I was interviewed by @washingtonpost about MTG’s vile use of ‘pedophile’ to attack her enemies. The article is below. Today I’m giving the #history of this term as anti-LGBTQ and #antisemitic, and it’s link to #fascism, eugenics, and Nazis. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/… One of the earliest fights for rights of #homosexuals/ #transgender was engaged by Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish doctor in Berlin, 1900-1930s. At the time, the term for what we consider ‘pedophiles’ was ‘pederasts.’ Conservative moralists would accuse any homosexual of pederasty.

The other day, a friend sent me an advert for a writing ‘camp.’ ‘Wouldn’t it be fun? we could go together!’ Camp: joining strangers at an unfamiliar place and being forced to interact. This is my hell. ‘But cool, like-minded people!’ Still nope. Why? On being an #introvert, a 🧵 My friend thought being an #introvert meant you only like socializing with people you find interesting—and as long as like-minded, it didn’t matter who or how many. That’s not introversion, though; that’s discernment and sensible curation. I, too, want interesting friends. But:

Since yesterday’s tweet (where I broke down a scientific study JK Rowling posted about blood/sex/gender), I’ve seen the argument that ‘sex is real’ because of chromosomes used to support anti- #transgender rhetoric. So today I’m sharing some biology in support of #TransRights Let’s consider chromosomes first. The anti-trans argument says XX is female/woman and XY is male/man. That’s the gender binary. But biology isn’t binary—it’s messy. You can be born XXY or XYY. You may be born with aspects of both sexes along a spectrum. It’s also true for animals

JK Rowling is up here suggesting blood is gendered and you have to get transfusion from the same bio sex you were assigned at birth (supporting her anti #transgender rhetoric) Before the blow up, some key information regarding the study she refers to—let’s get the facts 1/ There was a study. But: “The American Red Cross and the researchers themselves were quick to say the study is not definitive enough” and “three teams were from different countries, used different data sets and all had slightly different findings.” So what were the findings? 2/

I’m about to share a strange story: I once curated a portion of the med history museum, using it to follow the history of midwifery, gynecology, and birth generally. The strangest device was a cloth covered pair of legs that opened into a pregnant womb—with cloth fetus. #history 1/ Now, this model had supposedly belonged to a student of Madame du Coudray, 18th c French midwife. I’d seen the originals in Rouen with some of my then-students; they are startling. Plush. Big squishy wombs. And that’s how she taught midwives—in France, midwives were women. But

‘What is it like to do #book research’ —a historian’s thread about the perils and joys of the archive.
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I am in Berlin almost exclusively because of a single document. It exists in only one place: Humboldt U rare books. It has not been digitized. Thus, I took a flight. 2/
Arrived at the library today. I’d been warned I just pre-register and have a covid test, bring vaccines. No problem. Brandy rocks up to the check in with her nihilist Matrix black suit and is ready to rock. Like many archives, you are prohibited from being in outside bags.