Harriet’s an idiot.
Women and girls were played by young boys.
Which sometimes resulted in a boy playing a girl who was pretending to be a boy.
But there was never any doubt in the mind of the audience as to the sex of the actor.
Only those salacious Frenchies allowed women on stage. As we all know, actresses are all whores. (Actually, at the time they pretty much were.)
Come to think of it, not all that much has changed in that regard.
Hi. Did someone call me?