It's also useful to contrast that with the world described in the article in which sexual attraction and expression was more straightforwardly defined as normal/moral/socially-acceptable vs abnormal/sinful/illegal and most people engaging in behaviours society considered to belong to the latter group sought to avoid identifying too closely with them by acting out a pastiche of conventional married life and congratulating themselves on not being effeminate like a poof.
The idea expressed in the article that the Victorian era was gloriously genderfluid for anyone but a few well-to-do families without any notable enemies seems more than a little optimistic too.
The idea expressed in the article that the Victorian era was gloriously genderfluid for anyone but a few well-to-do families without any notable enemies seems more than a little optimistic too.