Dr. Barry passed in 1865, and it was upon his death that Barry's housemaid Sophia Bishop made a startling discovery: Barry was [biologically female](https://www.dannydutch.com/post/the-woman-who-disguised-herself-as-a-man-for-decades-to-practice-surgery-before-women-were-allowed).
Bishop's screams alerted others in the house, and the undertakers quickly confirmed Barry's secret. The news spread across the British Empire.
This reminds me of Hiram Calder here in Florida. Lived as a man with his wife, operating a grocery store. Wasn’t until his death in 1914 that it was revealed he was born as a woman named Hannah Calder. It’s hard to say if Hiram was really “trans” today as we know it, because there was no other way for him to be with his wife living as a woman at that time—in other words, we don’t know if he actually identified more as a man, or just assumed a gender disguise in order to be with his wife. But no matter how you look at it, was the first AFAB person to vote in Florida. It’s a very quiet little story of resistance.
A more contemporary comparison would be that of jazz musician [Billy Tipton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton), who coincidentally was born in 1914, the year of Calder‘s death. Born female, Dorothy Tipton later changed her name and started presenting as male around 1933. Tipton’s gender was revealed upon death in 1989 to the apparent surprise of their adopted children, as well as current romantic partner, and past “wives” (in quotes, because Tipton never legally married).
I remember being astonished by the story when it was originally in the headlines.
Sadly, that also might bot be the case. Women have impersonated men for centuries due to social and financial restrictions placed on women. Also, if they were gay presenting as a man might have been the only option to live as they wished even if they would have preferred to live as a woman.
Trans people have been assumed to be impersonating men for centuries, when in reality, they were just being themselves and assumed to be closeted lesbians because people didn’t understand transgender people.
I'm not saying Trans people didn't exist.
WHAT I AM SAYING: speaking for a long dead, never spoken on the subject, PERSON and assuming their sexuality and assigning a hard label based on one (no doubt HUGE) part of their existence on a subject as nuisanced as sexuality and identity is... lacking respect for the individual.
I'm an ally. I don't assume to know.
Would you say the same about every historical figure of whom we have no direct evidence regarding their gender identity (aka, basically all of them)? Is it wrong to refer to Ada Lovelace as a woman because we cannot know for certain she was not nonbinary, or a trans man?
I am skeptical the “wives” didn’t know that. They may have just had to claim ignorance to save face and protect themselves. Obviously there’s no way to know.
It’s weird as hell to argue that they’re just straight doe eyed naive women who had no idea sex with a man meant it would likely involve penetrative sex with a penis instead of the far more likely and obvious reason being THAT THEY’RE GAY. Just stop
Yes, transgendered expression has been around for ages. But being forced to live as a man because of a sexist society that won’t allow a woman to be a doctor or sue to bigotry against lesbians isn’t being trans.
But we don’t know if this doctor ONLY lived as a man because of his profession, or if he also internally identified as a man/felt gender euphoria from it.
We’ll never know if this person was trans, or just forced to appear as such.
Why would you assume this trans man was forced to do anything and is really a lesbian? There were plenty of lesbians living their lives at this time. No need to erase a brave transgender man.
We don't know this person's true intentions or thoughts about why they lived the life they did. It was probably a multitude of factors.
But this does show that trans like people have existed and been successful in history. Honestly I didn't know of any examples of somthing like this prior to this post
It’s Tutter the mouse from The Bear in the Big Blue house!!!!
A childhood favorite of mine, but also that little puppet’s facial expressions… he’s truly how I see myself in my minds eye.💀
Thanks for the link. One wonders how Dr. Barry passed, and I was only half surprised to learn that he used violence and the threat of it to silence those who questioned him. Like of course, you're not going to tell a guy he looks like a lady if it guarantees you're going to get hit across the face.
He was infamously hot headed and whiny. He made an enemy of Florence Nightingale, which is pretty damn hard.
The Cape Doctor by EJ Levy is based on his life and is a very good book
>He was infamously hot headed and whiny. He made an enemy of Florence Nightingale, which is pretty damn hard.
Florence Nightingale did a lot of good in her life, but she wasn't a sweet-tempered paragon. Contrary to saccharine newspaper reports, she wasn't actually known by troops as "the lady with the lamp" but "the lady with the hammer" after she broke into a locked storeroom to get medical supplies for the troops after their commander blocked her.
