Iron Men, Wooden Women: Gender and Seafaring in the Atlantic Word, 1700-1920.

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A fine collection of essays by some well-known scholars on relations of women to sailors, primarily but not exclusively in the American industry. The work focuses on the role of women in shipping, far beyond their role as figureheads of the “wooden” title. Much of their work was in pants roles, transvestites wearing men’s clothing to assure their work. There is little I found about their reading as pirates, cabin boys, cooks, etc., but most of the essays are fascinating on the gender issues.