'The man-woman murderer': Sex fraud, sexual inversion and the unmentionable 'article' in 1920s Australia

Gender and History

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 158-196

  Ford, Ruth ^a  

^a LA TROBE UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0005847582     PISSN: 09535233     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.00175     Document Type: Article

References (183)

1. Detective Sergeant Robson, quoted in 'Trial Transcripts of Rex V. Eugene Falleni', Central Criminal Court of NSW, October 1920, Central Criminal and Quarter Sessions, 6/1007, Archives Authority of NSW.
2. See Tom Gurr and H. H. Cox, 'The Man-Woman', in Famous Australasian Crimes (Frederick Muller, London, 1957), pp. 32-44; ' Man-Woman Deceived Two Wives', Truth [Melbourne], (24 January 1953), p. 9 ; Leonard Gribble, 'The Incredible Man-Woman', in The Hallmark of Horror (John Long, London, 1973); 'Masquerade of Eugenia Falleni: Woman who murdered her "wife"', in The Australian Murder Almanac: 150 years of chilling crime (Nationwide News, Canberra, 1993), pp. 28-30. For a detailed account of Falleni, see Suzanne Falkiner, Eugenia: A Man (Pan Books, Sydney, 1988).
3. See Tom Gurr and H. H. Cox, 'The Man-Woman', in Famous Australasian Crimes (Frederick Muller, London, 1957), pp. 32-44; ' Man-Woman Deceived Two Wives', Truth [Melbourne], (24 January 1953), p. 9 ; Leonard Gribble, 'The Incredible Man-Woman', in The Hallmark of Horror (John Long, London, 1973); 'Masquerade of Eugenia Falleni: Woman who murdered her "wife"', in The Australian Murder Almanac: 150 years of chilling crime (Nationwide News, Canberra, 1993), pp. 28-30. For a detailed account of Falleni, see Suzanne Falkiner, Eugenia: A Man (Pan Books, Sydney, 1988).
4. See Tom Gurr and H. H. Cox, 'The Man-Woman', in Famous Australasian Crimes (Frederick Muller, London, 1957), pp. 32-44; ' Man-Woman Deceived Two Wives', Truth [Melbourne], (24 January 1953), p. 9 ; Leonard Gribble, 'The Incredible Man-Woman', in The Hallmark of Horror (John Long, London, 1973); 'Masquerade of Eugenia Falleni: Woman who murdered her "wife"', in The Australian Murder Almanac: 150 years of chilling crime (Nationwide News, Canberra, 1993), pp. 28-30. For a detailed account of Falleni, see Suzanne Falkiner, Eugenia: A Man (Pan Books, Sydney, 1988).
5. See Tom Gurr and H. H. Cox, 'The Man-Woman', in Famous Australasian Crimes (Frederick Muller, London, 1957), pp. 32-44; ' Man-Woman Deceived Two Wives', Truth [Melbourne], (24 January 1953), p. 9 ; Leonard Gribble, 'The Incredible Man-Woman', in The Hallmark of Horror (John Long, London, 1973); 'Masquerade of Eugenia Falleni: Woman who murdered her "wife"', in The Australian Murder Almanac: 150 years of chilling crime (Nationwide News, Canberra, 1993), pp. 28-30. For a detailed account of Falleni, see Suzanne Falkiner, Eugenia: A Man (Pan Books, Sydney, 1988).
6. See Tom Gurr and H. H. Cox, 'The Man-Woman', in Famous Australasian Crimes (Frederick Muller, London, 1957), pp. 32-44; ' Man-Woman Deceived Two Wives', Truth [Melbourne], (24 January 1953), p. 9 ; Leonard Gribble, 'The Incredible Man-Woman', in The Hallmark of Horror (John Long, London, 1973); 'Masquerade of Eugenia Falleni: Woman who murdered her "wife"', in The Australian Murder Almanac: 150 years of chilling crime (Nationwide News, Canberra, 1993), pp. 28-30. For a detailed account of Falleni, see Suzanne Falkiner, Eugenia: A Man (Pan Books, Sydney, 1988).
7. I wish to keep Falleni's gender identity open and ambiguous, as we do not know if s/he preferred to be known as a man or a woman exclusively, or whether s/he sought to shift between male and female identities. So, I alternate in my use of gendered language. I use female pronouns particularly when discussing contemporary views, as they were predominantly used at the time. For a detailed consideration of Crawford/Falleni's subjectivity, see Ruth Ford, 'Something Queer about Harry', forthcoming.
8. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
9. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
10. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
11. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
12. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
13. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
14. See Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, trans. Robert Hurley (3 vols, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1981-90), vol. 1, An Introduction (1981). On the Australian context, see Michael Gilding, 'The Making of the Homosexual', in his The Making and Breaking of the Australian Family (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991), pp. 95-109. On the British context, see Jeffrey Weeks, 'The Construction of Homosexuality', in his Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Longman, London, 1989), pp. 96-121. On America, see Jonathan Katz, 'The Invention of the Homosexual, 1880-1950', in his Gay/Lesbian Almanac: A New Documentary (Harper & Row, New York, 1983), pp. 137-74; George Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality: Medicine and the Changing Conceptualization of Female Deviance', Salmagundi, 58-9 (1982-3), pp. 114-46; John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman, 'Toward a New Sexual Order, 1880-1930', in their Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America (Perennial Library, New York, 1989), pp. 171-235.
15. In relation to women, however, there was a slower and more complicated shift. (Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality', pp. 122-5).
16. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
17. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
18. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
19. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
20. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
21. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
22. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
23. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
24. Lillian Faderman, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Sheila Jeffreys argue (in very different analyses) that sexology stigmatised women's passionate friendships as sexual and deviant, and linked women's rejection of traditional gender roles and their demands for social and economic equality to sexual inversion via the image of the 'mannish lesbian'. In contrast, Esther Newton and Sonya Ruehl assert that sexology provided a sexual category for women who desired women. See Lillian Faderman, 'The Morbidification of Love Between Women by Nineteenth-Century Sexologists', Journal of Homosexuality, 4 (1978), pp. 73-90, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present (William Morrow & Co., New York, 1981), Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America (Columbia University Press, New York, 1991); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, 'The Female World of Love and Ritual: Relations Between Women in Nineteenth-Century America', Signs, 1 (1975), pp. 1-29, 'The New Woman as Androgyne: Social Disorder and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936', in her Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (Oxford University Press, New York, 1985), pp. 245-96, ' Discourses of Sexuality and Subjectivity: The New Woman, 1870-1936', in Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past, ed. Martin Duberman, Martha Vicinus and George Chauncey (New American Library Books, New York, 1989), pp. 264-80 ; Sheila Jeffreys, The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality, 1880-1930 (Pandora Press, London, 1985); Esther Newton, 'The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and the New Woman', Signs, 9 (1984), pp. 557-75; Sonya Ruehl, 'Inverts and Experts: Radclyffe Hall and the Lesbian Identity', in Feminism, Culture and Politics, ed. Rosalind Brunt and Caroline Cowan (Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982), pp. 15-36.
25. Lisa Duggan, 'The Trials of Alice Mitchell: Sensationalism, Sexology, and the Lesbian Subject in Turn-of-the-Century America', Signs, 18 (1993), pp. 791-813.
26. Marylynne Diggs also challenges the position that romantic friendships were accepted until the late nineteenth century, and argues that women's same-sex exclusive relationships were pathologised and represented through figures of 'freakish friendship', 'contradictory nature' and 'monstrous hybridity' in medical and literary texts as well as through the discourse of romantic friendship in 1850s America. See Marylynne Diggs, 'Romantic Friends or a "Different Race of Creatures"? The Representation of Lesbian Pathology in nineteenth-century America', Feminist Studies, 21 (1995), pp. 317-40.
