Female Impersonation is a feminist and psychoanalytic investigation of the contemporary fascination with impersonation. Engaging with prominent gender theorists including Judith Butler, Gayatri Spivak and Luce Irigaray, Carole-Anne Tyler considers the questions raised by female impersonations. When, and for whom, is a performance of identity a masquerade, rather than the real thing? Why do people try to pass as what they are not? Is there a difference between masquerade and passing if both make an identity an unnatural act? Female Impersonation will be of interest to readers concerned with the complex politics at stake in every discussion - and performance - of identity.