While politicians refer to “gender ideology” as a recent invention of contemporary LGBTQ+ communities in the U.S., the concept of gender is older than one might think. One particularly vibrant public discourse of gender circulated in the UK from the 1740s through the 1840s concerning the elusive, rebellious, and enchanting character of the “female husband.” Female husbands were people assigned female who transitioned, lived as men, and married women. They persisted in living as men despite tremendous risk, violence, and punishment and without access to medical assistance. When husbands were outed as being assigned female, the press reported such accounts enthusiastically and frequently, widely promoting the idea that sex was in fact distinct from gender.

Sponsored by English, Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies, History, and Global Nineteenth-Century Studies

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