27. Martha Vicinus, '"They Wonder to Which Sex I Belong": The Historical Roots of the Modern Lesbian Identity', in Homosexuality, Which Homosexuality'? Essays from the International Scientific Conference on Lesbian and Gay Studies, ed. Dennis Altman et al. (GMP Publishers, London, 1989), pp. 171-98, ' Lesbian History: All Theory and No Facts or All Facts and No Theory?', Radical History Review, 60 (1994), pp. 57-75, 'Lesbian Perversity and Victorian Marriage: The 1864 Codrington Divorce Trial', Journal of British Studies, 36 (1997), pp. 70-98.
28. Martha Vicinus, '"They Wonder to Which Sex I Belong": The Historical Roots of the Modern Lesbian Identity', in Homosexuality, Which Homosexuality'? Essays from the International Scientific Conference on Lesbian and Gay Studies, ed. Dennis Altman et al. (GMP Publishers, London, 1989), pp. 171-98, ' Lesbian History: All Theory and No Facts or All Facts and No Theory?', Radical History Review, 60 (1994), pp. 57-75, 'Lesbian Perversity and Victorian Marriage: The 1864 Codrington Divorce Trial', Journal of British Studies, 36 (1997), pp. 70-98.
29. Martha Vicinus, '"They Wonder to Which Sex I Belong": The Historical Roots of the Modern Lesbian Identity', in Homosexuality, Which Homosexuality'? Essays from the International Scientific Conference on Lesbian and Gay Studies, ed. Dennis Altman et al. (GMP Publishers, London, 1989), pp. 171-98, ' Lesbian History: All Theory and No Facts or All Facts and No Theory?', Radical History Review, 60 (1994), pp. 57-75, 'Lesbian Perversity and Victorian Marriage: The 1864 Codrington Divorce Trial', Journal of British Studies, 36 (1997), pp. 70-98.
30. Early work included Jonathan Katz, 'Passing Women, 1782-1920', in his Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (Avon Books, New York, 1978), pp. 317-423; Brigitte Eriksson, 'A Lesbian Execution in Germany, 1721: The Trial Records', in Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality, ed. Salvatore Licata and Robert Peterson (Hawthorn Press, New York, 1981), pp. 27-40; San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project, '"She Even Chewed Tobacco": A Pictorial History of Passing Women in America', in Hidden from History, ed. Duberman et al., pp 183-94; Rudolf Dekker and Lotte van de Pol, The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe (Macmillan, London, 1989)
31. Early work included Jonathan Katz, 'Passing Women, 1782-1920', in his Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (Avon Books, New York, 1978), pp. 317-423; Brigitte Eriksson, 'A Lesbian Execution in Germany, 1721: The Trial Records', in Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality, ed. Salvatore Licata and Robert Peterson (Hawthorn Press, New York, 1981), pp. 27-40; San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project, '"She Even Chewed Tobacco": A Pictorial History of Passing Women in America', in Hidden from History, ed. Duberman et al., pp 183-94; Rudolf Dekker and Lotte van de Pol, The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe (Macmillan, London, 1989)
32. Early work included Jonathan Katz, 'Passing Women, 1782-1920', in his Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (Avon Books, New York, 1978), pp. 317-423; Brigitte Eriksson, 'A Lesbian Execution in Germany, 1721: The Trial Records', in Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality, ed. Salvatore Licata and Robert Peterson (Hawthorn Press, New York, 1981), pp. 27-40; San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project, '"She Even Chewed Tobacco": A Pictorial History of Passing Women in America', in Hidden from History, ed. Duberman et al., pp 183-94; Rudolf Dekker and Lotte van de Pol, The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe (Macmillan, London, 1989)
33. Early work included Jonathan Katz, 'Passing Women, 1782-1920', in his Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (Avon Books, New York, 1978), pp. 317-423; Brigitte Eriksson, 'A Lesbian Execution in Germany, 1721: The Trial Records', in Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality, ed. Salvatore Licata and Robert Peterson (Hawthorn Press, New York, 1981), pp. 27-40; San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project, '"She Even Chewed Tobacco": A Pictorial History of Passing Women in America', in Hidden from History, ed. Duberman et al., pp 183-94; Rudolf Dekker and Lotte van de Pol, The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe (Macmillan, London, 1989)
34. 11. Donna Penn, 'Queer: Theorizing Politics and History', Radical History Review, 62 (1995), p. 28.
35. Gail Reekie briefly discusses Marion-Bill Edwards in '"She was a Lovable Man": Marion/Bill Edwards and the Feminisation of Australian Culture', Journal of Australian Lesbian Feminist Studies, 4 (1994), pp. 43-50. On the nineteenth century, see Lucy Chesser, '"A Woman who Married Three Wives": Management of Disruptive Knowledge in the 1879 Australian Case of Edward De Lacy Evans', Journal of Women's History, 9 (1998), pp. 53-77; Camilla Townsend, '"I the Woman for Spirit": A Working Woman's Gender Transgression in Victorian London', Victorian Studies, 36 (1993).
36. Gail Reekie briefly discusses Marion-Bill Edwards in '"She was a Lovable Man": Marion/Bill Edwards and the Feminisation of Australian Culture', Journal of Australian Lesbian Feminist Studies, 4 (1994), pp. 43-50. On the nineteenth century, see Lucy Chesser, '"A Woman who Married Three Wives": Management of Disruptive Knowledge in the 1879 Australian Case of Edward De Lacy Evans', Journal of Women's History, 9 (1998), pp. 53-77; Camilla Townsend, '"I the Woman for Spirit": A Working Woman's Gender Transgression in Victorian London', Victorian Studies, 36 (1993).
37. Gail Reekie briefly discusses Marion-Bill Edwards in '"She was a Lovable Man": Marion/Bill Edwards and the Feminisation of Australian Culture', Journal of Australian Lesbian Feminist Studies, 4 (1994), pp. 43-50. On the nineteenth century, see Lucy Chesser, '"A Woman who Married Three Wives": Management of Disruptive Knowledge in the 1879 Australian Case of Edward De Lacy Evans', Journal of Women's History, 9 (1998), pp. 53-77; Camilla Townsend, '"I the Woman for Spirit": A Working Woman's Gender Transgression in Victorian London', Victorian Studies, 36 (1993).
38. San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project, '"She Even Chewed Tobacco"', pp. 192-1.
39. I totally reject her assertion that female husbands' relationships with other women were 'reported as simply eccentric or remarkable - not sexual, deviant or insane' before this time (Duggan, 'The Trials of Alice Mitchell', pp. 798, 808-9).
40. Smith-Rosenberg, Disorderly Conduct, pp. 270-80.
41. By 'passing women', I am referring to women who lived, dressed and worked as men. I use 1920s idiom - 'man-woman', 'she-male', 'female husband' - and the wording 'passing women' and 'cross-gender identification' in preference to 'cross-dressing', which suggests a theatrical tradition of male impersonators and emphasises its transitory, performative character. I am aware language which gives primacy to biological sex rather than preferred gender is problematic. However, using the label transsexual is equally problematic, as this category was not available at the time, and to do so ignores the complex overlap in transgender and lesbian history of men-women who married in the early twentieth century.
42. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge, New York, 1990), ' Imitation and Gender Insubordination', in Inside Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, ed. Diana Fuss (Routledge, London, 1992), pp. 13-31, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' (Routledge, New York, 1993); Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety (Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1993), pp. 16, 70.
43. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge, New York, 1990), ' Imitation and Gender Insubordination', in Inside Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, ed. Diana Fuss (Routledge, London, 1992), pp. 13-31, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' (Routledge, New York, 1993); Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety (Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1993), pp. 16, 70.
44. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge, New York, 1990), ' Imitation and Gender Insubordination', in Inside Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, ed. Diana Fuss (Routledge, London, 1992), pp. 13-31, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' (Routledge, New York, 1993); Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety (Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1993), pp. 16, 70.
45. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge, New York, 1990), ' Imitation and Gender Insubordination', in Inside Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, ed. Diana Fuss (Routledge, London, 1992), pp. 13-31, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' (Routledge, New York, 1993); Marjorie Garber, Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety (Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1993), pp. 16, 70.
46. Susanne Davies, 'Sexuality, Performance and Spectatorship in Law: The Case of Gordon Lawrence, Melbourne, 1888', Journal of the History of Sexuality, 7 (1997), pp. 389-408.
47. David Cressy, 'Gender Trouble and Cross-Dressing in Early Modern England', Journal of British Studies, 35 (1996), p. 439.
48. Susan Bordo, Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1993), p. 38; Vicinus, 'Lesbian History', p. 62.
49. Susan Bordo, Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1993), p. 38; Vicinus, 'Lesbian History', p. 62.
50. See Susanne Davies and Andrea Rhodes-Little, 'History, Sexuality and Power: Deconstructing the "Lesbian Vampire Case"', Australian Cultural History, 12 (1993), pp. 14-28.
51. Australia was obsessed with the 'population crisis' in this period and the influence of eugenicist and evolution theories is evident in scaremongering about 'race suicide' and 'racial decay' - as well as in policies to remove Aboriginal children from their families and communities to 'breed out the colour'. See Neville Hicks, 'This Sin and Scandal': Australia's Population Debate 1891-1911 (Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1978); Marilyn Lake, The Limits of Hope: Soldier Settlement in Victoria, 1915-38 (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1987), pp. 18-20.
52. Australia was obsessed with the 'population crisis' in this period and the influence of eugenicist and evolution theories is evident in scaremongering about 'race suicide' and 'racial decay' - as well as in policies to remove Aboriginal children from their families and communities to 'breed out the colour'. See Neville Hicks, 'This Sin and Scandal': Australia's Population Debate 1891-1911 (Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1978); Marilyn Lake, The Limits of Hope: Soldier Settlement in Victoria, 1915-38 (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1987), pp. 18-20.
53. Carmel Shute, 'Heroines and Heroes: Sexual Mythology in Australia, 1914-1918', Hecate, 1 (1975).
54. Julie Tisdale, 'Venereal Disease and the Policing of the Amateur in Melbourne during World War 1' (unpub. paper presented at the 'Disciplined Bodies' Lilith Conference, Melbourne, 1994). I'm indebted to Julie Tisdale for sharing her work with me before publication.
55. On the Australian context, see Rosemary Campbell, 'The Twenties and Thirties', in her Heroes and Lovers: A Question of National Identity (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1989), pp. 9-38; Ruth Ford, 'Speculating on Scrapbooks, Sex and Desire: Issues in Lesbian History', Australian Historical Studies, 106 (1996), pp. 111-26; Jill Matthews, 'Building the Body Beautiful: The Femininity of Modernity', Australian Feminist Studies, 5 (1987), pp. 17-34; Gail Reekie, Temptations: Sex, Selling and the Department Store (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993).
56. On the Australian context, see Rosemary Campbell, 'The Twenties and Thirties', in her Heroes and Lovers: A Question of National Identity (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1989), pp. 9-38; Ruth Ford, 'Speculating on Scrapbooks, Sex and Desire: Issues in Lesbian History', Australian Historical Studies, 106 (1996), pp. 111-26; Jill Matthews, 'Building the Body Beautiful: The Femininity of Modernity', Australian Feminist Studies, 5 (1987), pp. 17-34; Gail Reekie, Temptations: Sex, Selling and the Department Store (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993).
57. On the Australian context, see Rosemary Campbell, 'The Twenties and Thirties', in her Heroes and Lovers: A Question of National Identity (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1989), pp. 9-38; Ruth Ford, 'Speculating on Scrapbooks, Sex and Desire: Issues in Lesbian History', Australian Historical Studies, 106 (1996), pp. 111-26; Jill Matthews, 'Building the Body Beautiful: The Femininity of Modernity', Australian Feminist Studies, 5 (1987), pp. 17-34; Gail Reekie, Temptations: Sex, Selling and the Department Store (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993).
58. On the Australian context, see Rosemary Campbell, 'The Twenties and Thirties', in her Heroes and Lovers: A Question of National Identity (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1989), pp. 9-38; Ruth Ford, 'Speculating on Scrapbooks, Sex and Desire: Issues in Lesbian History', Australian Historical Studies, 106 (1996), pp. 111-26; Jill Matthews, 'Building the Body Beautiful: The Femininity of Modernity', Australian Feminist Studies, 5 (1987), pp. 17-34; Gail Reekie, Temptations: Sex, Selling and the Department Store (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993).
59. Lake, Limits of Hope, pp. 27-9.
60. Jill Roe, 'What has Nationalism Offered Australian Women?', in Australian Women: Contemporary Feminist Thought, ed. Norma Grieve and Ailsa Burns (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994), p. 31.
61. Joseph Furphy's famous classic (Tom Collins) Such is Life (1903) included a character Molly Cooper who worked on a station disguised as Nosey Alf - and was based on a real person Jack/Johanna Jorgensen who worked as a farm labourer in Victoria from the 1870s to her death in 1893. Marion-Bill Edwards published her autobiography in 1908: Marion-Bill Edwards, The Life and Adventures of Marion-Bill Edwards, The Most Celebrated Man-Woman of Modern Times (W. H. Junior, Melbourne, n.d., c.1908). See Judith Rodriguez, 'The Original Nosey Alf', Australian Literary Studies, 7 (1975), pp. 176-84.
62. Joseph Furphy's famous classic (Tom Collins) Such is Life (1903) included a character Molly Cooper who worked on a station disguised as Nosey Alf - and was based on a real person Jack/Johanna Jorgensen who worked as a farm labourer in Victoria from the 1870s to her death in 1893. Marion-Bill Edwards published her autobiography in 1908: Marion-Bill Edwards, The Life and Adventures of Marion-Bill Edwards, The Most Celebrated Man-Woman of Modern Times (W. H. Junior, Melbourne, n.d., c.1908). See Judith Rodriguez, 'The Original Nosey Alf', Australian Literary Studies, 7 (1975), pp. 176-84.
63. Joseph Furphy's famous classic (Tom Collins) Such is Life (1903) included a character Molly Cooper who worked on a station disguised as Nosey Alf - and was based on a real person Jack/Johanna Jorgensen who worked as a farm labourer in Victoria from the 1870s to her death in 1893. Marion-Bill Edwards published her autobiography in 1908: Marion-Bill Edwards, The Life and Adventures of Marion-Bill Edwards, The Most Celebrated Man-Woman of Modern Times (W. H. Junior, Melbourne, n.d., c.1908). See Judith Rodriguez, 'The Original Nosey Alf', Australian Literary Studies, 7 (1975), pp. 176-84.
64. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathic Sexualis (Rebman Company, New York, 1906); Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, vol. 2, Sexual Inversion (F. A. Davis, Philadelphia, 1915). In other work, Karl Uhlrichs depicted male inversion as a 'woman's spirit in a man's body' in the 1860s. Edward Carpenter and Magnus Hirshfeld drew on Uhlrich's ideas, developing the idea of an 'intermediate sex' with psychic qualities of both male and female. See Edward Carpenter, The Intermediate Sex (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1908).
65. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathic Sexualis (Rebman Company, New York, 1906); Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, vol. 2, Sexual Inversion (F. A. Davis, Philadelphia, 1915). In other work, Karl Uhlrichs depicted male inversion as a 'woman's spirit in a man's body' in the 1860s. Edward Carpenter and Magnus Hirshfeld drew on Uhlrich's ideas, developing the idea of an 'intermediate sex' with psychic qualities of both male and female. See Edward Carpenter, The Intermediate Sex (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1908).
66. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathic Sexualis (Rebman Company, New York, 1906); Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, vol. 2, Sexual Inversion (F. A. Davis, Philadelphia, 1915). In other work, Karl Uhlrichs depicted male inversion as a 'woman's spirit in a man's body' in the 1860s. Edward Carpenter and Magnus Hirshfeld drew on Uhlrich's ideas, developing the idea of an 'intermediate sex' with psychic qualities of both male and female. See Edward Carpenter, The Intermediate Sex (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1908).
67. Within Krafft-Ebing's classification of sexual inversion, he had four sub-categories -psychical hermaphroditism, homo-sexuals or urnings, viraginity, and gynandry. In his schema, of the least to the most 'extreme grade of degenerative homosexuality', the adoption of masculine gender roles and appearance was central. In the first two categories, he identified women with homosexual desires without masculine external appearance or mental masculine sexual characteristics, and included case studies of women in passionate friendships. Viraginity, he defined in terms of a 'strong preference for male garments' and the assumption of a masculine role. Gynandry, the most degenerative grade, he characterised in terms of women who possess only female genital organs, but whose 'thought, sentiment, action … external appearance are those of a man' (Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis, pp. 395-439).
68. Magnus Hirshfeld developed the term transvestism, and distinguished it from same-sex desire in Die Transvestiten (1910), but his work was not available in English. See Havelock Ellis, 'Sexual Inversion', in Studies in the Psychology of Sex (Random House, New York, 1936), p. 315; Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality', pp. 122-5.
69. Magnus Hirshfeld developed the term transvestism, and distinguished it from same-sex desire in Die Transvestiten (1910), but his work was not available in English. See Havelock Ellis, 'Sexual Inversion', in Studies in the Psychology of Sex (Random House, New York, 1936), p. 315; Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality', pp. 122-5.
70. Magnus Hirshfeld developed the term transvestism, and distinguished it from same-sex desire in Die Transvestiten (1910), but his work was not available in English. See Havelock Ellis, 'Sexual Inversion', in Studies in the Psychology of Sex (Random House, New York, 1936), p. 315; Chauncey, 'From Sexual Inversion to Homosexuality', pp. 122-5.
71. Freud's work appeared in English in 1910 and dealt with male homosexuality almost exclusively. His explanation of lesbianism was not written until 1920. By the 1920s, Freud's work was gaining some influence among the medical profession. See Kereen Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home: Modernising the Australian Family, 1880-1940 (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1985), pp. 186-7.
72. The view of homosexuality as a congenital condition was also linked to eugenics. ('Morons, Morals and Mentality', Medical Journal of Australia, 17 May 1919, pp. 406-7).
73. Speakers at the 1916 Sydney 'Teaching of Sex Hygiene Conference' referred to Ellis and Freud's ideas, and state libraries began to acquire their works. From the late 1890s, Truth occasionally quoted Krafft-Ebing and Ellis. In 1907, Truth ran three articles -'Exhibitionism', 'Sexual Symbolism', and 'Sexual Slavery', drawing closely on Ellis and Krafft-Ebing's theories. I am indebted to Lucy Chesser for bringing these articles to my attention and sharing her knowledge of Truth in the prewar period. See Lucy Chesser, 'Truth and the Anti-Cross-Dressing Campaign of 1908-9' (unpub. paper, LaTrobe University History Department seminar, Melbourne, 1995); Truth [Melbourne], 23 February 1907, p. 3
74. Speakers at the 1916 Sydney 'Teaching of Sex Hygiene Conference' referred to Ellis and Freud's ideas, and state libraries began to acquire their works. From the late 1890s, Truth occasionally quoted Krafft-Ebing and Ellis. In 1907, Truth ran three articles - 'Exhibitionism', 'Sexual Symbolism', and 'Sexual Slavery', drawing closely on Ellis and Krafft-Ebing's theories. I am indebted to Lucy Chesser for bringing these articles to my attention and sharing her knowledge of Truth in the prewar period. See Lucy Chesser, 'Truth and the Anti-Cross-Dressing Campaign of 1908-9' (unpub. paper, LaTrobe University History Department seminar, Melbourne, 1995); Truth [Melbourne], 23 February 1907, p. 3
75. This is also evident in legislative changes reducing the maximum penally for sodomy -from death, to penal servitude for life in 1883, to 14 years in 1924 - at the same time as a dramatic increase in police charges for a wider range of offences and an increase in defendants being placed under medical observation. See Gilding, Making and Breaking of the Australian Family, pp.100-104.
76. I am indebted to Lucy Chesser, 'Truth and the Anti-Cross-Dressing Campaign', for this reference; Truth [Melbourne], 13 October 1906, p. 12.
77. David Scott Mitchell Erotica Collection, Mitchell Library.
78. Joy Damousi, Depraved and Disorderly: Female Convicts, Sexuality and Gender in Colonial Australia (Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1997), pp. 48-9, 69-71; see also Kay Daniels, 'The Flash Mob: Rebellion, Rough Culture and Sexuality in the Female Factories of Van Diemen's Land', Australian Feminist Studies, 18 (1993)
79. Joy Damousi, Depraved and Disorderly: Female Convicts, Sexuality and Gender in Colonial Australia (Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1997), pp. 48-9, 69-71; see also Kay Daniels, 'The Flash Mob: Rebellion, Rough Culture and Sexuality in the Female Factories of Van Diemen's Land', Australian Feminist Studies, 18 (1993)
80. 39. Falleni was not charged with perjury in relation to marriage - little point if sentenced to death, I suppose! However, in England in 1929, Colonel Barker [Valerie Arkell-Smith] was charged with perjury in relation to her 1923 marriage with Elfrida Howard, found guilty and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment.
81. Duggan makes this point in relation to an earlier American trial. See Elizabeth Duggan, 'The Trials of Alice Mitchell' (PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1992), p. 119.
82. Havelock Ellis, The Criminal (Walter Scott, London, 1890), p. 233.
83. Coyle, the Crown prosecutor's opening address quoted in the Sun [Sydney], 5 October 1920, p. 7.
84. Passing women who married and had sexual relations with women were commonly charged with fraud, not with sodomy. Lynn Friedli argues that this 'suggests that the major issue was deception and the consequent usurpation of rights and privileges, rather than sexual deviance in itself (Lynne Friedli, '"Passing Women": A Study of Gender Boundaries in the Eighteenth Century', in Sexual Underworlds of the Enlightenment, ed. G. S. Rousseau and Roy Porter, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1987, p. 254).
85. Josephine Falleni, quoted in 'Trial Transcripts'.
86. 'Statement by Harry Birkett', 13 June 1920, Deposition, 9/7250, Archives Authority of NSW; Harry Birkett, quoted in 'Trial Transcripts'.
87. Detective Sergeant Robson testified that Crawford was only discovered to be a woman after Harry had been brought in for questioning and made a statement. Yet, Robson's own testimony suggests he knew Crawford was a woman - and Italian - before that and was playing games during the police interrogation: '"You still say that your name is Harry Crawford and you were born in Scotland." The accused replied "Yes". I said "Have you any marks about your body that will assist in identifying you as a Scotchman and where you say you were born?" The accused replied "No". I said "Strip off a little and let me see". The accused said "No, I object to that".' (Detective Sergeant Robson, quoted in 'Trial Transcripts').
