Gender, Sex, Race, Science, & the State

Summary

This script delves into the historical transformation of same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity from criminal acts to defined identities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It discusses the emergence of sexology, the conflation of gender and sexuality, and the impact on marginalized groups. The narrative also touches on the influence of these ideas on the women's suffrage movement, the medicalization of homosexuality, and the early advocacy for LGBTQ rights, highlighting the complex interplay between societal norms, science, and identity.

Takeaways

• 🏳️ The shift from the mid-19th century saw same-sex acts redefined from criminal acts to indicative of a person's identity, leading to the concept of 'sexual invert' or 'homosexual'.
• 🔬 Sexologists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries conflated gender and sexuality, categorizing a range of orientations and expressions under 'sexual invert'.
• 👤 Richard von Kraft-Ebbing defined sexual inversion as a congenital abnormality, viewing it negatively but later showing sympathy and advocating for decriminalization.
• 🌐 The medical community's approach to sexual abnormality varied by class and race, with more punitive measures for marginalized groups, reflecting societal biases.
• 🏥 Genital surgeries were experimented on without consent, often on enslaved and marginalized individuals, under the guise of medical treatment.
• 🏛 The government increased regulation, with laws targeting public disturbance and vice, impacting queer communities more directly.
• 📚 Havelock Ellis expanded on Kraft-Ebbing's ideas, viewing sexual inversion as a congenital issue but advocating some tolerance, influenced by his relationship with a sexual invert.
• 🚫 Ellis was more hostile toward lesbians, linking them to predatory behavior and feminism, reflecting the era's crisis about masculinity.
• 🌈 The rise of sexology allowed for the claiming of identities like lesbian or homosexual, fostering a sense of community among queer individuals.
• 👮‍♂️ Immigration policies used sexual norms to exclude individuals deemed 'likely to become a public charge', reflecting societal and racial hierarchies.
• 💼 The suffrage movement faced backlash, with suffragists depicted as abnormal to undermine their demands, revealing societal fears about gender roles.

Q & A

How did the perception of same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity change in the mid-19th century?

Prior to the mid-19th century, same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity were viewed as criminal acts. However, in the 1870s, sexologists began to argue that these acts indicated a specific type of person, termed 'sexual invert' or later 'homosexual,' marking a shift from emphasizing acts to identities.

What is the significance of the term 'sexual invert' in the context of the late 19th century?

The term 'sexual invert' was used by sexologists to define an individual who engaged in same-sex sexual acts and inverted gender norms. It conflated gender and sexuality, grouping a range of sexual orientations and gender expressions under one category.

How did Richard von Kraft-Ebbing's views on sexual inversion evolve over time?

Initially, Richard von Kraft-Ebbing defined sexual inversion as a congenital abnormality and a product of degeneration. However, his views softened later in his life, seeing sexual inverts more as victims of nature and advocating for the decriminalization of homosexual behavior.

What was the role of genital surgeries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Genital surgeries were experimented with by scientists of the era, often non-consensually performed on enslaved women, homosexual, and intersex individuals. Sexologists believed these surgeries could 'treat' sexual abnormality, reflecting deeply ingrained prejudices and lack of consent.

How did the treatment of sexual inverts differ between marginalized groups and white middle or upper classes?

Marginalized groups, such as people of color, the working class, and immigrants, were subjected to punitive campaigns and 'medical treatments' like genital surgeries. In contrast, native-born white individuals from middle or upper classes were treated with more sympathy and were seen as redeemable and treatable.

What was the impact of the women's suffrage movement on perceptions of gender and sexuality?

The women's suffrage movement was perceived as a threat to male authority and traditional gender roles. Sexologists used the concept of gender inversion to pathologize feminists, depicting them as abnormal and linking them to sexual deviance.

How did the United States Bureau of Immigration use sexological studies to control immigration?

The Bureau of Immigration used sexological studies to refuse entry to individuals deemed 'likely to become a public charge,' scrutinizing immigrants for signs of sexual or gender deviance. This effectively barred many with diverse gender and sexual identities from entering the country.

What was the significance of Magnus Hirschfeld's work in the context of LGBTQ rights?

