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Show 271 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH In the 1660s, after the Restoration of Charles II to the throne, female performers acted on stage for the first time, leading to investigations into gender roles. "Breeches" roles, where women cross-dressed, became popular, with actresses becoming well-known for their ability to play men. Similarly, in the pre-Hays Code films of the ‘30s, female actresses were perform-ing sexualized roles that required them to sport trousers. Although these time periods are almost 250 years apart, there are many similarities in the portrayals of women as sexualized objects. Yet, paradoxically, they are able to maintain a kind of power through their parody of gender roles. This project focuses on Susanna Verbruggen and Marlene Dietrich as emblematic of overtly costumed actresses during the 1690s and 1930s respectively, analyzing their roles, on stage, in film, and in the public eye, to determine whether these women are strengthening or under-mining the patriarchal society that surrounds them. In keeping with Judith Butler's notion of gender as performative, these actresses/characters utilized masquerade and parody to dem-onstrate their ability to "pass" as male, illuminating the constructed nature of gender roles. Women are often seen as responding to male "cues" and "acting" in conventionally feminine manners. However, in several of these texts, female characters, in conjunction with their ex-perimentation in gender roles, are also seen as providing "cues" for men. Yet, it is not possible for these women to obtain a feminist paradise through donning masculine attire. Their posi-tion as cross-dressing women is complicated, as men have written their hybrid position for them, supporting the Irigarayan notion of femininity as an ascribed role. These cross-dressing women/characters are often required to act in sexist ways against others of their gender to gain power and, as a result, could simply be seen as reasserting the status quo. WHO'S GOT THE PANTS?: BREECHING DISTINCTIONS OF POWER IN RESTORATION THEATRE AND PRE-HAYS CODE FILM Annika Gabriel Pecchia-Bekkum (Angela Smith) Department of English University of Utah honors college Annika Gabriel Pecchia-Bekkum Angela Smith |