"1861年6月初，雅妲‧愛賽克‧曼肯（Adah Isaacs Menken, 1835-1868）在一齣老掉牙的通俗劇《馬茲帕》（Mazeppa）中反串扮演劇名所指的男主角，以史無前例的驚險動作和「裸露」，給了美國紐約州州府奧巴尼市的觀眾一大震撼。在劇情高潮處，馬茲帕王子被敵人剝光衣服綁到馬背，然後馬匹往小山急奔而去。曼肯拋棄當時多數使用假人的習慣，親自上陣。更令人震驚的是，穿著肉色緊身褲的她看起來像是裸體。曼肯的《馬茲帕》造成極大的轟動，讓這齣戲不到兩個星期就能到紐約市演出，而後在美國各大城市巡演，並踏上倫敦和巴黎演出。短短四年內，曼肯成為歐美名人，並一度成為收入最優渥的女演員。
雖說曼肯是因反串馬茲帕而一夕成名，但其持續不墜的名氣和吸引力，絕不只是靠著「裸露的身體」，也因曼肯在舞臺和圖像所呈現的多元與多變，且異於主流的身體和性別展演。本文首先爬梳當時美國文化和劇場脈絡，檢視他們如何折衝女演員的性別角色和馴化其身體。在此脈絡下，可以理解一個性慾化的身體、拋頭露面的女性，完全違反當時理想的女性論述，是逾矩僭越的，但曼肯的性慾化身體在當時的劇場並非是特例，其後也不乏模仿曼肯卻始終默默無聞的女演員們。因此，曼肯成名後能維持轟動，且是在以中產階級觀眾為主的劇院演出是非常獨特的。本文認為，在當時對性別和性慾都是本質論的時代，曼肯在舞臺上、下呈現的多元身體和角色扮演，不論是高度性慾化的、雌雄同體的，或是貞潔居家的，無疑是令人困惑，也令人著迷的，其萬花筒式的身體和性別展演是成功推銷女演員作為一個商品的重要原因之一。"

"In early June of 1861, Adah Isaacs Menken shocked Albany, NY by performing a nude scene as the Tartar prince in Mazeppa, or The Wild Horse of Tartar. At the climax of each performance, the Tartar prince (Menken) was stripped naked by his captors and then tied to a wild horse, which would gallop up a mountain on the stage. Discarding the customary use of a dummy, Menken was strapped to the back of a real black horse. More astoundingly, she appeared “naked”, although actually wearing flesh-colored tights. Menken caused a great sensation and brought the show to New York City two weeks later. She soon toured to other big cities in America and afterwards to London and Paris with great success. Within four years, Menken had become a celebrity and for a period of time the most well-paid actress in America.
Although Menken became famous overnight by performing Mazeppa, the ongoing sensation she caused was a reaction to not only her “naked body”, but also her multiple ways of enacting her body and gender on stage and in pictures. This article first examines the theatrical and cultural context of nineteenth-century American theater by looking at the status of actresses and how the female body was tamed on the stage. Only in this context will one realize that Menken’s sexualized body is transgressive. However, “nudity” was nothing new in American show business and many imitators of Menken remained obscure. This article argues that Menken’s gender performance and various ways of representing her body, sexualized, androgynous, or chaste, helped her maintain her fame and sensational appeal."