Magnus Hirschfeld was a pioneer in advocating for LGBTQ rights. He founded the first homosexual rights organization, fought to repeal anti-homosexual laws, and established an institute to study human sexuality. He also supported transgender individuals and helped facilitate early gender transformation surgeries.

How did the rise of psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud's theories influence the understanding of sexual inversion?

Psychoanalysis and Freud's theories shifted the understanding of sexual inversion from a congenital defect to a condition related to the mind and environmental influences. Freud saw homosexuality as a symptom of arrested development but not as a result of degeneracy.

What was the effect of the medicalization of homosexuality and gender variation on societal attitudes?

The medicalization of homosexuality and gender variation led to an initial push for decriminalization and social acceptance. However, this was later overshadowed by pity, condescension, and aggressive medical interventions, reinforcing the perception of these identities as abnormal.

How did suffragists counter negative depictions and propagate their image during the women's suffrage movement?

Suffragists countered negative depictions by launching publicity campaigns that emphasized their femininity, respectability, and commitment to family values. They showcased suffragist mothers, wives, and affluent women to reassure the public that granting women the vote would not disrupt existing gender and racial hierarchies.

Outlines

00:00

🏳️ The Invention of Sexual Identities

This paragraph discusses the historical shift in the perception of same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity from isolated criminal acts to a defined identity. In the mid-19th century, sexologists began to categorize individuals engaging in same-sex acts as 'sexual inverts' or 'homosexuals'. This era marked the creation of modern queer history, with a transition from criminal acts to identities. Medical professionals started labeling individuals based on gender norms and sexual behaviors, conflating various sexual orientations and gender expressions into one category. The narrative also touches on the negative views of sexual inversion by figures like Richard von Kraft-Ebbing, who later in life became more sympathetic, advocating for decriminalization while still defining homosexuality in opposition to heterosexuality.

05:00

👮‍♂️ Discrimination and Differential Treatment in Queer History

The second paragraph delves into the discriminatory practices against queer individuals, particularly those from marginalized groups. It highlights the differential treatment based on class and race, where white middle or upper-class individuals were treated more sympathetically compared to others who faced punitive measures like imprisonment or commitment to asylums. The paragraph also introduces the concept of 'situational homosexuality' and increasing government regulation, with laws targeting queer people under public disturbance statutes. Havelock Ellis is mentioned for his work expanding on Kraft-Ebbing's ideas, recommending tolerance for sexual inversion, yet displaying hostility towards lesbians. The era's crisis of masculinity and the perceived threats to male authority, such as the women's suffrage movement and immigration, are also discussed.

10:03

🛂 Immigration Control and the Policing of Sexuality

This paragraph examines the role of the United States Bureau of Immigration in policing sexual and gender norms during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It describes how immigrants with diverse gender and sexual identities were prevented from entering the country under the guise of medical treatment. Immigrants were scrutinized for signs of degeneracy, with physical examinations searching for abnormalities. Women traveling alone were often suspected of prostitution. The narrative also touches on anti-Asian sentiment and the denial of citizenship to Chinese and Indian men engaging in interracial encounters, reinforcing the connection between sexual norms and racial hierarchies.

15:03

🏥 The Evolution of Sexology and the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights

The fourth paragraph discusses the evolution of sexology, with a focus on Magnus Hirschfeld's contributions to the understanding and acceptance of homosexuality and transgender identities. Hirschfeld, who organized the first homosexual rights organization and fought against paragraph 175 in Germany, advocated for LGBTQ+ rights and against police harassment. The narrative also explores the influence of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis on the perception of sexual inversion, moving away from the idea of congenital defects to environmental influences and upbringing. The paragraph concludes with the emergence of a binary understanding of homosexuality and heterosexuality, leading to the erasure of bisexuality from discussions.

20:04

🗳️ Women's Suffrage and the Intersection with Gender Norms

This paragraph explores the relationship between the women's suffrage movement and the perception of gender norms. It describes how suffragists were depicted as abnormal and how their concerns were dismissed by sexologists using ideas of gender inversion. The narrative discusses the anti-suffragist movement's fear that granting women the right to vote would disrupt gender roles and the family structure. The paragraph also examines the propaganda campaign launched by suffragists to counter negative depictions, emphasizing their femininity and respectability to reassure the public that women's suffrage would not threaten existing hierarchies.

