Sometimes they do though... I've heard a lot of stories online. Turns out such people are bisexual and think everyone just chooses to be straight. Makes me wonder sometimes how many of the people who say that are actually bisexual but most won't admit to it. "I mean everyone is attracted to both men and women, most people just choose to be straight. I chose to be straight and married your mother, why can't you just choose to be straight like the rest of us?"
the ankle thing apparently is a myth, where everyone traced back the rumours to their origin and they all came from this one very catholic french lady who was super conservative and adamant that ankles were scandalous but no one else really cared. From that one lady, people latched onto that idea as something that "back in the day" ankles were scandalous, and that idea continued through the centuries that "back in the day" it had been a Thing but it never actually had. Take a look at 1830s dresses, they are quite short!
Yeah and I think the Queen Victoria rumor has been debunked as well. Jessica sounded like she believed it... I know this is infotainment but still, people watch it thinking they're learning.
Hey Jessica, thank you for your videos! I’m a new subscriber and am loving learning new things. I was wondering if there is somewhere I can find your sources (for my own research 😄)
Having singing in the background is really really distracting. I spent a lot of the video feeling like someone had left a radio on in the next room, my brain trying to understand what the singer was saying even as it also tried to parse Jessica's voice. Really made it hard to focus
I live in the U.S. and I'm scared to death that this country has moved backwards as far as the rights of individuals especially women and the LGBT plus community. The rolling back of abortion rights seems to be just the beginning. The courts, which are supposedly blind when it comes to the law, are outright speaking of rolling back same sex marriage, same sex relationships and the right to buy and use contraceptives without government restriction. Some of the justices, on the supreme court, seem to feel emboldened ignoring precedent on a number of issues making statements like "Gorsuch to Non-Christian Kids Who Don’t Want Prayer in Public School: Get Over It". Having courts with ideological agendas and using these to make laws instead of ruling on law is against all this country was built on.
Yesterday my husband asked me, "What's happened to Jessica? I haven't heard her voice coming from your computer recently." I explained about Evelina and Clara's new baby, and the move to short videos whilst Evelina was on maternity leave. His reaction - "Cool. I like babies." Lovely to see a longer video from you again. The shorties have been fine, but "Jessica Explains It All" is much more satisfying.
Top hats were actually pretty common for women regardless of sexuality: it was really common into the 1880s for women to incorporate aspects of menswear into their clothing, including top hats. Often they'd be feminized: fun colours, flowers on the brim, smaller, etc., but they were still common enough to see. Tailoring was incorporated into women's jackets so they'd still be the popular silhouette but had lapels and were essentially styled after men's suit jackets. Men's neckties were also often worn by women. So absolutely this would be more common with queer people, but it's sort of like short hair on women nowadays: it was also common for straight women who were just generally subversive or poltically forward-thinking.
This explains why the lead character in the show Gentleman Jack moves rather easily thorough Victorian society as a woman who dresses like a man. Delightful show if you haven't seen it!
@@cindyfrye3026 i think thats because he Show is trying to shy away from making her unlikabke. Which gets really hard If you read her diaries and biographies based upon it. Anne Lister was a badass, fascinating and a Stork of a person. She was also incredibly sexist, constantly cheating on her Partner (and im not even talking about the Timeline of the Show). When women were smart or interested in science, she was turned Off by them being unnatural (which... Interesting) and when they called her Out on her serial cheating, she would Gaslight the Heck Out of them. The Show has the events, because theyre described in her diaries, but they need to try to make her nice about it. So even when shes horrible, they need to Go Out of their way to Show her agonizing over it. I think a Lot of why her character in the Show feels weird comes down to that. Personally, i would Like to them Go "Well, she was Kind of terrible to everyone around her, lets lean into that". But i dont need my characters to be likable to find them fascinating and i understand why they didnt dare do that in a BBC show with a queer Main character.
