Female Husbands: A Trans History

I can't recommend this book enough if you really want to learn more about LGBTQ history in the US and UK! It's a really eye-opening and educational account spanning across centuries up to the 1940s. You'll learn about rules of gender and sexuality across history, how people responded to those rules being broken, how AFAB people broke them without being detected, and the importance of language in LGBTQ history.That said, a few disclaimers...If you're worried about this book potentially erasing lesbian history, you should know that in their book Manion is careful about avoiding applying modern language and concepts of identity to historical people who had very different perceptions of gender and sexuality. If you're looking for confirmed transgender or lesbian historical figures in this book you're going to be disappointed. Though it might be a really eye-opening read for you in regards to LBGTQ language.This book might not be the most entertaining LGBTQ history book out there. The language tries to be as accurate and deliberate as possible which can read as pretty dull and academic. It's definitely too dry for a middle school-freshman audience, though a bookish high schooler might be able to get through it. I'd say it's college level!If discussions of outings and violence towards LGBTQ people are difficult for you right now, I'd recommend caution. The majority of the sources for this history are the accounts and sensationalized news of these figures getting outed, sometimes intentionally but mostly violently or against their will. That being said I do think Manion does a really good job of taking those sources and putting together a compassionate but objective timeline of the subject's lives!

The topic of this book is truly fascinating, offering fresh insights and opening a new window into understanding the past. It presents an opportunity to explore history from a perspective that feels both engaging and thought-provoking. Additionally, the book arrived in excellent condition, well-packaged and free from any damage, ensuring a great reading experience from the start.

I was truly blown away by Jen Manion’a masterpiece. Their detailed archival work unearths a whole plethora of new cases for trans history. The book is groundbreaking in both its content and careful methodology. At the same time, it remains an easy read that was a joy to pick up! Amazing book!

I will use this as a reference work for my own writing. I found it to be informative and (presumably) factual.

Fantastic history book. A real game-changer. Very easy to read and incredibly interesting. The research is solid too. A must read for anyone interested in the history of sex

Excellent book and wonderful research. Finished this in less than a day, couldn’t put it down. Definitely useful for future research in my Political Science program!

Thank you

Female Husbands by Jen Manion is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late February.I admit, the concept of this book had me leaning forward - partway with great interest, partway gobsmacked, over the moon with the history of such a concept - then again, in the breadth of time that this emotion came over me, I had read that newspapers could forcibly out a female husband to mixed/varied results & public response. However, as shocking as a concept that was to read, this book dealt in many other topics, including the meeting and blurring between gender & sexual expression; cases of divorce between a female husband and wife as differing greatly from all other cases and jailings going on; public shaming, particularly for those not in the upper class.; books and plays being made to define and clear their status; taking someone’s voice raised in anger and embarrassment as the truth; a far greater set of options open to trans men, once they transition, like better opportune to travel, wanting more for yourself and your family, and to prove themselves as allowed to be worthy, capable and masculine.