25:05

🎭 Challenging Gender Norms: Queer Suffragists and Personal Freedom

The final paragraph highlights the stories of individuals who challenged gender norms and fought for personal freedom alongside women's suffrage. It mentions figures like Annie Tinker, who defied expectations of feminine appearance and behavior, and Alice Dunbar Nelson, who engaged in relationships with both men and women. The paragraph also discusses the irony of suffragist leaders living lives that differed from the image they promoted in their propaganda, emphasizing their fight for the right to dress, live, and love as they pleased.

Keywords

💡Sexology

Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality and sexual behavior. In the video's context, it refers to the field of study that emerged in the late 19th century, which began to categorize and define sexual behaviors and identities, such as 'sexual invert' or 'homosexual.' Sexologists like Richard von Kraft-Ebbing played a significant role in pathologizing certain sexual behaviors and identities, which had a profound impact on how society and the medical field viewed and treated LGBTQ individuals.

💡Sexual Inversion

Sexual inversion was a term used by early sexologists to describe individuals whose sexual desires did not align with their assigned sex at birth. It was considered a form of degeneration or abnormality. The video explains how this concept was used to label people who engaged in same-sex behaviors or exhibited gender non-conformity, conflating gender and sexuality into a single category.

💡Homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to a sexual orientation where an individual is attracted to members of the same sex. The video discusses how homosexuality was 'invented' as a distinct identity during the 19th century, shifting from being viewed as isolated acts to an inherent characteristic of a person's identity.

💡Heterosexuality

Heterosexuality is the sexual orientation where an individual is attracted to members of the opposite sex. The script mentions the creation of a binary opposition between heterosexuality and homosexuality, which helped define what was considered 'normal' and 'abnormal' in terms of sexual behavior and identity.

💡Gender Non-Conformity

Gender non-conformity refers to the behavior or gender expression that does not align with societal expectations based on an individual's assigned sex at birth. The video describes how early sexologists, such as Kraft-Ebbing, considered effeminacy in men and 'manishness' in women as evidence of sexual inversion, thus linking gender expression to sexual identity.

💡Decriminalization

Decriminalization in the context of the video refers to the advocacy for the removal of criminal penalties for certain behaviors, specifically homosexual acts. Figures like Magnus Hirschfeld advocated for the decriminalization of homosexuality and the recognition of LGBTQ rights.

💡Medicalization

Medicalization is the process of defining and treating a phenomenon as a medical issue rather than a moral or legal one. The video explains how sexual behaviors and identities were increasingly seen through a medical lens, leading to interventions and treatments for what was considered 'sexual abnormality.'

💡Immigration Bureau

The Immigration Bureau is mentioned in the video as an institution that policed sexual and gender norms, particularly in the context of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It used medical examinations and assumptions about sexual morality to exclude immigrants deemed as 'sexually abnormal' or likely to become a public charge.

💡Feminism

Feminism is the advocacy for women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. The video discusses the connection between feminism and the perception of sexual inversion, with some sexologists suggesting a link between feminist activism and lesbianism, and anti-suffragists depicting feminists as abnormal or threatening to traditional gender roles.

💡Suffrage Movement

The suffrage movement refers to the political campaign for women's right to vote. The video highlights the tension between the suffrage movement and societal views on gender and sexuality, with suffragists often being depicted as gender non-conforming and their activism being linked to sexual deviance by opponents.

💡Patriarchy

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and are dominant in roles of political leadership, moral authority, and social privilege. The script explains how the emerging sexological studies and the categorization of sexual identities were used to uphold patriarchal structures and maintain the power dynamics that favored heterosexual, white, middle-class men.

💡Transgender

Transgender refers to individuals whose gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. The video mentions the early discussions and recognition of transgender identities, such as in the work of Magnus Hirschfeld, who wrote 'Transvestites' and advocated for the rights and understanding of transgender people.

Highlights

Prior to the mid-19th century, same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity were viewed as criminal acts.