@@annabeinglazy5580 That makes a lot of sense. She is like hot and cold faucets. I think how she treats her sister is the worst. Mine would knock me into next week if I tried that with her. LOL
A bit off-topic, but I've just read "Stonewall" by David Carter and it was a fascinating dive into LGBT+ history. Really enjoyed it. Also, I'm glad you talked about less accepting environments. As someone who's from Eastern Europe, it can be so hard to communicate with LGBT+ abroad. Especially, in relation to intersection of my Slavic origin and how it's harder for queer folks during the war in my country.
as a lesbian who feels "ungendered" in that im nonbinary/genderqueer, transmasculine/transneutral, not a woman but not a man, but masculine and feminine at the same time, its so wonderful to learn about this! lesbian truly feels like my gender, and its cool to learn that for a while, lesbian WAS a gender. also, i need a victorian tophat and hoopskirt
I loved this video- yay for enby/genderfluid/two-spirit representation!! I do want to mention though, that for me (autistic & adhd brain lol), the music in the background for most of the video was incredibly distracting and made it harder to hear/understand you. The switch to instrumental music at the end was very helpful ❤
Yes. Because the music included lyrics, I found myself hearing both the underlying words of the background music AND what Jessica was saying, simultaneously. Music WITHOUT words, purely instrumental, wouldn't have given me any trouble.
Personally it didn't bother me (a fellow autistic and I guess also ADHD person (though my ADHD and ODD were just grouped into *autism* during the diagnosis)) But it could be because I had some uh auditory tests thing when I was younger (I have auditory processing disorder*) There are also captions in the video or at least now there are The edit is just because I remembered the name of the disorder ha
Last weekend was my daughter's first Pride Celebration. She's 15 and been out for a few years. I've never seen her smile so much and truly was living her best life. I shared this video with her. I think it's important to know how far we've come but also how far we can still go
I ❤ the queer history lessons. I learn so much. I live in Indiana and it is very conservative, as an avid ally, seeing your vids makes me happy, feel normal and know that there are good places in the world. Thank you so much for continuing to bring hope, light and love!
@@sandiegopc1904 I'll have to look them up. I have a friend who lives near Carmel! I go through there all the time. Be cool to see local people. Local.... LOL it's indiana, if you're in the state, you're local.
Oscar Wilde is probably one of the people from history I have studied the most. Interestingly Wilde was publicly accused of sodemy at a gentleman's club via a calling card from the Marquess of Queensberry.
the Marquis was a thug & bully - generally not liked. He was Bosie's father and frankly meeting the very selfish Bosie was one of the great misfortunes of Wilde's life. Bosie was the epitome of a useless aristocrat who despised his father & pulled Wilde into the very public spat with Queensbury that eventuated in Wilde's unsuccessful defamation case, outing & imprisonment with hard labour.
Love your history videos! But if I could make a suggestion, the music with lyrics in the background makes it really hard for me to focus on you talking. Maybe you could put the lyric music at the end when you're done speaking? Just something to think about! Thanks again for your content! Happy Pride!
Same. So hard to focus! My brain always shorts out when two dialogs are going at once, trying to understand both at the same time. I almost quit watching and I'm sure I missed a few words...
The thumbnail lies, Jessica has NO. Cute. Top hat. 😂 (Wonderful research as always, Jessica! I knew about the third gender in the Victorian era, but it’s always delightful to look more into them)
I really enjoyed this video! It’s really interesting to know where so many of the modern western arguments against same gender relationships and transgender people comes from. Also, thank you for including interesting facts from indigenous American culture as well. It really piqued my interest and made me want to know more. I’ll probably be conducting my own research on these lesser known parts of queer history as well.
I am new to this channel, (maybe a month of watching) and I love it. I grew up in a very anti gay house hold, and I have always questioned my sexuality form a young age. I'm now in my early 30s and think I'm finally able to accept that I am big/pan. still closeted, but figuring it out slowly. thank you. 💜
Two-Spirit is specifically from Native American Cultures. These are not Indigenous People. Other cultures have their own traditions and words for LGBT people.
@@BaraJFDA but I was actually talking about the native pictures, that two names mentioned :) Native culture was the one that caught my attention during the video, that's why I gave specifically this compliment
@@annaclarabueno 6:35 you're right, my mistake. This needs a time stamp. I didn't expect that she actually include Indigenous Two-Spirit History in this discussion. I've gotten tired of Non-Native people appropriating words and traditions that are not their own. We already have LGBTIQA words which have only been used for around 200 years now in the West and they're meant to be used for everyone. Two-Spirit however is for Indigenous People alone because their history is far older. But their cultures were forcibly stolen, erased, and banned under threat of death by the colonial states and the church. I'm glad she talk about that most importantly. Over 150 unique First Nations historically were more welcoming to their Two-Spirit kin. In the Apache Nation, their third gender role is Ndeʻisdzan. And among the Zuni Nation, they have third and fourth gender roles: Lhamana and Katotse. Weʻwha herself was Lhamana.
