The Female-Impersonators

by Jennie June, Earl Lind, Ralph Werther

Originally published in 1922, this was a sequel to the Autobiography of an Androgyne and an account of some of the author's experiences during his six years' career as an instinctive female-impersonator in New York's underworld.

It also includes the life stories of his androgyne associates and an outline of his subsequently acquired knowledge of kindred phenomena of human character and psychology.

Genres: LGBT, Queer, Nonfiction, History, Gender

328 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

About the author

Jennie June was a Victorian and Edwardian era writer and activist for the rights of people who didn't conform to gender and sexual norms. He was one of the earliest transgender individuals to publish an autobiography in the United States.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, published in 1922, is a sequel to AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ANDROGYNE, and is "an account of some the author's experiences during his six years' career as instinctive female-impersonator in New York's Underworld; together with the life stories of androgyne associates..." (excerpt is from the title page of the book). It was originally published in a limited edition to be sold only to "physicians, lawyers, clergymen, teachers, writers, psychologists, sociologists, and legislators." It is "inscribed to Nature's Step-Children - the sexually abnormal by girth - in the hope that their lives may be rendered more tolerable through the author's efforts to enlighten thinking men...." This indeed is the goal of the book from the introduction by Dr. Herzog, who agrees that the androgyne is born that way and does not choose his lifestyle, to the end of the book.

The terminology is odd and some of the attitudes of the author are a bit repulsive as judged by today's standards, i.e. his views of sex with children, but it is an interesting, contemporary view of the life of a gay transvestite from the late 1800's through the early 1900's. Some of the author's "scientific" theories are amusing, the writing is overblown, and you need an unabridged dictionary for some of the archaic terms, but it's worth reading for its historical perspective.

[Larry-bob Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read the author's other published book, Autobiography of an Androgyne, I read this one. This book was supposedly aimed at a more popular audience, while the other at doctors. This one does mention Edward Carpenter and Walt Whitman who seemed oddly absent from the other volume. Both mention Havelock Ellis and Krafft-Ebing. The book also includes narratives of a couple of other androgynes, and commentary on some newspaper stories on the murders of androgynes (to use Ralph Werther / Jennie June / Earl Lind's terminology.)

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible book, and in some ways I think the better of the two, between it and its predecessor, Autobiography of an Androgyne. With this text bringing in description of other "androgynes" participating in the night life of the New York City underworld en femme. Partly, this adds diversity to the telling, and partly, it reduces the burden on the reader of taking in Jennie June's own consistently fairly tragic pursuits, as she is used and abused by her "hero boys" time and again.

Certainly, this isn't an easy read, with large portions dedicated to newspaper reports of the deaths of "androgynes". But it is tremendously important, and informative on its time and place, as well as being of generally reflective of a noble motivation on Jennie June's part to ask for justice (and not death and punishment) for her kind.

[Christopher L · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Autobiography of an Androgyne, then go ahead and put this one on your list. Jennie June is back with more tea!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, another work I've been pawing over again to use as a reference for my own writing this week. It's just so dang rich in juicy historical detail for the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Lind mentions what I think is the first known "transgender" organization in the U.S., the Cercle Hermaphroditos, founded in 1895 in New York, based on the self-perceived need of self-styled "androgynes" to "unite for defense against the world’s bitter persecution.”