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calarco 's review for:
Female Husbands
by Jen Manion
Jen Manion’s [b:Female Husbands: A Trans History|51771013|Female Husbands A Trans History|Jen Manion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574189022l/51771013._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72140890] is truly a great piece of research on a too underexplored part of history. Focusing on cases of individuals who were born as women and then lived as men in England and the United States throughout the 1700s to the early 1900s, there is a great deal of content to unpack.
Expressions of gender and sexuality in the 1700s were something altogether different from gender and sexuality in each subsequent century. This reality in and of itself makes it challenging to ascertain motivations for trans-ing gender, let alone what past individuals’ identities actually were. A woman (or someone assigned as a woman at birth) could dress and live as a man for so many reasons beyond gender affirmation. This includes seeking economic autonomy and mobility, wanting to marry a woman in peace, and even simply not wanting to marry a man. For so much of history, a woman’s entire livelihood was linked to the man she was married to, and the circumstances of a marriage were more often an imposition than a clear choice that women were privileged enough to get to make on their own. So for so many reasons, you could see women living as men.
Manion does great work that is respectful of these vague circumstances, delves into the complicated context of these choices, and does not rely on baseless speculation. Overall, this is a great book filled with fascinating stories, and I definitely recommend it if this is a topic you want to know more about.
Expressions of gender and sexuality in the 1700s were something altogether different from gender and sexuality in each subsequent century. This reality in and of itself makes it challenging to ascertain motivations for trans-ing gender, let alone what past individuals’ identities actually were. A woman (or someone assigned as a woman at birth) could dress and live as a man for so many reasons beyond gender affirmation. This includes seeking economic autonomy and mobility, wanting to marry a woman in peace, and even simply not wanting to marry a man. For so much of history, a woman’s entire livelihood was linked to the man she was married to, and the circumstances of a marriage were more often an imposition than a clear choice that women were privileged enough to get to make on their own. So for so many reasons, you could see women living as men.
Manion does great work that is respectful of these vague circumstances, delves into the complicated context of these choices, and does not rely on baseless speculation. Overall, this is a great book filled with fascinating stories, and I definitely recommend it if this is a topic you want to know more about.