88. Smith's Weekly, 9 October 1920, p. 3.
89. I believe McDonnell was referring to Eugene Talbot, Degeneracy: Its
90. Dr Arthur Palmer (Government Medical Officer) cross-examined by McDonnell, quoted in 'Trial Transcripts'.
91. The transcripts don't indicate this as both questions and objections are omitted from the trial transcripts, with only witnesses' answers included. The quotes come from Truth [Sydney], 10 October 1920.
92. Ellis includes the idea of 'attitude of the arms' in his discussion of the female invert -marked by appearance and her 'approximation to the masculine type'. His case study of Miss M says 'The general conformation of the body is feminine. But with arms, palms up, extended in front of her with inner sides of hands touching, she cannot bring the inner sides of forearms together, as nearly every woman can, showing that the feminine angle of the arms has been lost' (Ellis, 'Sexual Inversion', 1936 edn, pp. 229, 250).
93. This was presumably because of the defence's lack of financial resources and expertise and also because insanity was not being pleaded. See Duggan's analysis of the 1892 (American) Alice Mitchell case, where Alice's wealthy family hired top attorneys who pleaded insanity and constructed a medical case history to support their case. (Duggan, 'The Trials of Alice Mitchell', Signs).
94. See Summing up by the judge, Sir William Cullen, 'Trial Transcripts'.
95. Susan Edwards, Women on Trial (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1984).
96. They persuaded one witness to change the date of a sighting - between the committal hearing in August and the murder trial in October - because it contradicted the forensic evidence in the prosecution's case. Key witnesses identified Falleni in police line-ups after photos of Falleni were published extensively in the press. The Government Medical Officers, Dr Palmer and Dr Sheldon, who conducted the post-mortem examination three years earlier and gave medical evidence at the inquest that they found 'no definite marks of violence' and supported a hypothesis of accidental death due to burning, changed their opinion, arguing that one of the seven cracks in the scull was due to violence and not just caused by the heat of the fire. Herbert Moran later questioned the medical evidence at the trial, pointing to the lack of signs of any depressed fractures or any scarring, and quoted several medical authorities on skull fractures in people burnt to death. See Herbert Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', in his Viewless Winds: Being the Recollections and Digressions of an Australian Surgeon (Peter Davies, London, 1939), pp. 241-2.
97. One near contemporary, Moran, later commented that although the lack of defence witnesses and medical and forensic witnesses meant that 'the dice were loaded heavily against her' in court, 'what really sounded the death knell … was the establishment of a very powerful motive. Once the story of her past inversions was revealed, the jury's decision was a foregone conclusion' (Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 242, 249).
98. The application, lodged on 13 October 1920, was dismissed on 12 November 1920 by the Court of Criminal Appeal. It held that if the jury concluded that the accused was the person who brought about Annie Birkett's death, no matter by what means, the jury was justified in finding a guilty verdict. Cohen's application appears to be no longer in existence. Nor have I found any legal comment on the case elsewhere. See 4/7950 Register of Criminal Appeals, 3/4819; Criminal Appeal Letter Book, Archives Authority of NSW.
99. The case was reported most extensively in Sydney, but was covered throughout Australia. The daily Sydney tabloids - Daily Telegraph (morning), Sun (afternoon), Evening News - and the 'sexational' weekly paper Truth reported the case at considerable length and included photographs and sketches. It was also covered by the Sydney Morning Herald -a key Sydney daily broadsheet which marketed itself to a respectable middle-class reader-ship. In early 1920s Australia, newspaper empires were forming, with fierce competition for circulation, and tabloid papers were expanding. The estimated circulation of the Sydney daily papers in 1932 was: Sydney Morning Herald, 208,000, Sun, 199,000, Daily Telegraph, 80,000. The circulation of the weeklies was: Truth (1920, nationally) 280,000, Smith's Weekly (1921) 76,000, (1930) 214,000. On the Australian press, see Henry Mayer, The Press in Australia (Lansdowne, Sydney, 1964); George Blaikie, Remember Smith's Weekly? (Rigby, Adelaide, 1966); Murray Goot, 'Newspaper Circulation, 1932-1977', in Australian Popular Culture, ed. Peter Spearritt and David Walker (George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1979), pp. 210-21, p. 215.
100. The case was reported most extensively in Sydney, but was covered throughout Australia. The daily Sydney tabloids - Daily Telegraph (morning), Sun (afternoon), Evening News - and the 'sexational' weekly paper Truth reported the case at considerable length and included photographs and sketches. It was also covered by the Sydney Morning Herald - a key Sydney daily broadsheet which marketed itself to a respectable middle-class reader-ship. In early 1920s Australia, newspaper empires were forming, with fierce competition for circulation, and tabloid papers were expanding. The estimated circulation of the Sydney daily papers in 1932 was: Sydney Morning Herald, 208,000, Sun, 199,000, Daily Telegraph, 80,000. The circulation of the weeklies was: Truth (1920, nationally) 280,000, Smith's Weekly (1921) 76,000, (1930) 214,000. On the Australian press, see Henry Mayer, The Press in Australia (Lansdowne, Sydney, 1964); George Blaikie, Remember Smith's Weekly? (Rigby, Adelaide, 1966); Murray Goot, 'Newspaper Circulation, 1932-1977', in Australian Popular Culture, ed. Peter Spearritt and David Walker (George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1979), pp. 210-21, p. 215.
101. The case was reported most extensively in Sydney, but was covered throughout Australia. The daily Sydney tabloids - Daily Telegraph (morning), Sun (afternoon), Evening News - and the 'sexational' weekly paper Truth reported the case at considerable length and included photographs and sketches. It was also covered by the Sydney Morning Herald - a key Sydney daily broadsheet which marketed itself to a respectable middle-class reader-ship. In early 1920s Australia, newspaper empires were forming, with fierce competition for circulation, and tabloid papers were expanding. The estimated circulation of the Sydney daily papers in 1932 was: Sydney Morning Herald, 208,000, Sun, 199,000, Daily Telegraph, 80,000. The circulation of the weeklies was: Truth (1920, nationally) 280,000, Smith's Weekly (1921) 76,000, (1930) 214,000. On the Australian press, see Henry Mayer, The Press in Australia (Lansdowne, Sydney, 1964); George Blaikie, Remember Smith's Weekly? (Rigby, Adelaide, 1966); Murray Goot, 'Newspaper Circulation, 1932-1977', in Australian Popular Culture, ed. Peter Spearritt and David Walker (George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1979), pp. 210-21, p. 215.
102. For example, see Sun [Sydney], 5 October 1920, p. 7.
103. Stuart Hall, Chas Critcher, Tony Jefferson, John Clarke and Brian Roberts, Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order (Macmillan, London, 1978), pp. 33, 60, 76.
104. Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9. Truth described its mission as being to 'drag the secret sins and crimes of public men to light', 'to expose abuses, and denounce injustice, to pull down from high places' and to 'defend the poor, the friendless, and the oppressed'. It was highly sensationalist and particularly obsessed with sex and divorce scandals, as well as covering crime, police and government corruption and sport. Truth was nationalist, republican, and pro-white Australia, and regularly attacked 'wowsers' and feminists for interfering with men's pleasures and actively campaigned against women's rights and feminist organisations. It took a positive view of men's sexual behaviour, while attacking women's and feminine depravity, repeatedly representing innocent men as being victims of fast women's false charges of rape in sex offences. Truth sold itself as 'the people's paper, published in the interests of the majority - the workers', and fought for 'cleaner capitalism'. See Michael Cannon, That Dammed Democrat: John Norton, an Australian Populist, 1858-1916 (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1981) ; Truth [Melbourne], 20 December 1902, p. 4.
105. Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9. Truth described its mission as being to 'drag the secret sins and crimes of public men to light', 'to expose abuses, and denounce injustice, to pull down from high places' and to 'defend the poor, the friendless, and the oppressed'. It was highly sensationalist and particularly obsessed with sex and divorce scandals, as well as covering crime, police and government corruption and sport. Truth was nationalist, republican, and pro-white Australia, and regularly attacked 'wowsers' and feminists for interfering with men's pleasures and actively campaigned against women's rights and feminist organisations. It took a positive view of men's sexual behaviour, while attacking women's and feminine depravity, repeatedly representing innocent men as being victims of fast women's false charges of rape in sex offences. Truth sold itself as 'the people's paper, published in the interests of the majority - the workers', and fought for 'cleaner capitalism'. See Michael Cannon, That Dammed Democrat: John Norton, an Australian Populist, 1858-1916 (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1981) ; Truth [Melbourne], 20 December 1902, p. 4.
106. Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9. Truth described its mission as being to 'drag the secret sins and crimes of public men to light', 'to expose abuses, and denounce injustice, to pull down from high places' and to 'defend the poor, the friendless, and the oppressed'. It was highly sensationalist and particularly obsessed with sex and divorce scandals, as well as covering crime, police and government corruption and sport. Truth was nationalist, republican, and pro-white Australia, and regularly attacked 'wowsers' and feminists for interfering with men's pleasures and actively campaigned against women's rights and feminist organisations. It took a positive view of men's sexual behaviour, while attacking women's and feminine depravity, repeatedly representing innocent men as being victims of fast women's false charges of rape in sex offences. Truth sold itself as 'the people's paper, published in the interests of the majority - the workers', and fought for 'cleaner capitalism'. See Michael Cannon, That Dammed Democrat: John Norton, an Australian Populist, 1858-1916 (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1981) ; Truth [Melbourne], 20 December 1902, p. 4.
107. They argued that 'the morals in this regard did not affect the question which counsel had to argue … Did the evidence prove that she murdered Annie Crawford, or did it leave enough doubt to secure her acquittal?' (Smith's Weekly, 9 October 1920, p. 3). Smith's Weekly depicted itself as being 'the champion of the underdog' and a 'public guardian' and government watchdog. It began publication after World War I with the mission of 'letting young manhood have its say'; it was pro-digger and pledged itself to celebrate and encourage masculine heroes. Smith's was nationalistic and racist, and attacked both 'bolshies' and 'profiteers'. Unlike Truth, it was not obsessed with sex scandal, murder and violent crime.
108. Duggan, 'Trials of Alice Mitchell' (PhD diss.), pp. 70-71, 74. Thomas Boyle analyses mid nineteenth-century British newspaper sensationalism and argues that there was a powerful cross-fertilisation of ideas between the newspaper and popular 'sensation' novels of the period; see Thomas Boyle, Black Swine in the Sewers of Hampstead: Beneath the Surface of Victorian Sensationalism and Morbid Depression Alternating with Excitement: Sex in Victorian Newspapers (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1990).
109. Duggan, 'Trials of Alice Mitchell' (PhD diss.), pp. 70-71, 74. Thomas Boyle analyses mid nineteenth-century British newspaper sensationalism and argues that there was a powerful cross-fertilisation of ideas between the newspaper and popular 'sensation' novels of the period; see Thomas Boyle, Black Swine in the Sewers of Hampstead: Beneath the Surface of Victorian Sensationalism and Morbid Depression Alternating with Excitement: Sex in Victorian Newspapers (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1990).
110. Yet, witnesses who had known Falleni/Crawford only as a man constructed their narratives of her behaviour much more around the love crime of jealousy. They testified that Falleni alleged that Annie had gone off with another man. ('Trial Transcripts').
111. Stuart Hall argues that 'news values define as newsworthy that which is abnormal, thus mobilising a sense of what constitutes normality' (Hall, Policing the Crisis, p. 83).
112. Sun [Sydney], 14 July 1920, p. 6, 19 August 1920, p. 7, 5 October 1920, p. 7, 29 July 1920, p. 7.
113. Sun [Sydney], 16 August 1920, p. 7.
114. Headline of Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, p. 5; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9; Daily Telegraph, 7 July 1920.
115. Headline of Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, p. 5; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9; Daily Telegraph, 7 July 1920.
116. Headline of Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, p. 5; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9; Daily Telegraph, 7 July 1920.
117. Sun [Sydney], 29 July 1920, p. 7; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9.
118. Sun [Sydney], 29 July 1920, p. 7; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9.
119. Sun [Sydney], 14 July 1920, p. 6, 29 July 1920, p. 7.
120. Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, p. 5, 5 October 1920, p. 7.
121. I suggest there were no photographs of Falleni in women's clothes because a woman dressed in female clothing was too ordinary and would detract from constructing Falleni as an abnormal freak and the sensational news aspect of the story. For the photographs of Falleni in men's clothing at court, see Evening News, 6 July 1920, 14 July 1920; Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, 14 July 1920; Daily Telegraph, 7 July 1920.
122. I suggest there were no photographs of Falleni in women's clothes because a woman dressed in female clothing was too ordinary and would detract from constructing Falleni as an abnormal freak and the sensational news aspect of the story. For the photographs of Falleni in men's clothing at court, see Evening News, 6 July 1920, 14 July 1920; Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, 14 July 1920; Daily Telegraph, 7 July 1920.
123. I suggest there were no photographs of Falleni in women's clothes because a woman dressed in female clothing was too ordinary and would detract from constructing Falleni as an abnormal freak and the sensational news aspect of the story. For the photographs of Falleni in men's clothing at court, see Evening News, 6 July 1920, 14 July 1920; Sun [Sydney], 6 July 1920, 14 July 1920; Daily Telegraph, 7 July 1920.
124. Stuart Marshall, 'Picturing Deviancy', in Ecstatic Antibodies: Resisting the AIDS mythology, ed. Tessa Boffin and Sunil Gupta (Rivers Oram Press, London, 1990), p. 24. Similarly, Mandy Merck argues that photographic technology enabled 'the visualisation of socio-sexual deviance as an image of the body, whose every feature - from carriage to clothing - is biologically ordained and medically legible'. See Mandy Merck, '"Transforming the Suit": A Century of Lesbian Self-Portraits', in Stolen Glances: Lesbians Take Photographs, ed. Tessa Boffin and Jean Fraser (Pandora Press, London, 1981), p. 24.
125. Stuart Marshall, 'Picturing Deviancy', in Ecstatic Antibodies: Resisting the AIDS mythology, ed. Tessa Boffin and Sunil Gupta (Rivers Oram Press, London, 1990), p. 24. Similarly, Mandy Merck argues that photographic technology enabled 'the visualisation of socio-sexual deviance as an image of the body, whose every feature - from carriage to clothing - is biologically ordained and medically legible'. See Mandy Merck, '"Transforming the Suit": A Century of Lesbian Self-Portraits', in Stolen Glances: Lesbians Take Photographs, ed. Tessa Boffin and Jean Fraser (Pandora Press, London, 1981), p. 24.