@@BaraJFDA Thank you for all these extra informations! I'll for sure search more about the Ndeʻisdzans, Lhamanas and Katotses. And honestly, I really understand the reason why you feel uncomfortable, cause use this two-spirit" concept word when you're non-native american is completely out of mind, that's real appropriation and you did a great job talking to me and just making sure that people were using this name to mention something historically correct. Enough of erasing our global native cultures, right? Nowadays this is a topic that is more than necessary in my country (Brazil). but politicians and activists that defend the native-brazilian cause are being killed lately, so even these people's stories are hard to get on public. For everyone that's reading it, PLEASE, SPREAD THE INFO, BRAZIL KILLS NATIVES AND WHO PROTECT THEM DAILY, THAT'S NOT OKAY. #protectyanomamipeople
@@annaclarabueno Brazil killed Indigenous Two-Spirit people too. The first Two-Spirit Native person to be executed by the Brazilian colonial state was named Tibira do Maranhão. Tibira itself is a word for the third gender of the Tupinambá Tribe. The true name of the person is not known. Brazil just executed them in 1614.
Thank you for posting this today. I live in the US and there is a lot for us to worry just as women (let alone identifying as female and +) and some of the court members have publicly listed they’re going to try and reverse just about anything LGTBQ+ to interracial marriage. Jessica soothing narration helps to de-stress and her positive attitude tends to rub off on me. Have a great day Jessica!
Aww, thank you for the bit about sexuality being about the person and not about the person in relation to other people. I'm going through a lot of denial, since I'm currently a heterosexual relationship (my first true relationship). I identify as demisexual, panromantic and I always had a lot of internalised denial, until recently. Now I've taken a long hard look at who I am and that denial has flipped, telling me I'm "just straight and I wanna be special". Getting over *that* denial has been hard, especially since I've ever only been in a relationship with a man. I don't even want to leave this relationship, ever - my heart has one space available and that is now filled. Still doesn't make me any "straighter", though. The longer I work through accepting myself the less "straight" I discover myself to be.
There’s for some reason music underlining your video and it is almost subliminal and how it is at first I thought it was coming from my side maybe I had some thing else on but no it’s definitely from your video.
Thanks for this video! I'm reading a book titled Sexuality in China and some of the names you mentioned were name dropped in one of the chapters so it's really interesting to contextualise the influence of the West on attitudes in China
I love the line how do you know you’re gay if you’ve never kissed a girl well I haven’t kissed a boy either I like that line it sounds like my daughter and she’s asexual but then again so am I. Maybe that’s the reason you can’t in your discussions on sexuality you don’t have anything asexual in your history 101 and because like me most asexual‘s didn’t exactly know where they fit in they knew they weren’t heterosexual but they also didn’t feel homosexual so the idea of well how do you know if you have never… You just know. And that most people just don’t get that even today my daughter has been asked that by lesbians and non-lesbians alike and her reply is how do you know you’re lesbian how do you know you’re straight and they usually reply because we’ve tried it and her reply as well I don’t have to try to know I don’t want to.
Fascinating stuff--I knew about some of it, but by no means all of what you talked about! It's fascinating to think that immediately after the Victorian period, you had the 20s where homosexuality/gender noncomforming became very nearly accepted, followed by the backlash of the 30s and beyond (led by, but certainly going much further than the Nazis.) Is there any chance you could do a follow-up video some day covering the post-Victorian period? Also, thank you so much for talking about how sexuality is about you and not another person. That resonated really hard with me. ❤
Yeah, im really interested in that too.. I understand that there were libraries and research projects with several hundred years of studies that were completely destroyed by nazi powers seeking to breed the perfect humam
@@elspethfougere9683 Oh yeah. I dunno about “breeding the perfect human,” but the famous pics of Nazi book burnings are almost all photos of the burning of the library of the Institute of Sexuality (bad translation), a trove of studies on gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people. Set gay studies back about 50-60 years and almost killed trans studies in its cradle.
