Ooh, Juliana Horatia Ewing is an author I've encountered a lot in memoirs of Victorian and Edwardian childhoods. She's usually spoken of with high praise, and seems to have been very widely read during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. I've had this book of hers on my tbr list for some time—it seems to be quite reminiscent of Frances Hodgson Burnett and the Bronte sisters: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Sixteen-Juliana-Horatia-Ewing/dp/1537458043
And yay to buying more lesbian history books! It's fascinating how intimacy between women and the societal attitudes towards it have evolved over time. It's also interesting that the increased idealisation of romantic love in heterosexual marriages, although it undoubtedly led to greater happiness and freedom for many women, did also reinforce heteronormativity and amatonormativity and the idea that there's only one correct way to love/be in love.
My favourite-- and rather tangential-- early 20th century lesbian history fact is that sports in girls' boarding schools were partly introduced as a way to divert students' energies away from "unnatural desires"! No time for lesbianism if you're too busy playing hockey...
no subject
And yay to buying more lesbian history books! It's fascinating how intimacy between women and the societal attitudes towards it have evolved over time. It's also interesting that the increased idealisation of romantic love in heterosexual marriages, although it undoubtedly led to greater happiness and freedom for many women, did also reinforce heteronormativity and amatonormativity and the idea that there's only one correct way to love/be in love.
My favourite-- and rather tangential-- early 20th century lesbian history fact is that sports in girls' boarding schools were partly introduced as a way to divert students' energies away from "unnatural desires"! No time for lesbianism if you're too busy playing hockey...