126. Lombroso and Ferrero argued that the woman criminal 'psychologically and anthro-pologically belongs more to the male than the female sex' and associated criminality in women with deviant sexuality. 'Female criminals approximate more to males … than to normal women, especially in the superciliary arches in the seam of the sutures, in the lower jaw bones, and in peculiarities of the occipital region', stated Lombroso and Ferrero. Havelock Ellis - influenced by Lombroso's work - defined criminal women as approximate 'in physical character to ordinary men', and asserted that 'masculine, unsexed, ugly, abnormal women' were 'most strongly marked with the signs of degeneration, and therefore the tendency to criminality' (Caesar Lombroso and William Ferrero, The Female Offender, 1895; Ellis, The Criminal)
127. Lombroso and Ferrero argued that the woman criminal 'psychologically and anthro-pologically belongs more to the male than the female sex' and associated criminality in women with deviant sexuality. 'Female criminals approximate more to males … than to normal women, especially in the superciliary arches in the seam of the sutures, in the lower jaw bones, and in peculiarities of the occipital region', stated Lombroso and Ferrero. Havelock Ellis - influenced by Lombroso's work - defined criminal women as approximate 'in physical character to ordinary men', and asserted that 'masculine, unsexed, ugly, abnormal women' were 'most strongly marked with the signs of degeneration, and therefore the tendency to criminality' (Caesar Lombroso and William Ferrero, The Female Offender, 1895; Ellis, The Criminal)
128. 75. The Argus, 7 June 1920, p. 6; Coff's Harbour and Dorrigo Advocate, 21 August 1920, p. 2 ; Truth [Sydney], 27 April 1930, p. 13.
129. 75. The Argus, 7 June 1920, p. 6; Coff's Harbour and Dorrigo Advocate, 21 August 1920, p. 2 ; Truth [Sydney], 27 April 1930, p. 13.
130. 75. The Argus, 7 June 1920, p. 6; Coff's Harbour and Dorrigo Advocate, 21 August 1920, p. 2 ; Truth [Sydney], 27 April 1930, p. 13.
131. Other headlines about women passing as men in the 1920s included 'Woman's Courage, Long Journey on Foot'; 'Woman Buccaneers, the Bravest Masquerade'. See Truth [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 13; Sun [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 2; Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 1920, p. 14; 9 March 1929, p. 13.
132. Other headlines about women passing as men in the 1920s included 'Woman's Courage, Long Journey on Foot'; 'Woman Buccaneers, the Bravest Masquerade'. See Truth [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 13; Sun [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 2; Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 1920, p. 14; 9 March 1929, p. 13.
133. Other headlines about women passing as men in the 1920s included 'Woman's Courage, Long Journey on Foot'; 'Woman Buccaneers, the Bravest Masquerade'. See Truth [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 13; Sun [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 2; Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 1920, p. 14; 9 March 1929, p. 13.
134. Other headlines about women passing as men in the 1920s included 'Woman's Courage, Long Journey on Foot'; 'Woman Buccaneers, the Bravest Masquerade'. See Truth [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 13; Sun [Sydney], 18 August 1929, p. 2; Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 1920, p. 14; 9 March 1929, p. 13.
135. Young, single passing women tended to be glorified as high spirited or plucky adventurers, while older 'men-women' - who had passed for several years and had married women - were more likely to be represented as freaks and sexual deviants.
136. Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9.
137. Andrew Marcus, Australian Race Relations 1788-1993 (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994), esp. ' White Australia: 1890-1945', pp. 110-154. The immigration to Australia in the early twentieth century was predominantly British, while Italian immigration, the largest southern European nationality, was less than 1 per cent of the British intake in 1920. In 1920, 79 per cent of immigrants to Australia were British; in 1921 this figure increased to 90 per cent. In 1891, the Australian population was 87 per cent Anglo-Celtic and less than 1 per cent eastern and southern Europeans. (See Marcus, pp. 127, 129-30, 152.)
138. Andrew Marcus, Australian Race Relations 1788-1993 (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1994), esp. ' White Australia: 1890-1945', pp. 110-154. The immigration to Australia in the early twentieth century was predominantly British, while Italian immigration, the largest southern European nationality, was less than 1 per cent of the British intake in 1920. In 1920, 79 per cent of immigrants to Australia were British; in 1921 this figure increased to 90 per cent. In 1891, the Australian population was 87 per cent Anglo-Celtic and less than 1 per cent eastern and southern Europeans. (See Marcus, pp. 127, 129-30, 152.)
139. Australian Worker, 7 January 1925, p. 11, 1 April 1925, p. 3; quoted in Marcus, Australian Race Relations, pp. 144-5.
140. Australian Worker, 7 January 1925, p. 11, 1 April 1925, p. 3; quoted in Marcus, Australian Race Relations, pp. 144-5.
141. Ethnicity is significant in the police narrative. Detective Sergeant Robson initially questioned Crawford at his workplace: 'What is your name? … What nationality are you?' Crawford challenged him 'What do you want to know that for?' Robson replied 'I believe you are Italian'. Crawford answered 'No, I am a Scotsman from Edinburgh'. It is after this assertion that Detective Sergeant Robson 'had doubts about him' and took him to the Criminal Investigation Branch for further questioning.
142. Dr Palmer, quoted in 'Report of Talk by Dr Palmer and Dr Sheldon on Medico-Legal Cases at the NSW Branch of the British Medical Association Meeting on 9 September 1921', Medical Journal of Australia, 3 December 1921, p. 521.
143. Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis (1939 edn), pp. 339, 419; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9.
144. Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis (1939 edn), pp. 339, 419; Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9.
145. Smith's Weekly, 16 October 1920, p. 17.
146. Truth [Perth], 17 July 1920; Truth [Melbourne], 31 July 1920, p. 8. Truth was the only newspaper which directly mentioned 'homosexual' and 'lesbian'; the respectable press used innuendoes such as 'unnatural friends' and 'lady-friends'. The contrasting headlines point to the newness of the term 'lesbian' within public discourses, as well as competing meanings around women's friendship and an investment in silence. I discuss this case elsewhere. See Ruth Ford, '"Lady Friends" and "Sexual Deviationists": Lesbians and Law in Australia, 1920s-1950s', in Sex, Power and Justice: Historical Perspectives on Law in Australia., ed. Diane Kirkby (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1995), pp. 33-49.
147. Truth [Perth], 17 July 1920; Truth [Melbourne], 31 July 1920, p. 8. Truth was the only newspaper which directly mentioned 'homosexual' and 'lesbian'; the respectable press used innuendoes such as 'unnatural friends' and 'lady-friends'. The contrasting headlines point to the newness of the term 'lesbian' within public discourses, as well as competing meanings around women's friendship and an investment in silence. I discuss this case elsewhere. See Ruth Ford, '"Lady Friends" and "Sexual Deviationists": Lesbians and Law in Australia, 1920s-1950s', in Sex, Power and Justice: Historical Perspectives on Law in Australia., ed. Diane Kirkby (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1995), pp. 33-49.
148. Truth [Perth], 17 July 1920; Truth [Melbourne], 31 July 1920, p. 8. Truth was the only newspaper which directly mentioned 'homosexual' and 'lesbian'; the respectable press used innuendoes such as 'unnatural friends' and 'lady-friends'. The contrasting headlines point to the newness of the term 'lesbian' within public discourses, as well as competing meanings around women's friendship and an investment in silence. I discuss this case elsewhere. See Ruth Ford, '"Lady Friends" and "Sexual Deviationists": Lesbians and Law in Australia, 1920s-1950s', in Sex, Power and Justice: Historical Perspectives on Law in Australia., ed. Diane Kirkby (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1995), pp. 33-49.
149. Dr Palmer and Dr Ralph Worall, quoted in 'Report of Talk', p. 521.
150. Being an 'innocent' wife was a strategy employed by Elfrida Howard, the wife of Colonel Barker, who appeared in the English - and Australian - press in 1929. It was apparent that Elfrida had met her 'husband' when she was a woman but denied all knowledge of her husband's sex when later questioned by the police and press.
