The “Deviant” African Genders That Colonialism Condemned
European travellers and anthropologists found that their gendered worldview didn’t easily map onto the societies they encountered.
Lesbians in Prison: The Making of a Threat
A scandal at a Massachusetts women's prison marked a change in the construction of the "dangerous" female homosexual.
A Brief History of the Women’s KKK
The Women’s KKK, an affiliated-but-separate racist organization for white Protestant women, courted members through an insincere “empowerment feminism.”
The Power of the Intersectional Protest Image
In an age of hashtag activism and partisan news, social media offers possibilities for intersectional movements to reimagine images of Black protest.
How the Mercury 13 Fought to Get Women in Space
In 1962, the House of Representatives convened a special subcommittee to determine if women should be admitted into NASA’s space program.
What Was Women’s Liberation?
The short-lived radical movement within feminism has gotten a bad reputation for centering white women's experiences. Is that deserved?
Before Vaccines, Variolation Was Seriously Trendy
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu is credited with popularizing variolation among the aristocracy in England.
What’s Behind the Very Real Butch Quarantine Hair Crisis?
What's a masculine lesbian to do when her hair starts getting too long? Look at history for inspiration.
“No Unescorted Ladies Will Be Served”
For decades, bars excluded single women, claiming the crowds were too “rough” and “boisterous” and citing vague fears of “fallen girls.”