Thread by @AudreyCFarley

On racial, sexual, and religious violence...

Meet Carl and Sadie Morlok (aka Henry and Gertrude Genain). When a very pregnant Sadie told her doctor in 1929 that she suspected multiples, he replied, “Aren’t you a white woman?” 1/

When Sadie birthed quadruplets, Carl was furious, asking, “What will they think my wife is, a bitch dog?” He’d been told to marry someone with his own superior (German) heritage and this partly Scottish-Irish woman was bringing him shame. 2/

Fear of his wife and daughters’ animality consumed Carl, who was elected constable on the quads' notoriety. Spurred by his mom’s superstition that food should be browned for their hogs to breed, he accused his daughters of “trying to get stimulation” if they ate dark toast. 3/

When one quad began masturbating as a child, she was dragged before a doctor. Repulsed by the “sweaty,” “moist,” “antagonistic,” “wolf-like” child, this man recommended surgery. After she turned a sister onto her play, the two of them went under the knife. 4/

In the 1940s, it was common for doctors to operate on "over-sexed" girls, who were perceived likely to cross the color line (mix with other races). 5/

Carl's daughters, especially, had an image to uphold. They’d gained fame singing patriotic and religious tunes. They once opened for minstrel performers aboard a boat named "Robert E. Lee." Their cuteness provided a stark contrast to the buffoonish men in blackface. 6/

When the US entered WWII, local newspapers printed photos of the quads “doing their bit” for Uncle Sam: purchasing war stamps, participating in the Clean Plate Club campaign to conserve prepared food, and joining their schoolmates in scrap drives. 7/

By all media accounts, the sisters were fighters of fascism, not victims of it. What happened behind closed doors and at the hands of other besotted townsfolk—and there were MANY—was not of public concern. 8/

By 25, all four sisters had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and sent to @NIMHgov for study. They’ve since become the poster girls of psychiatric genetics *and* its critics, their story serving those in both the nature and nurture camps. 9/

GIRLS AND THEIR MONSTERS takes a different tack, asking how fantasies of innocence/purity came to bear on these women's lives. It explores how white bodies are simultaneously venerated and made to bear the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow. 10/ grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/audrey-…

The book is based on hundreds of hours spent in conversation with the sole surviving quadruplet, who will turn 93 this year. It comes out June 13. You can pre-order at the usual places. If you are interested in media coverage, please get in touch!🙏🙏🙏 11/

Thanks to all who've already helped to spread the word, including @eleanorjbader1, who recently interviewed me for @MsMagazine. /end msmagazine.com/2023/03/18/gir…