Sexologists in the 1870s began to categorize such acts as indicative of a specific type of person, termed 'sexual invert' or later 'homosexual'.

The shift from viewing homosexuality as acts to identities marked the 'invention' of homosexuality and heterosexuality as categories.

Late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the emergence of medical discourse around gender and sexuality.

Sexual inversion was defined by sexologists as not only engaging in same-sex acts but also inverting gender norms.

Sexologists conflated gender and sexuality, grouping diverse orientations and expressions under 'sexual inverts'.

Richard von Kraft-Ebbing viewed homosexuality as a congenital abnormality resulting from degeneration.

Kraft-Ebbing's negative view of sexual inverts later shifted to a more sympathetic stance, viewing them as victims of nature.

Sexologists advocated for medical treatment over criminal punishment for white middle-class individuals with sexual inversion.

Marginalized groups bore the brunt of punitive campaigns against gender and sexual transgressions, often subjected to non-consensual genital surgeries.

Havelock Ellis expanded on Kraft-Ebbing's ideas, recommending tolerance for sexual inverse and viewing it as a congenital abnormality.

Ellis believed that early intervention could prevent the emergence of homosexual behaviors.

Ellis was more hostile toward lesbians, describing them as predatory and pathological, linking them to feminism.

The rise of sexology coincided with a crisis about masculinity, particularly in the United States, affecting definitions of manhood.

Immigration officials used sexological studies to exclude immigrants with diverse gender and sexual identities.

Magnus Hirschfeld advocated for LGBT rights, founded the first homosexual rights organization, and studied human sexuality.

Psychologists in the 1920s began to view sexual inversion through the lens of psychoanalysis, focusing on environmental influences.

The binary between homosexuality and heterosexuality emerged, sidelining bisexuality and other identities.

Queer individuals began to claim identities and form communities despite being defined as abnormal by the state and psychology.

Sexologists used gender inversion theories to dismiss women's suffrage movement, depicting feminists as abnormal and threats to the family.

Anti-suffragists feared that women's right to vote would disrupt gender roles and devastate the family.

Suffragists countered negative depictions by promoting an image of ideal femininity and moral purity to reassure the public.

Queer suffragists fought not only for the right to vote but also for personal freedom in dress, living, and love.