151. Even Truth omitted discussion of it, saying only that 'the suitcase contained amongst other things, a fully loaded revolver' (Truth [Sydney], 11 July 1920, p. 9).
152. Smith's Weekly, 16 October 1920, p. 17.
153. Dr Palmer, quoted in 'Report of Talk', pp. 518-21.
154. One wonders about such diverse descriptions, and how it was transformed from material to wood. See Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 238-9; Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 36. For a more recent case, where a dildo did not actually exist but was created within the press, see Diane Hamer, 'The Invention of the Dildo', Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Journal, 2 (1992).
155. One wonders about such diverse descriptions, and how it was transformed from material to wood. See Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 238-9; Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 36. For a more recent case, where a dildo did not actually exist but was created within the press, see Diane Hamer, 'The Invention of the Dildo', Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Journal, 2 (1992).
156. One wonders about such diverse descriptions, and how it was transformed from material to wood. See Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 238-9; Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 36. For a more recent case, where a dildo did not actually exist but was created within the press, see Diane Hamer, 'The Invention of the Dildo', Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Journal, 2 (1992).
157. It also became an exhibit at the NSW Police Museum and was apparently at the museum from the 1930s to the 1950s - although it was probably not on public display. In 1993, the dildo was no longer in existence at the police museum and I could find no records to indicate when or why it was disposed of. On its earlier existence at the police museum, see Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 238-9; Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 36
158. It also became an exhibit at the NSW Police Museum and was apparently at the museum from the 1930s to the 1950s - although it was probably not on public display. In 1993, the dildo was no longer in existence at the police museum and I could find no records to indicate when or why it was disposed of. On its earlier existence at the police museum, see Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 238-9; Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 36
159. 93. Dr Palmer, quoted in 'Report of Talk'.
160. Falleni was treated more harshly than Colonel Barker in the Australian press in 1929, where sexual relations between her and her wife were denied, and there was not the incriminating evidence of the dildo.
161. Friedli, '"Passing Women"', pp. 235, 252.
162. Brigitte Eriksson highlights the case of Catherina Margaretha Linck tried - and executed - for committing sodomy with her wife, Catherina Mühlhahn via a 'leather penis', in Germany in 1721 (see Eriksson, 'A Lesbian Execution in Germany'). See also Randolph Trumbach, 'London's Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture', in Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Gender Ambiguity, ed. Julia Epstein and Kristina Straub (Routledge, London, 1991), p. 114.
163. Brigitte Eriksson highlights the case of Catherina Margaretha Linck tried - and executed - for committing sodomy with her wife, Catherina Mühlhahn via a 'leather penis', in Germany in 1721 (see Eriksson, 'A Lesbian Execution in Germany'). See also Randolph Trumbach, 'London's Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture', in Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Gender Ambiguity, ed. Julia Epstein and Kristina Straub (Routledge, London, 1991), p. 114.
164. Straub argues that 'a woman's desire for a woman is only culturally visible if it is seen as an imitation of a masculine sexuality that is itself defined exclusively by "straight sex", a specific deployment of the penis' (Kristina Straub, 'The Guilty Pleasures of Female Theatrical Cross-Dressing and the Autobiography of Charlotte Clarke', in Epstein and Straub, Body Guards, pp. 158-9).
165. Straub argues that 'a woman's desire for a woman is only culturally visible if it is seen as an imitation of a masculine sexuality that is itself defined exclusively by "straight sex", a specific deployment of the penis' (Kristina Straub, 'The Guilty Pleasures of Female Theatrical Cross-Dressing and the Autobiography of Charlotte Clarke', in Epstein and Straub, Body Guards, pp. 158-9).
166. Pat Califia, 'Crimes Against Gender', Girlfriends (March-April 1996), p. 38.
167. Jacqueline Rose argues that sexual difference is 'assigned according to whether individual subjects do or do not present the phallus, which means not that anatomical difference is sexual difference … but that anatomical difference comes to figure sexual difference'. See Jacqueline Rose, 'Introduction-II', in Feminine Sexuality: Jacques Lacan and the Ecole Freudienne, ed. Juliet Mitchell and Jacqueline Rose (Macmillan, London, 1982), p. 42.
168. Smith's Weekly, 8 March 1930, pp. 1-2; Truth [Sydney], 22 March 1930, p. 14. Frank Marien, an Irish/Italian journalist, was Smith's Weekly's editor-in-chief in 1930, and had been lured from Truth in 1928 with a high salary. See Blaikie, Remember Smith's Weekly?, p. 16.
169. Smith's Weekly, 8 March 1930, pp. 1-2; Truth [Sydney], 22 March 1930, p. 14. Frank Marien, an Irish/Italian journalist, was Smith's Weekly's editor-in-chief in 1930, and had been lured from Truth in 1928 with a high salary. See Blaikie, Remember Smith's Weekly?, p. 16.
170. Smith's Weekly, 8 March 1930, pp. 1-2; Truth [Sydney], 22 March 1930, p. 14. Frank Marien, an Irish/Italian journalist, was Smith's Weekly's editor-in-chief in 1930, and had been lured from Truth in 1928 with a high salary. See Blaikie, Remember Smith's Weekly?, p. 16.
171. Smith's Weekly, 25 June 1938, p. 15.
172. Moran distinguished between the revulsion he felt for male inversion compared to the tolerance 'towards women given to homosexuality'. Moran appears to draw on sexologists' notions that 'homosexuality has led to crimes of violence'. See Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 230-36; Ellis, 'Sexual Inversion' (1936 edn), pp. 200-201.
173. Moran distinguished between the revulsion he felt for male inversion compared to the tolerance 'towards women given to homosexuality'. Moran appears to draw on sexologists' notions that 'homosexuality has led to crimes of violence'. See Moran, 'Portrait of an Invert', pp. 230-36; Ellis, 'Sexual Inversion' (1936 edn), pp. 200-201.
174. World News, 11 September 1954.
175. Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 43; Falkiner, Eugenia; Lorae Parry, Eugenia (Victoria University Press, Wellington, 1996); 'Review of Eugenia', Sydney Star Observer (1997).
176. Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 43; Falkiner, Eugenia; Lorae Parry, Eugenia (Victoria University Press, Wellington, 1996); 'Review of Eugenia', Sydney Star Observer (1997).
177. Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 43; Falkiner, Eugenia; Lorae Parry, Eugenia (Victoria University Press, Wellington, 1996); 'Review of Eugenia', Sydney Star Observer (1997).
178. Gurr and Cox, 'The Man-Woman', p. 43; Falkiner, Eugenia; Lorae Parry, Eugenia (Victoria University Press, Wellington, 1996); 'Review of Eugenia', Sydney Star Observer (1997).
179. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, p. 47.
180. A year later, in 1921, the British House of Lords was to reject the criminalisation of lesbian acts because it was feared the law would bring sexual practices to the attention of women who had never conceived of them before.
181. I am drawing on Martha Vicinus's ideas on silence and knowing. See Vicinus, 'Lesbian Perversity', p. 72, ' Lesbian History', pp. 58-9, 66-8.
182. I am drawing on Martha Vicinus's ideas on silence and knowing. See Vicinus, 'Lesbian Perversity', p. 72, ' Lesbian History', pp. 58-9, 66-8.
183. I am using Terry Castle's image of the lesbian as an 'apparitional figure', present everywhere, haunting the heterosexual imaginary, but rarely openly acknowledged. See Terry Castle, The Apparitional Lesbian: Female Homosexuality and Modern Culture (Columbia University Press, New York, 1993).