The Sorry History of Car Design for Women
A landscape architect of the 1950s predicted that lady drivers would want pastel-colored pavement on the interstate.
The Bengali Religious Traditions That Transcend Gender
The Baul and Fakir lineages understand the cosmos through pairs of opposite essences, including male and female.
Policing Intersex Americans’ Sex and Gender
Assigning one sex to people with ambiguous genitalia has a long history in medicine and law.
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.
Ernest Hemingway and Gender Fluidity
Despite his reputation for hypermasculinity, the author was fascinated by different forms of gender expression.
How the Gender Binary Limits Archaeological Study
One case study demonstrates how contemporary assumptions about gender in ancient societies risk obscuring the larger picture.
The “Scientific” Antifeminists of Victorian England
Nineteenth-century biologists employed some outrageous arguments in order to keep women confined to the home.
Is This a Gay House?
The British aristocrat Horace Walpole's villa Strawberry Hill was said to be evidence of his "degeneracy."
Santa and Mrs. Claus and the Christmas War of the Sexes
In the late nineteenth century, bachelor Santa got married. Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Claus contributed uncompensated labor to the Claus household.
Bringing Up Baby Straight
Many parents just assume their kids will turn out heterosexual. That's part of heteronormativity.