Transcripts

prior to the mid 19th century

same-sex sexuality and gender

non-conformity

was seen as discrete criminally

punishable

acts but beginning in the 1870s

sexologists began to argue that such

acts placed the individual in a specific

category that actually indicated a type

of person

what they called at the time a sexual

invert or later on they would refer to

as a homosexual what had been

up to this point just an isolated sexual

act

now became the basis for a whole

identity

so what we see then is a shift from an

emphasis on acts

to identities thus scholars say

that homosexuality and heterosexuality

were essentially invented during this

time period

through the defining of what was normal

and what was abnormal

in gender and sexuality so this whole

like medical

discourse then begins to emerge around

this

these topics about the late 19th and

early 20th centuries

and this era is often seen by historians

as the beginning of what we consider our

modern era of queer history

so with this shift in the late 19th and

early 20th century

a man for example might be arrested for

sodomy

but was more likely to be labeled as a

sexual

invert by medical professionals than

simply a criminal

um as before so sexologists

these are where individuals who studied

sex defined a sexual invert as

an individual who not only engaged in

same-sex sexual acts

but who inverted gender norms so

effeminacy in men

and manishness in women were all seen as

evidence of sexual inversion

so essentially what they did is they

conflated gender and sexuality

therefore many sexologists collapse into

one category

a range of sexual orientations and

gender expressions

that we would now distinguish as lgbtq

right we might

define it as bisexuality transgender

gender non-conforming behaviors

or homosexuality but all of these

individuals were defined as sexual

inverts in the

late 19th century so take for example

viennese psychiatrist richard von kraft

ebbing

who was writing in the 1880s and he

defined sexual inversion

as including a variety of sexual and

non-sexual behaviors

that reflected a complete inversion of

gender norms

so kraft ebbing believed that

homosexuality was a congenital

abnormality

what he called a product of degeneration

so essentially it was a physical moral a

mental deterioration

an evolutionary decline resulting from

what he perceived as widespread sexual

immorality

these characteristics therefore were

more typically associated with primitive

people

but his negative view as you this as you

can tell this is a very negative view

of the sexual invert

that his negative view did shift over

time he became more sympathetic

later on in his life he saw them more as

victims of nature

but still he he advocated uh

for the decriminalization of homosexual

behavior

um but he defined homosexuality in

opposition to heterosexuality

so essentially creating normal versus

abnormal

he espoused the victorian idea that

normal women

generally had less sexual desire than

men and therefore only

inverted or sexually deviant women

demonstrated sexual desire

so in popular thought the female

homosexual

that kraft ebbing defined began to pose

a sort of new type of sexualized danger

scientists of this era also began to

experiment with a variety of genital

surgeries

and they would typically practice these

on the bodies of enslaved women

these procedures were often completed

non-consensually

and they were also conducted on the

bodies of

homosexual and intersex individuals

sexologists believed that cases of

sexual abnormality among white

middle-class individuals should be dealt

with as a private individual problem

better treated medically than criminally

and they did this in part because they

believed that sexual inversion

especially among people of color working

class or immigrants

was more common because they believed

that

those groups were lazy they were immoral

less driven and criminal

and they argued that those individuals

lacked the willpower to control their

actions

so queer people from marginalized groups

bore the brunt of punitive campaigns

against gender and sexual transgressions

in other words they were often sent to

prison or committed to state asylums

under the guise of quote medical

treatment

those labeled as sexual inverts

individuals

who were native born from white middle

or upper classes

tend to be treated with much more

sympathy than they were viewed as

redeemable as treatable

they were seen as an aberration of the

norm

in other words they didn't represent

their class or their

their race but this is an irony because

homosexuality or gender transgressions

and other

racial groups or classes was seen as a

symbol of the sexual degeneration of the

whole

group sexologists at this time also

invented this concept of

tendencies phases what they called

situational homosexuality

to explain a way why otherwise normal

people engaged in same-sex or gender

transgressive behaviors

and this allowed them to really maintain

a strict line

between heterosexual and homosexual

you also see increasing regulation at

this time by the government

we'll talk more about that in a second

but for example you have

sodomy laws still on the books

but queer people are more often arrested

under public disturbance statues

vice crackdown campaigns gay men

and transgender individuals were

targeted more directly by these laws

cisgender women were targeted as well

but they tended

to focus on heterosexual women and to

try to punish

what they call deviant heterosexuality

right so

like for example um heterosexual women

who engaged in premarital or

extramarital sex were heavily punished

because these were seen as a threat to

the heterosexual family

since homosexuality among queer women

was often less visible

it was more difficult for the state to

regulate and control

there was another sexologist named

havelock ellis and he expanded on the

ideas of kraft ebbing

