women’s roles in theater were played by men.
The men actors knew they were men. The audience knew they were men. There was no confusion
I was responding to post inquiring about how audiences would react to trans “women” being cast in women’s roles. It’s hard for me to imagine Lady Macbeth or Juliette being played by a man, and a trans “woman” is, to me, a man. I guess that was my point. But clearly, men did play women, and they may indeed have been effeminate men. There have always been effeminate men, and they are not always homosexuals and they have NEVER been “women”. I have had occasion to meet people whose sex I could not readily discern, and not because the individual was role playing or being coy. One has to be careful not to convey unintended slights.
The other day at the grocery store I had a very unpleasant cashier, and noticed too late that the individual, most clearly a man, sported a nametag that proclaimed him to be Bernice and his pronouns were “She, Her, Hers”. This cashier was one of the most unpleasant individuals I ever encountered, no surprise. Fortunately, the bagger, a woman in her seventies, I trou, was as sweet as furry new kitten.