When it comes down to it, the Codrington divorce trial is not a shining example of much of anything. Maybe Helen Codrington and Emily Faithful had a lesbian affair? But the divorce trial was about Helen's heterosexual extra-marital relations. The hint of the threat of a revelation of Emily's sexual orientation comes into play only to prevent her from testifying on Helen's behalf. And it's quite possible that the testimony Helen wanted her to give would have been false in the first place.
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There are many angles to be had on the ladies of Llangollen. This article looks specifically at the aesthetics of the rural cottage retreat as an element both for romantic friendship and Romanticism in general.
Sometimes, what looks like a fascinating article simply turns out to be a view into an academic slap-fight. Still interesting but not particularly relevant.
Although cross-dressing is one of the motifs that I trace within the Project, not all instances of cross-dressing reflect gender identity or sexuality. At least, not in the most overt sense of gender identity. Madame de Saint Balmon took a "masculine" role in protecting her lands during war, in part because she ended up on the opposite side of the war from her husband. This study of two portraits that reflect subtly different presentations of her life and activities shows the balance between admiration and normalization that such transgressive actions can inspire.
Having finished up a series of articles on general sexuality topics, I'm now embarking on an extended series of biographical articles. Initially this will be several short articles scattered across time periods, then finishing up with two much more extensive books about Anne Lister. The Lister material may easily tide me over for most of the month, if I break it up into manageable bite-size pieces.
This article makes a useful contrast to yesterday's, as it illustrates that people working on the same time and place can interpret the data differently.
When I work on the chapter for the book version of the Project that explains the various models of sex and gender, one of the hard parts is sorting out the chronology. Every author who works on this subject appears to have their own notion of when the changes happened and how they were promulgated in society. The simple fact is that social theories overlap each other, with multiple contradictory ideas of how human beings function occurring in parallel, even believed by the same people.
Usually I make an effort to make an LHMP post of some sort every day during Pride Month. That may be a bit trickier this year than usual given that (as noted in the most recent podcast) I have a broken arm, which slows down typing considerably. As with the subject of today's article, gardens were involved. Specifically my strawberry bed, where I was working when I tripped over my own feet and fell on the concrete walkway. I now have a titanium plate and nine screws in my left arm. But recovery is proceeding.
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 344 – When Did We Become Lesbians? (Reprise) - transcript
(Originally aired 2026/06/06)
I’m re-running some older episodes for the next month or two because I broke my arm, which interferes greatly with typing up extensive scripts. Today’s show, “When Did We Become Lesbians?” originally aired in 2017. I’ve done a lot of research since then, so if I were writing the episode anew, there would be things I’d add or change, but on the whole it holds up fairly well.
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 343 – Salt for the Unmarried by Khayelihle Benghu - transcript
(Originally aired 2026/05/30)
Before introducing the episode, I have a logistical announcement. I recently broke my arm, which is going to get in the way of extensive typing for a couple of months. Therefore I’m going to be re-running some favorite episodes from the past until I’m back in action. I hope that will tide you over in the mean time.
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