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    TheocraticjelloAlexis Coe
    10/07/14 3:25pm

    As a transgender guy, I wonder if she was actually masquerading, of trans with no outlet at all. Not excusing murder, just wondering because old stories like this always make me wonder. The trans community has a hard time with historical continuity.

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      Ten Earth ImpsTheocraticjello
      10/07/14 4:00pm

      I've read a couple of interesting books lately on the subject - one on "Crossdressers" in history written in 1993, and one on "FTM transsexuals" written in 1997. (I'm putting those in quotes because the language used in both books is outdated terminology that we wouldn't think of using in an academic setting today.) Both of them recounted lengthy history of assigned female at birth individuals dressing and "passing" as men - far more than I had any idea, with a massive uptick after the Industrial Revolution, when opportunities to earn a living as an independent person not relying on agriculture and family increased.

      As one of the books pointed out, the main reason these stories enter any historical record is because the individual is "found out" one way or another. Sometime the discovery is at death, sometimes when the individual is hospitalized, or sometimes otherwise exposed by someone. Often the reason we know is because of legal reasons - either they ran afoul of the law and were discovered, or because it was illegal to transgress gender boundaries, so after they were "exposed" the person wound up in court. And because they were in legal situations, what the individual says to the court about why they were transgressing gender boundaries was often a legal defense, so it's hard to know if they were telling the real truth, or if they actually were "trans" in the sense we understand today.

      And that's just the people we know about; there were probably lots of gender-bending folks who successfully "passed" as chosen gender and thus never entered any historical record.

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      TheocraticjelloTen Earth Imps
      10/07/14 4:15pm

      I'd love a good history of "my people" so to speak. I think you are right. The Civil War era had lots of women that joined. Some actually masquerading, some seemed to live as men. Now that I think about it, they came to light because they were outed. Cool post.

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    Jennifer EDMONDSONAlexis Coe
    10/07/14 3:12pm

    hmm, as a lesbian i feel obligated to read this. the story sounds interesting enough but the writing style seems...eh...

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      linaleeJennifer EDMONDSON
      10/07/14 3:45pm

      The magazine Creative Nonfiction covered this same story a few issues back (winter last year, I think? You could find it easily) with better writing IMO. If you're interested in it, it's a great magazine and an interesting story.

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      vintagejunkieJennifer EDMONDSON
      10/07/14 4:36pm

      I disagree—I was riveted.

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    AP BearAlexis Coe
    10/07/14 3:33pm

    tl;dr
    Victorian era lesbian(possibly trans man) kills lover in obsessive rage following forced breakup.

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      crystalskullAlexis Coe
      10/07/14 5:57pm

      I'm not feeling this at all. The romantic doodle cursive is way gross for what is, I guess, just an "if I can't have you no one will" story that ends in a woman's (women's?) murder.

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        catjuggalarAlexis Coe
        10/07/14 3:38pm

        Memphis has such a rich history of stories to tell. This one is really sad and horrible, but I would be interested in reading more about it. I can't count the number of times I've been on Front St. but had never heard this one.

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