No cute bunnies or lambs in my files, I'm afraid. I do, however, have a lot of queer chickens. This is a painting of a hen-cock (c. 1900), a prize fighter, by English artist Herbert Atkinson. 🥚🐥🐔
Just a reminder that, following the Royal Society event in Jan, my article 'Mendel's Closet: Genetics, Eugenics and the Exceptions of Sex in Edwardian Britain' has been made freely available until the end of Feb/LGBTQ+ History Month.
Today I'm writing about how sex selection emerged as one of the leading promises of 20th-c. biologists/eugenicists as they got to grips with sexological genetics. 😬
Ad for The Science of Life (by Julian Huxley, G. P. Wells, & H. G. Wells) in Popular Science Monthly (March 1931).
Gynandromorph bordered white moth from Charles Barrett's Lepidoptera of the British Isles (1901). 🦋
At 11am (GMT) next Wednesday (31 Jan) I will be discussing my article 'Mendel's Closet' as part of the Royal Society history of science seminar series. 🏳️🌈 🧬
📢 At 11am (GMT) on Wednesday 31 January I will be discussing (online) my latest article, 'Mendel's Closet,' as part of the Royal Society history of science seminar series. 🧬🏳️🌈🐦
This is the only Black Friday deal I look forward to each year. Simply the best stay-at-home research resource. I've found many sexological gems over the years . . .
In June 2019 I acted as contributing editor to a queer-themed edition of Viewpoint: The Magazine of the British Society for the History of Science. I thought I would share it here today as it's #lgbtqstemday!
Gynandromorph Gouldian finch possessing female plumage on the left side and male on the right. Described and pictured in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1939. 🏳️🌈 🐦 :transgender:
'Every man & woman is hermaphrodite' (Charles Darwin, c.1838)
My 2021 article 'Darwin's Closet: The Queer Sides of The Descent of Man (1871)' in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society has now been viewed over 25K times! Please keep sharing: https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/191/2/323/6075648 🏳️🌈 🐒
Lovely image from 1800 depicting female deer with male-typical characteristics. It's titled 'Mannweiber unter dem Wilde' ('manwoman among the wild game', with thanks to @natureculture for help with the trans!). The title reflects the rampant anthropomorphism of the accompanying article. :transgender: 🦌 🏳️🌈
I'm reading Charles Darwin's barnacle study with a queer eye with a mind towards developing my 2021 article 'Darwin's Closet' . . . but, doing a bit of googling around it, I find that someone on Reddit has already beat me to the core thesis . . . 🤨
My 2021 article 'Darwin's Closet: The Queer Sides of The Descent of Man (1871)' in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society has now been viewed over 20K times! Please keep sharing: https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/191/2/323/6075648 🏳️🌈 🐒
🎂 A delightful birthday treat today, visiting Down House - former home of Charles Darwin - for the first time. This was long overdue!
Amid all the staid Victoriana, I couldn't help but think of Darwin writing about gynandromorphs, 'latent sex,' 'vice,' and 'extreme sensuality' here . . .
Two male Asian elephants, Dunk and Gold Dust, were star attractions at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. In November 1892 physician Irving C. Rosse described, somewhat disapprovingly, how the animals had sex together, this being the first published account of same-sex sexual behaviour in elephants. 🏳️🌈 🐘
Hi folks, yet another Twitter exile! By way of #introduction, I’m Chris, a historian currently embarking on an exciting (and scary) post-ac journey after nearly a decade in academia. I’m here because I’m intrigued by the concept of the fediverse, and the promise of healthier online interaction.