Love your history lessons. You're a wonderful presenter who knows how to use humor (or is that humour? LOL) to help make a point. It was great to hear you include how Native Americans felt about gender. It's not something that is taught in our history classes. Here in the US there's a push by our Supreme Court to curtail and then remove the rights our LGBTQ+ community fought hard for.
In the movie musical I wrote, I have a song sung by two lesbian fan dancers about wink-wink nudge-nudge “would you like to ride my bicycle”. It’s a jaunty Vaudeville melody, but with fan dancers and innuendo. I love it.
Yes, I also wondered, but I also thought it might be a bit insensitive to ask. Yet here I am commenting. 😩 She has a slightly lower tone. Still lovely!
I’m sure others have mentioned it already, but the music in the background of this video is very distracting! I am trying to focus on what Jessica is saying, but my ADHD brain is struggling
Hello Jessica. I've watched you for a long time, but it has just struck me to give you this (positive) feedback: the way that you lean forward and talk to us with your elbows on your knees makes the message so much more personal and informal, making it more informative as a result. I am a cisgender female for 60 years next month and am finding your channel to be the most useful for teaching me what I need to know in order to try to be considered an LGBTQ+ ally. Thank you for the education and history; I'd like to think I'm becoming a more improved ally every day thanks to you and Claudia (and RU!). Cheers from San Diego, California, USA.
Most of my queer history, I've been learning from you and a couple other youtubers, like Rowan Ellis and verilybitchie. Thank you so much for teaching us what our education systems failed to! Absolutely fascinating and wonderful stuff! I love it!
Your voice sounded so lovely, deep and rich in this video 💗 reminds me of captain Janeway, who ironically helped me realize I'm a lesbian! I always had a bit of a crush on her, but since I'm also asexual it was so faint that comphet easily swept it under the rug
Thank you for this. I’m writing fiction stories set in the Victorian era and your videos are immensely helpful. Also the slow sarcastic zooms are killing me. 😂
Would you consider making a video about Radclyffe Hall? I recently learned about her (their?) story when I visited the High Gate cemetery and I think it would be a great story for a historical profile :)
Yes! I searched for a copy of “The Well of Loneliness” forever when I was teenager. It was so hard to find! But it was literally the first book I heard of that wrote about lesbians.
I love your queer history lessons! They are so interesting. I remember reading about author Oscar Wilde but didn't know about the flower on his jacket until now. I always learned a lot from your videos. And it's ironic that I am currently reading a book that took place in Victorian times and you were talking about the people in Victorian times. Glad you, Claudia, Rupert, Walter and Tilly are back. ❤
I feel like the blame on Kraft-Ebing, Ellis and other sexologists of this time is misplaced. These early sexologist were studying people who were instutionalized for their gender or sexuality (and sometimes other mental health issues). The society around them was already medicalizing queer and trans people, Kraft-Ebing, Ellis, and others documented the growing medicalization in society, and as a result reinforced the growing trend of medicalization. The blame for the popularization of homophobia (and transphobia) is more accurately placed, in my opinion, on the Church of England's split from the Catholic Church and the legislation of religious taboos into British law (which was then forced upon outlying victims of British colonialism).
I didn‘t understand Jessica in a way of „oh, they were bad people“, but just describing the effects. To me it‘s clear that these sexologists were both part of a culture that already pathologized queer people and contributing to that themselves as well.
I hope you don't mind. I belong to a employee group with Cigna called ABLE ( a disability support and promotion group). I'm being interviewed as the employee of the quarter and I was asked what led me to joining ABLE. I cited you as one of the main reasons and called you my personal guru. I hope you don't mind the mention. I suppose I should have asked in advance but I was just so damn excited to tell everybody about you that I didn't think twice.
Great video, but please don't refer to the schools that Indigenous People's were forced to go to as boarding schools. It wasn't some nice place where parents paid to have thier children go like we think of as boarding schools now. The history of residential schools in North America is atrocious.
I love your videos! I just wanted to suggest that you reconsider your sponsorship with better help. I know you have excellent intentions(and accessible mental health is very important). But better help’s model can be harmful to clients and clinicians. The text therapy creates a dynamic that encourages clients’ dependence on a therapist. They allow therapists to practice in states/regions where they are not licensed, they don’t require a clinical assessment or documentation, many clients don’t get appropriate termination because of how the platform is set up, and there have been issues over the years about their data policies (the US senate is involved). they underpay therapists, and charge clients full price if they miss a session (but deduct money from the therapists’ pay.)Most therapists do telehealth counseling since the pandemic-and can take clients living anywhere in their state! BetterHelp is cheaper than your typical private practice-but there are lots of therapists that will work with you on a sliding scale.
