Joan of Arc
legendary. unrepentant. Proud.
JOAN OF ARC, 1412 - 1431, France
Joan of Arc has been assigned many names: cross-dresser, heretic, maid, witch, saint. This piece asks, what if Joan of Arc hadn’t needed a label. What if she hadn’t been burned for wearing men’s clothing but recognized as an equal for the successful military campaigns she led, and as a gender non-conformist revolutionary? Artists and historians haven’t quite given us a true picture of Joan of Arc because her story doesn’t fit neatly within any binary. She was a strong legendary leader, unrepentant and a proud soldier. She was a virgin, pure of tongue, naive, respectful, self-sacrificing and unassuming. Mark Twain once praised Joan as the ultimate symbol of female leadership, asking, “Who was more patriotic than Joan of Arc? Who was braver? Who has given us a grander instance of self-sacrificing devotion?” She’s also included among the “great men” in the satirical essay, “Last Words of Great Men,” written in 1889.
Her accusers were fixated on her choice of clothing. Has much changed since the 15th century for women in public life? To her prosecutors, Joan’s male dress represented her growing indifference toward accepted Catholic dogma and the roles and expectations for women in the 15th century. As the prosecution continues to rehash the issue of her dressing as a man day after day, Joan eventually becomes annoyed, proclaiming, “[The clothes are] a trifling thing and of no consequence. And I did not put them on by counsel of any man, but by the command of God.” Joan professed a profound connection with God, a still small voice inside her, who she claimed called her to battle and led her to military victory. Where would we be in our understanding and acceptance of diverse gender expressions had Joan of Arc been able to live and lead military campaigns dressed as a man as God, her innermost knowing, had commanded her to?
Artwork by Moonjube
