Description
This exhibit, published originally on OutHistory in 2014, explores a series of stories published in children’s books and magazines in antebellum America. Some portray children being punished for transgressing gender roles, others expose the range of traits, actions, habits, and expressions that were associated with masculinity or femininity. For contemporary readers interested in the history of gender, these stories provide rich accounts of the possible ways that people could live across or between genders.