I hear ads for them on a few different channels/podcasts and personally I find the wording of the ads rather manipulative sometimes. Idk but I'm just not surprised everytime I heard about their shadiness...
I've been catching up on videos (because what else should I do while I have a migraine), and I've noticed that for a number of the more recent ones (this on included) the background music has vocals. Years ago you did a video that mentioned how you put music into your videos; if that process hasn't changed, it would be great if anyone who pre-selects stuff for you could pick things without vocals as it's incredibly distracting (and they're just at the bottom of my hearing range, so I know there are words but have no idea what they are, which is more distracting). If this does get read and my feedback considered: thank you!
As an old white straight male who has watched a few of your videos you have answered a few of my questions. For example why it seemed laws were more focused on men than women. In a previous video you kind of validate my thought that not all "single" women shared a house just for financial reasons or because "the right man" never came along. I also enjoy your presentation.
The ankle thing actually doesn't have any historical proof behind it. There is only one primary source that discusses it, which leads most historians in discounting the claim.
Can you talk about Charlotte Cushman? I've recently started a job at the cemetery where she's buried alongside one of her lovers, and after hearing her story I'm obsessed with her.
Welcome back lady! Hope you are well(you sound a little off like you have a cold) I love the part where you say that is about how you feel and not your relation to someone else.
It looked like comments were off for your 1 year video. I wanted to say her hair was so good and your rainbow dress was so lovely. Welcome to parenthood. You gots this.
Jessica, I love your videos and have been a fan for years! Unfortunately I couldn't finish this one because the lyrics of the song in the background were too distracting. Hopefully you can use instrumental music for future videos
Fantastic video but listening to it on headphones was a bit of mental torture trying to filter out the lyrics to the music in the background to focus on Jessica talking.
probably not the right video to put this but...... i know this is a lot but help and suggestions would be appreciated a list of my symptoms Lightheadedness Dizziness(vertigo) Disequilibrium (feeling like im off balance) Fainting usually caused by dizziness (with episodes of going in and out of consciousness for hours at a time usually accompanied by a severe lack of coordination making it very difficult to call for help) Muscle/musculoskeletal weakness (I can often not support my bodies weight) Paralysis • Started when I was 10 years old (I'll be 20 this December) starting from left foot progressing to the whole body (Last from a few hours or a few days) Shortness of breath Frequent headaches(migraines) • Started when i was 8 but frequency and severity has increased in the past 5 years and even more so the last two Loss of sight every few months usually after some particularly bad headaches Memory loss and forgetfulness Muscle spasms/twitches and general body pain and stiffness A sensation similar to that of an electric shock in various places on my back near the spine (twitches and electric shock sensations greatly reduced since taking Gabapentin and Amitriptyline tablets) Loss of sensation in limbs sometimes torso and face( very rarely all at once) Sharp pain in the left side of chest unlike heartburn or ache caused by acidity (lasts anywhere from a few minutes to an hour) this pain also makes it difficult to breathe Sudden drops in spatial awareness and depth perception resulting in me hurting myself a lot be hitting and banging into things. I also tend to bruise very easily Joint pain mainly wrist ,jaw ankle (twists very easy) and hip Difficulty swallowing(usually accompanies shortness of breath) Anxiety and panic attacks (atypical) depression mental stressors only ever make my condition worse never start it and the cause for them these days it only when I feel the sense of loss of control when I feel any of the above. There are virtually no days where one or more of these issues is not happening. Triggers for symptoms getting worse Alcohol although id say is one it remains very inconsistent Long periods of elation or anger or frustration just anything that affects my heartrate or blood pressure like taking showers I often shower sitting down for this reason as I get lightheaded and dizzy very easily and its much more dangerous in a wet and slippery environment Lack of movement for over fifteen minutes on bad days Over-exertion though this varies a lot as to what qualifies as over-exertion from day to day. Some days five minutes of walking on others standing for 8-10 hours. i was not sure where else to go for advice so here i am.....I've had a slew of problems for over a decade now. if i think about it I'd say it started with the headaches and then blurred vision to no vision for two days. the first time the paralysis came i was taken to the hospital and they didn't find anything in the MRI's and suggested doing a few more tests but as they were more invasive than what my parents were comfortable with