he defined sexual inversion as a

congenital abnormality

and recommended it some degree of

tolerance for sexual inverse

his marriage to edith please

was interesting as well she identified

as a sexual invert

herself and so this

may have motivated his desire to study

human sexuality

it may have motivated his desire to

remove the stigma

around homosexuality he began collecting

case studies

of sexual inverts and his findings were

published

in the united states in 1895 and then

later in 1897 a full book

of his findings came out and ellis

argued that sexual inversion was an

abnormality that it did occur

at some point during the development of

the embryo he believed that

it was a congenital abnormality um that

could emerge later in life in the form

of gender inversion

or homosexual behaviors but he also

believed that it could be avoided if

caught early enough that children who

were predisposed

toward these activities or behaviors

could be protected

by preventing them from falling into the

wrong crowd or being exposed to

unhealthy environments

he was pretty forgiving of gay men in

his writing

but he was much more hostile toward

lesbians

he described lesbians as predatory

as a byproduct of feminism and as

therefore pathological

so this discussion about sexology

was also coinciding with a growing

crisis

about masculinity especially in the

united states

so the women's suffrage movement the

fight for a woman's right to vote

was seen as a threat to male authority

the women were demanding their equality

immigrants were arriving in large

numbers in the nation at the time

demanding jobs and white native-born

american men saw them as a threat to

their sense of economic and political

power

birth rates began declining as people

married a little bit later in life

and pursued education and as immigration

increased

some white people felt that there was

the potential for the race to die

out and this would lead to a decline in

the numbers of

anglo children so this caused some

anxiety

the closing of the frontier the rise of

countries like japan seemed to threaten

white men

sense of supremacy the definition of

proper manhood began to focus

on a very narrow definition of a

heterosexual

manly man what was defined as

masculine then became much more

pronounced

they used science to try to create and

justify their hierarchies of gender

class and race

to essentially preserve their position

of power

and they used these sexological studies

to uphold

a white middle-class system of gender

and

race in the united states it allowed

them to sort people into normal and

abnormal

based off of sexual identity gender

and it upheld patriarchy it upheld white

supremacy

the united states bureau of immigration

during this period

began to refuse entry to people who they

said were

quote likely to become a public charge

and they used this to prevent people a

diverse gender and sexual identities

from entering the country

so immigrants were asked about their

home lives and their personal

relationships

they were asked if they were married if

they wanted to marry if they had

feelings for individuals of the opposite

sex

immigration officials examined the

behaviors and the physical bodies of

immigrants looking for any sign of

disease or abnormality

they looked at the facial expression the

gate the physique

the genitals to just look for any kind

of hint of degeneracy

there are records of male immigrants who

were diagnosed by the immigration

doctors

with a quote lack of sexual development

or quote arrested sexual development

so for example an individual with a

small or defective penis

for example might indicate to

immigration authorities that the

individual was quote predisposed

toward abnormal sexual conduct

immigrants diagnosed with arrested

sexual development

could be excluded as public charges

now women were more frequently excluded

on the grounds being suspected of

prostitution

so if a woman was traveling alone or

traveling with a other woman

it was assumed that she would become a

public charge and she was automatically

dismissed

so this is how many homosexual women

were dismissed as well

because individuals of color individuals

from

lower classes and immigrants were

believed to be inclined toward

sexual perversion they were especially

subject to intense scrutiny

anti-asian sentiment for example was at

its peak

in the late 19th in the early 20th

centuries

chinese and indian men who engaged in

interracial sexual encounters were

arrested

they were charged with sodomy they were

marked as deviants

as a result they were denied access to

citizenship

their white partners on the other hand

were often described as their quote

victims

the state thus policed sexual and gender

norms

through the immigration bureau and

effectively denied

became a huge advocate for lgbt people

he believed that homosexuality was a

rare but natural variant of human

sexuality

he did not believe it was a symptom of

degeneracy

he also believed that lgbt people should

have rights they shouldn't be ridiculed

they shouldn't be condemned

so at about around 1896

he organized a scientific humanitarian

committee and they became the first

homosexual

rights organization in the world they

fought to repeal paragraph 175

in germany which made gay sex between

men illegal

he also founded an institute in berlin

to study human sexuality

in 1910 he wrote the transvestites the

first

book length discussion of transgender

people and he tried to end the

harassment of transgender and homosexual

people by the police

he employed transgender workers at his

institute for sexual science

and individuals underwent their first

documented

genital transformation surgery with the

help of hirschfeld

he also played a role in helping to

arrange medical care

for lily elbe who was the subject of the

novel in the film

the danish girl but the rise of the

nazis

and hitler ended his research as the

nazis destroyed his institute