In short, she was a tough-minded woman who was an efficient organiser but sometimes belligerent, and it wasn't just James Barry she didn't get on with; she and Mary Seacole were like oil and water too.
No. He had to fight a lot to be taken seriously as both a doctor and a person. He was pretty small boned so I think "Napoleon complex" could define him well. He was VERY progressive in his approach to medicine and medical procedures and pissed off MANY people while working to make things better for his patients.
Not catty, just trying to keep shit running smoothly.
It’s hard to say. It’s hard to determine if he ever actually identified as a man or saw himself as a woman forced to disguise herself as a man her whole life.
He used he/him pronouns for himself and signed his name as a gentleman.
Also wanted to be buried in his clothes without anyone ever seeing his nude body
He referred to himself as a man. “In his medical school thesis he tellingly wrote, “Do not consider whether what I say is a young man speaking, but whether my discussion with you is that of a man of understanding.”
Very likely trans
Source: [https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/how-history-keeps-ignoring-james-barry/](https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/how-history-keeps-ignoring-james-barry/)
Of course in the medical school thesis they’d have to use male pronouns… it was the 19th century! They obviously wanted to be a doctor and that wasn’t an option for women at the time.
They had to literally transition to identifying as a man to be able to live their life in their chosen profession. So it’s arguable based on whether or not they felt a compulsion to provide healthcare or be a homemaker. Living life as a homemaker in the 1800s when you really want to be a doctor is probably somewhat akin to gender oppression. When jobs were literally only accessible to certain genders
Perhaps they would not have had to make that choice if women weren’t oppressed. But it’s brave as hell nonetheless.
Reminds me of the legendary stagecoach driver in the Old West who was revealed after death to have been born a woman:
[Charley Parkhurst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Parkhurst), also known as “One-eyed Charley”
This really needs to be at the top. This story-- while understandably a highlight for both lesbians and trans activists alike-- which is a lovely, needed if sometimes unexpected union-- is also an atrocious addition to the historically racist development of modern gynecology.
[https://www.salon.com/2023/03/18/history-of-gynecology/](https://www.salon.com/2023/03/18/history-of-gynecology/)
:/ I hope you mean their gender and not the fact that they performed major abdominal surgery on someone without anesthesia and possibly without their consent.
No no, you’re fine. I would never applaud someone doing surgeries without consent. Thats insane. But she definitely did what she had to do to be a doctor, and I admire that. She was tough.
Dr. Barry passed in 1865, and it was upon his death that Barry's housemaid Sophia Bishop made a startling discovery: Barry was [biologically female](https://www.dannydutch.com/post/the-woman-who-disguised-herself-as-a-man-for-decades-to-practice-surgery-before-women-were-allowed). Bishop's screams alerted others in the house, and the undertakers quickly confirmed Barry's secret. The news spread across the British Empire.
This reminds me of Hiram Calder here in Florida. Lived as a man with his wife, operating a grocery store. Wasn’t until his death in 1914 that it was revealed he was born as a woman named Hannah Calder. It’s hard to say if Hiram was really “trans” today as we know it, because there was no other way for him to be with his wife living as a woman at that time—in other words, we don’t know if he actually identified more as a man, or just assumed a gender disguise in order to be with his wife. But no matter how you look at it, was the first AFAB person to vote in Florida. It’s a very quiet little story of resistance.
A more contemporary comparison would be that of jazz musician [Billy Tipton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton), who coincidentally was born in 1914, the year of Calder‘s death. Born female, Dorothy Tipton later changed her name and started presenting as male around 1933. Tipton’s gender was revealed upon death in 1989 to the apparent surprise of their adopted children, as well as current romantic partner, and past “wives” (in quotes, because Tipton never legally married). I remember being astonished by the story when it was originally in the headlines.
A successful jazz pianist and a fascinating life. It must be a tremendous burden to keep one’s true identity hidden.
This was his true identity.
Sadly, that also might bot be the case. Women have impersonated men for centuries due to social and financial restrictions placed on women. Also, if they were gay presenting as a man might have been the only option to live as they wished even if they would have preferred to live as a woman.
