics.

Margaret Ann Bulkley was a child prodigy whose financially strapped family conspired to get her into medical school in 1809 by having her pose as “James Barry.” Four years later, she passed the grueling surgeon’s exam and became a medic in the British Army. Majes/Margaret rose in the ranks to Principal Medical Officer, ultimately performing one of the first successful Caesarian sections on record. She is known for having been a skilled surgeon, and for improving sanitation and medical care in military hospitals. Her true gender wasn’t revealed until she died from dysentery in 1865.  

Sarah Edmonds sought adventure, so when the Civil War erupted, she became “Frank Thompson” and enlisted as a male field nurse in the Union Army. After one of her friends was killed in an ambush, she jumped at the opportunity to fill his slot and seek vengeance on the Confederacy. Morphing herself into a variety of personas through disguise, she also worked as a spy, obtaining valuable information for the Union. After contracting malaria, she was forced to abandon her post, but didn’t check into a military hospital for fear of her true identity being revealed. Upon her recovery, she ditched her male alter-ego and worked as a nurse at a hospital for wounded soldiers.

In the late 1800s, Mary Anderson, better known as “Murray Hall,” lived much of her adult life as a male politician, bail bondsman and director of her own employment agency. As a member of the General Committee of Tammany Hall, she registered and voted in primary elections at a time when women weren’t allowed such rights. Known as a “man about town” -- playing poker with men, smoking cigars and drinking whiskey -- she ultimately developed breast cancer, but refused to seek treatment until late into her disease in order to keep her true gender under wraps. When she died in 1901, news of her secret life spread, shocking even those who had known her.

In 1778, Swede Brita Hagberg’s husband went off to fight in the Russo-Swedish War, then abruptly stopped communicating with her. So Brita decided to enlist herself in the Army and track him down. Posing as “Petter Hagberg,” Brita fought in a number of battles as a marine soldier, and was eventually wounded. Her gender was revealed when she refused treatment; but instead of being punished for her deceit, Brita was given a military pension and awarded a medal for bravery. And she found her husband.

An ambitious teenage girl who yearned to be a war correspondent in World War I, Dorothy Lawrence found herself on the front lines after befriending two English soldiers who helped her disguise her gender. She altered her appearance, fabricated papers to become “Private Denis Smith,” and even learned to drill and march. After landing a job as a Royal Engineer, she confessed her charade and was taken into custody by the British military. Determining that she wasn’t a German spy, the brass sent her back to London and forbade her from telling her story, so that other women wouldn’t similarly attempt to infiltrate the military. Dorothy’s experience would not be revealed until many years later, when a historian discovered her story in an archive and published it. 

Charlotte Parkhurst grew up in an orphanage and, in an attempt to escape it, disguised herself as a male. Known as “Charley Parkhurst” from that point forward, she trained to drive horses in the northeast, then traveled west to begin working as a stagecoach driver. Early in her career, she lost an eye when a horse kicked her, but that didn’t deter her from pursuing her career. She eventually earned a reputation as a highly skilled stagecoach driver, and voted in the 1868 presidential elections -- making her the first woman to vote in California. No one knew Charley’s secret until she died from tongue cancer in 1879.