he actually had to leave the country to

survive

by the 1920s some psychologists began

looking at the work of sigmund freud

and the theories of psychoanalysis to

begin re-examining

sexual inversion and they defined it now

not so much as a congenital defect

as related to the mind and to the

environmental influences

on a child so for example freud examined

an individual's upbringing the influence

of their parents and their friends

on the development of sexuality freud

saw homosexuality as a symptom of

arrested development

or thwarted maturity but he did not

believe that they were evolutionary

throwbacks

that it was not a result of degeneracy

instead he argued if anything it was a

result of the stressors of modern

civilized people

by the 1920s psychologists began

defining inversion

more in terms of same-sex desire or

sexual object choice

and the idea of homosexuality was

adopted

as this new binary emerges between

homosexuality and heterosexuality

bisexuality was effectively removed from

the discussion

and that's an erasure we still see often

today

so once the problem of homosexuality and

gender variation

moved from being considered primarily a

punishable

moral offense to becoming a medical

matter

these initial appeals for

decriminalization

and social acceptance were increasingly

overshadowed by a sense of

pity condescension and really aggressive

medical interventions

all this talk about gender and sexual

variation though

did allow individuals the ability to

name and therefore to claim

an identity so for example in 1899

american playwright and poet natalie

barney wrote

i consider myself without shame albinos

aren't

reproached for having pink eyes and

whitish hair why should they hold it

against me for being a lesbian

it's a question of nature my queerness

isn't a vice

it isn't deliberate and it harms no one

so queer people increasingly began to

see themselves

as a distinct group and to identify

as as lesbian or homosexual

or gay at the time and this therefore

allows

some sense of community to develop among

individuals

even as the state and

psychology began to define them more and

more as abnormal and in need of

treatment

so let's talk about the women's suffrage

movement for just a minute

um as women began demanding the right to

vote

sexologists used these ideas about

gender inversion

to analyze these women and to dismiss

their concerns

they depicted feminists as abnormal

women

as sexual inverts and people like ellis

argued that

normal women were women who did not

demand these rights who

willingly acquiesce to male authority

so lesbian bisexual asexual

gender non-conforming women were seen as

threats to the white family

that they would corrupt normal white

women and ellis

argued that there was a clear link

between feminism

and lesbianism and whether lesbianism

caused feminism or feminism caused

lesbianism

remained a controversy but sexologists

especially male sexologists perceived

these as

abnormal lesbians and feminists people

who opposed giving women the right to

vote were called anti-suffragists

and they argued that women would

upend existing gender roles they would

destroy the family

if they could vote now they also

anti-suffragist also argued that men's

place was in the public sphere that they

were the provider and the protector of

the family

and women's place was in the home caring

for the house and the children

so they feared that if women won the

right to vote

that women would want more they would

want an education

they would want a career they might want

more rights

and these anti-suffragists worried that

this would end in a devastation to the

family

they wondered what would happen to men

what would happen to children

and we can see these fears reflected in

postcards

and they actually created these

postcards to convince people not to vote

for women's right to vote and they show

what could happen

if the vote was granted to women

and that gender roles would be disrupted

or worse they would be completely

reversed

so if you take a look at this first

postcard you can take a few minutes

and you can analyze it yourself

if you'd like work through it and pause

the video here and

and note your analysis what you probably

noticed

is that there's this sign in the upper

left hand corner and it says that

everybody works but mother

because she's a suffragette and so the

message here is that a woman neglects

her wifely and motherly chores when she

chooses to become a suffragist or

suffragette

now uh you'll notice that the father

here he's actually doing the laundry

and laundry was considered women's work

and he's also watching the baby at the

same time which is also considered

the job of a woman and notice at the

bottom

it says i want to vote but my wife won't

let me

here you can see that gender norms are

completely reversed because now a wife

tells her husband what to do and in this

case he

is disenfranchised by his wife's

newfound political freedom

and he wears the apron a clothing item

typically associated with women

men are therefore essentially

emasculated by women's quest for the

vote

and the inversion of the spheres

so this postcard really represents all

those ideas about gender norms being

reversed

now anti-suffragists depicted

suffragists as manish

women and men who supported their right

to vote as feminine

women and so the leaders of major

suffrage organizations

really worried about this image and so

they launched publicity campaigns and

they defensively sought to combat these

negative depictions

and this is kind of ironic because these

are the same suffrages right that are

daily transgressing

normative bounds of expected female

behavior they're participating in

speeches they're marching down the

street

they're taking part in these pickets but

they insisted that the suffragists in

their ranks present an

outward appearance of femininity because

they were worried about these negative

