Hi @franzkavkas !!! I sent an ask yesterday about Kafka's diary entries about women dressed as men and you asked for clarification so I thought I'd put it here.
Entry one: October 5, 1911. "Last night at Cafe Savoy. Yiddish Troupe. Mrs. K, "male impersonator." In a caftan, short black trousers, white stockings, from the black vest a thin white woolen shirt emerges that is held in front at the throat by a knot and then flares into a wide, loose, long, spreading collar. On her head, confining her woman's hair but necessary anyhow and worn by her husband as well, a dark yarmulke, over it a large, soft black hat with a turned up brim." First entry mentioning Mrs. K (described in detail in the Yiddish theater article you sent). Goes on to describe her and he husband's characters in the play and then moves on.
Entry two: October 8, 1911 "Resemblance between Mrs. K and last year's Mrs. W. Mrs K. has a personality a trifle weaker... to make up for it she is prettier and more respectable... 'Male impersonator' is really a false title. By virtue of the fact that she is stuck in a caftan, her body is entirely forgotten. She only reminds one of her body by shrugging her shoulder and twisting her back." Evidently three days after the performance Kafka is still thinking about Mrs. K. He comments on her performance involving discussion of Talmudic literature here too. I won't psychoanalyze Kafka's desire to forget Mrs. K's body here (you can come to your own conclusions on that).
Entry three: November 1, 1911. Long entry that I don't have the time to type up. The basic gist is that Kafka has decided he's in love with Mrs. K. despite her being married. Kafka often has single-entry crushes on women, especially actors, but I thought it was worth noting.
Entry four: November 9, 1911. "A dream the day before yesterday: Evening theater... a girl I had liked a few months ago was playing a part, tensed her lithe body when she held on to the back of a chair in terror; from the balcony I pointed to the girl who was playing a male role, my companion did not like her."
Entry five: November 19, 1911. "Sunday. Dream: In the theater...my attention is called especially to a married couple forcing their way along a row of seats, since the woman has a dark-yellow, mannish, long-nosed face, and besides, as far as one can see in the crowd out of which her head towers, is wearing men's clothes..."
And this is just 1911! I don't especially know what to make of this information, but something LGBT is going on here. I have no idea what, however. Kafka could be working through his own gender confusion, through his own sexual feelings towards masculinity, or he could just have a very specific fetish for women in kippot (don't we all?) It seems to me to go beyond the general 1910s Western Jewish gender bending, although that certainly plays a part. Would love to hear your thoughts and will update you if I find/remember more entries.
