Short Paper Assignment

In a paper of three to five pages, double spaced, analyze these two historical document sets. All are about gender and sexuality, all three come from the time we are studying. Why do you think these three documents appeared at this time? As always in a historical paper, make sure you have evidence for your conclusions, and document your evidence in foot or end notes. Use material from the lecture, readings and especially the website to make your case.

Papers are due in class on Wednesday, Dec. 1

Document Set 1. Dr. Austin Flint worked as a medical inspector at a New York reformatory. In 1895 he wrote this account of a man he saw in Bellevue Hospital, New York City's hospital for the mentally ill. He published this account twice in medical journals, once in 1895 and once in 1911


Document Set 2. These two novelty postcards were published sometime in the early twentieth century.

Questions to consider: Why is it problematic for a man to dress as a woman, or for a woman to dress as a man? Why should this practice have become so controversial or interesting in this period? Was it becoming more common, as society's morals changed? Or had it always gone on, and only now suddenly become a problem?

A good paper will relate these documents to the lectures and readings and especially to material you find on the website.