images they instituted guidelines about

suffragist appearances dress and

behavior

they promoted stories about beautiful

young affluent suffragists

and they positioned the prominent wives

and mothers in their movement

especially the wealthy upper class white

women

in the front of the campaign and they

did this trying to reassure an

apprehensive public

that granting women the right to vote

would not drastically change

things so if you take a look at the

second

image here you can see this

and again take a few minutes maybe pause

the video here

and note your observations about this

image and how this reflects this

publicity campaign of the suffragists to

counter the negative

depictions of suffrages

okay now let's look at it together you

probably noticed first off the flags

that they're all carrying flags

waving the american flag indicates their

pride as american citizens

and their right to the advantages of

citizenship including the random vote

suffragist mothers you notice they have

their babies there their children

um the point was to demonstrate that

suffragist mothers do not neglect their

babies and children

their children are happy and they're

healthy they're future citizens

notice also that the women are all

wearing white white represented moral

purity as mothers they insisted that the

vote would allow them to protect and

nurture

their children just as they could

protect and nurture all of society's

children and of course notice that

they're all

kind of models of ideal femininity they

exhibit

charm grace their middle class

respectability right through their dress

and through their behavior

so you can see through this postcard the

counter a propaganda campaign that

suffer just

launched to try to respond to the image

of the manish man-hating

anti-family suffragist and you've seen

other examples of this you've probably

seen the photo of vanessa holland

um they called her the most beautiful

suffragist she was an attorney

she led the washington dc suffrage

parade in 1913.

they dressed her in an all-white costume

on horseback she was kind of a symbolic

joan of arc leading women into the

future

and they they positioned her and white

suffragists in the front of the parade

to create this image

of beautiful young single white women

leading the parade also noticed that

they were these marriageable suffragists

right they were eligible young women

and this decision combined with the

decision that suffragists should march

in separate sections in the parade was

intended to highlight

the whiteness the heteronormativity of

suffragists

they wanted the public to know that

granting women the right to vote pose no

real threat to existing gender and

racial hierarchies

the vote would not turn women away from

men or marriage and the vote would not

take away power from

white men now there were of course

suffragists who pushed back against this

narrative there were black suffragists

who refused to be silent like the black

college women from howard university

who pushed back against discrimination

to demand their right to march in the

parade

there was ida b wells who refused to be

segregated by defiantly

marching alongside her peers in the

illinois delegation of the parade

and there was suffered just like annie

tinker who refused to conform to the

image of respectable middle class

womanhood

if tinker were alive today she might

have described herself as non-binary

gender fluid or butch but

in 1913 there were no words like that to

describe her

they described her as manish right she

wore this masculine style hat

uh an outfit um she proudly led a

cavalry of suffragists on horseback

in the new york suffrage parade and her

appearance elicited much comment from

parade

goers in the press the new york times

described her

garb as distinctive as manish but she

was defining the gender norms

of her day margaret chung was a

chinese-american physician who lived in

california in the early 20th century and

chung was an advocate for the voting

rights

of women not only here in the united

states but also in china

chung really kind of stood outside the

norm for her time through her gender

non-conforming clothing and her

behaviors she defied what was expected

of

respectable feminine women for that era

chung would often be seen wearing men's

clothes she would wear a hat

a men's jacket she would carry a cane

and she was known for behaviors like

smoking drinking and gambling that were

considered way outside the bounds of

respectable femininity

alice dunbar nelson was a black writer

and activist who worked

as an organizer for the congressional

union in pennsylvania and delaware

she was truly committed to this idea of

righting the wrongs

because she wanted to win the vote not

only to secure gender equality

but to ensure racial equality by ending

violence and discrimination against the

black community

alistain bar nelson's private life

really falls outside the dominant

heterosexual narrative for the time

because she engaged in multiple

relationships with men and women

if she were alive today she might

identify as bisexual or pansexual or we

don't really know

because those terms weren't available to

her at the time but

her queer domestic arrangements her

queer love affairs really did defy the

norm for someone in her time period

and most of the leaders of the suffrage

movement did not conform to the image

that the suffragists ironically worked

to create

many like lucy anthony and anna howard

shaw

carrie chapman cat mary hey for example

they never married they lived in

committed relationships with other women

and suffragists thus were you know they

were they were

living a life that was different from

the one that they were promoting in the

propaganda

and these suffragists these queer

suffragists they were not only fighting

for the right to vote

but in many ways they were fighting for

their own personal freedom to dress

live and even love as they pleased