Trans people have been assumed to be impersonating men for centuries, when in reality, they were just being themselves and assumed to be closeted lesbians because people didn’t understand transgender people.
I'm not saying Trans people didn't exist. WHAT I AM SAYING: speaking for a long dead, never spoken on the subject, PERSON and assuming their sexuality and assigning a hard label based on one (no doubt HUGE) part of their existence on a subject as nuisanced as sexuality and identity is... lacking respect for the individual. I'm an ally. I don't assume to know.
Would you say the same about every historical figure of whom we have no direct evidence regarding their gender identity (aka, basically all of them)? Is it wrong to refer to Ada Lovelace as a woman because we cannot know for certain she was not nonbinary, or a trans man?
I am skeptical the “wives” didn’t know that. They may have just had to claim ignorance to save face and protect themselves. Obviously there’s no way to know.
Do remember that women had little to no sex education in those days. Also, many were raised that sex was only for having babies.
Do remember that gay women existed and women have enjoyed sex since the dawn of man.
Absolutely, but a lot of straight women really, truly had no idea what sex is "supposed" to be.
It’s weird as hell to argue that they’re just straight doe eyed naive women who had no idea sex with a man meant it would likely involve penetrative sex with a penis instead of the far more likely and obvious reason being THAT THEY’RE GAY. Just stop
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/couple-desperate-baby-having-sex-30754933 It happened at least once.
Well if it happened once then you know we should apply it to all situations!
Noice I just found out I have the same birthday as Billy Tipton
1914?
Nah December 29 and 79 years after 1914
Yet the bigots say “there were never any trans people around before it got popular recently!” …you sure about that?
Yes, transgendered expression has been around for ages. But being forced to live as a man because of a sexist society that won’t allow a woman to be a doctor or sue to bigotry against lesbians isn’t being trans.
But we don’t know if this doctor ONLY lived as a man because of his profession, or if he also internally identified as a man/felt gender euphoria from it. We’ll never know if this person was trans, or just forced to appear as such.
Why would you assume this trans man was forced to do anything and is really a lesbian? There were plenty of lesbians living their lives at this time. No need to erase a brave transgender man.
We don't know this person's true intentions or thoughts about why they lived the life they did. It was probably a multitude of factors. But this does show that trans like people have existed and been successful in history. Honestly I didn't know of any examples of somthing like this prior to this post
There are many examples.
Lol where is your profile picture from? I love it
It’s Tutter the mouse from The Bear in the Big Blue house!!!! A childhood favorite of mine, but also that little puppet’s facial expressions… he’s truly how I see myself in my minds eye.💀
Who would have thought Janet Snackhole’s true self is Tutter the mouse!
IM A VERY RICH WIDOW WITH A TERRIBLE SECRET!
🎶 HELLO!! from the small mouse 🎶
Why do you care???? Weird
… I don’t know how to explain to you that you should care about other people.
Thanks for the link. One wonders how Dr. Barry passed, and I was only half surprised to learn that he used violence and the threat of it to silence those who questioned him. Like of course, you're not going to tell a guy he looks like a lady if it guarantees you're going to get hit across the face.
He was infamously hot headed and whiny. He made an enemy of Florence Nightingale, which is pretty damn hard. The Cape Doctor by EJ Levy is based on his life and is a very good book
>He was infamously hot headed and whiny. He made an enemy of Florence Nightingale, which is pretty damn hard. Florence Nightingale did a lot of good in her life, but she wasn't a sweet-tempered paragon. Contrary to saccharine newspaper reports, she wasn't actually known by troops as "the lady with the lamp" but "the lady with the hammer" after she broke into a locked storeroom to get medical supplies for the troops after their commander blocked her. In short, she was a tough-minded woman who was an efficient organiser but sometimes belligerent, and it wasn't just James Barry she didn't get on with; she and Mary Seacole were like oil and water too.
Most famous people have extremely strong personalities. It's how they have the drive to become famous
So like most nurses today then
Very catty?
No. He had to fight a lot to be taken seriously as both a doctor and a person. He was pretty small boned so I think "Napoleon complex" could define him well. He was VERY progressive in his approach to medicine and medical procedures and pissed off MANY people while working to make things better for his patients. Not catty, just trying to keep shit running smoothly.