they brought me home. i also had an episode in the hospital where they had to sedate me as i freaked out over something and started pulling out my hair and hitting people around me who tried to stop it i also had nightmares for weeks after we came back that scared my younger sister a lot so i had to sleep in my parents bedroom for a while.....or so I'm told i have no recollection of being in the hospital and a very foggy one of the months that followed. we have gone to a few different doctors in that time one insisted i was lying cause i liked house MD but i liked Dexter as well so do with that information and assumption what you will it kind of just became a norm for me cause i have a habit of sleeping the episodes off which has gained me the reputation of being lazy even though i can't actually move open my eyes or even make sounds most of the time and anyway there was nothing i could do in that time as the few times i have had to use a wheelchair my mother was very against it. however last year my grandfather passed away and during a particularly long episode someone suggested i use his electric wheelchair as i had spent three days indoors and was getting increasingly frustrated and everyone was going to be out of the house for a celebration. since I started using it i no longer have to sleep my time away cause as long as i am able to move either hand i am able to move about the house unrestricted it has improved my quality of life a lot in those periods but we still don't have a diagnosis and i am quite worried as i am supposed to apply to college in two months and i Even took a gap year to try to figure the situation out to no avail....i also started living alone to see how well i could function but all it's proven is that i need assistance from time to time but the inconsistency of the needed help has made it very difficult to find ways to reliably cope with it. when i apply i need to state disability (my mother won't agree cause she says I'm not) as i may need use wheelchairs and need assistance in the event that i can't move during an exam or worse in a fire emergency of some sort in the dorm and i am incapable of anything. for applying for this schools require a medical professional stating i need them and this is not happening around here without a diagnosis....... i am at my wits end we have had another mri which came out fine and since we have gotten used to it noone in my family really cares enough to bring me to a primary physician first instead of deciding it's neurological themselves or atleast it seems that way they deny it. when i found Jessica it was like validation that things like this can happen and shouldn't be dismissed and her videos have helped me understand a lot about my limits and how to cope with certain symptoms i just hope i can find a way to validate it for others as well and get the support i need.
Great episode on history of lbgtq. It has been through this site and others that I have been able to find out my own sexuality. I am ace/aro and nb. It has been so much better for me that I now know about myself. Though hearing the comment "You just haven't met the right guy" does make me miffed. I'm 67 years old, that is just not going to happen. Thank you for your post and also to the other posts of positive lbgtq. Happy Pride 🌈💜
My family was discussing the fact that lesbians have never been persecuted and prosecuted as much as gay fellows and the men pointed out that for straight men because there is no penetration with a penis, lesbian sex is not sex. It also is not seen as "gross" by cis-het men because they have a fantasy of joining and turning them straight. Gotta love patriarchy.
Thank you for another brilliant video on queer history! I always learn so much from you! I am hoping you and your family are back in the UK and doing okay now!
I don't think there's anything inherently better about the identity model of sexuality vs the behaviour one. Either can be very accepting or very rejecting, or anywhere in between. Whether you see sexuality as something you are or something you do (I mean realistically it's kind of both, although they're not the same thing), I think the important thing is accepting and respecting people regardless of how they identify, or who they love or have sex with.
Loved the video (as always :) but not really the song with lyrics in the background. It made it harder to focus on your words for me, but maybe that's just me🤷♀️
Love all your vids, especially the queer history videos. Hope you're doing okay; I could hear some stuffiness/congestion in your voice, so hopefully it's just allergies.
My family "How do you know you're bi if you've only dated guys? Maybe you're just bicurious because dating boys have been hard for you and you think dating girls might be easier."
Hi Jessica. I love watching your queer history 101 although I'm straight I find it very interesting as I believe people should live their lives as they want to no matter who or what they are. I knew about Oscar Wilde being gay and his trial but I didn't know he was in prison or that it affected him so much when he came out of it. I watch Haley Marie Vintage and she mention there are certain states in USA gays can't live. Also that her life is scary on a daily basics. Two videos ago after her European trip. They are also trying to ban gay marriage in the USA.