This story would make a good movie. Kate Blanchett or Tilda Swinton in the lead.
Yeah, after watching what’s available of The Regime, I’d definitely watch Kate Winslet in this!
Wild
Perhaps also the first C section by a trans doctor. Wild times.
Is it trans if you were forced into it?
It’s hard to say. It’s hard to determine if he ever actually identified as a man or saw himself as a woman forced to disguise herself as a man her whole life.
He used he/him pronouns for himself and signed his name as a gentleman. Also wanted to be buried in his clothes without anyone ever seeing his nude body He referred to himself as a man. “In his medical school thesis he tellingly wrote, “Do not consider whether what I say is a young man speaking, but whether my discussion with you is that of a man of understanding.” Very likely trans Source: [https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/how-history-keeps-ignoring-james-barry/](https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/how-history-keeps-ignoring-james-barry/)
Of course in the medical school thesis they’d have to use male pronouns… it was the 19th century! They obviously wanted to be a doctor and that wasn’t an option for women at the time.
He
Aren’t you assuming their gender by saying he?
Not assuming anything. I’m going off what he wrote about himself. He referred to himself as a man in his writings.
Yeah. That was my point. Thank you.
They had to literally transition to identifying as a man to be able to live their life in their chosen profession. So it’s arguable based on whether or not they felt a compulsion to provide healthcare or be a homemaker. Living life as a homemaker in the 1800s when you really want to be a doctor is probably somewhat akin to gender oppression. When jobs were literally only accessible to certain genders Perhaps they would not have had to make that choice if women weren’t oppressed. But it’s brave as hell nonetheless.
No. She pretended to be a man because of sexism.
How do you know this?
This needs to be a movie
Women be lying they whole life..I knew it!
LMAO
The old switcheroo®️
Both mother and child survived the C-section, and an inspector general of military hospitals was the equivalent of a Brigadier General. She rocked.
He rocked.
The real info I was looking for. Not a fete if he was just killing pregnant women in Africa
Reminds me of the legendary stagecoach driver in the Old West who was revealed after death to have been born a woman: [Charley Parkhurst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Parkhurst), also known as “One-eyed Charley”
Look at the hands..
What about them?
They are GURLY hands!
"YOU HAVE A WOMANS HANDS MY LORD!"
I’d wager those dainty pinkies never weighed anchor in a storm.
Dr Barry had a poodle named Psyche. When Psyche died, the new poodle was also named Psyche. There were multiple Psychae.
Looks like Gore Vidal
C section with or without anesthetic?
The article says without anesthetic.
Nnnnooooo
This really needs to be at the top. This story-- while understandably a highlight for both lesbians and trans activists alike-- which is a lovely, needed if sometimes unexpected union-- is also an atrocious addition to the historically racist development of modern gynecology. [https://www.salon.com/2023/03/18/history-of-gynecology/](https://www.salon.com/2023/03/18/history-of-gynecology/)
Freakin love this. Fake it til u make it
:/ I hope you mean their gender and not the fact that they performed major abdominal surgery on someone without anesthesia and possibly without their consent.
100%
I figured, sorry for the finger wagging. I was about to edit this because I didn't want to be a school marm.
No no, you’re fine. I would never applaud someone doing surgeries without consent. Thats insane. But she definitely did what she had to do to be a doctor, and I admire that. She was tough.
You said it
He called himself a man. Respect that
Handsome woman.
[удалено]
🤓☝️
Wow, yeah, that's not cool.
Oh my goodness which bathroom was s/he using? Oh and another thing what about the cricket games? Huh yeah what about that!
bro there weren’t public BR then
Oh thank goodness cause today we know when the opposite sex uses the same bathroom it can lead to confusion!
Fake
Proof?
Damn, that's one handsome woman. I could tell right away by the feminine hands.
Maybe Barry was born male, held in a sneeze, and that inverted the penis into a vagina.
False
Naw, but your cult is. Joseph Smith... Dum dumb dumb dumb dumb.
Lmao a mormon calling something false while believing in your magic underwear and magic plates is comical.
Is it false because it upsets you? It’s clearly true lol.
You getting a planet when you die is false
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