Berlin's Third Sex

di Magnus Hirschfeld (Autore)

James Conway (Traduttore)

University of Toronto Press, 2025

In 1904, Berlin did not exactly look like a haven of tolerance. Sex between consenting males and gender non-conformity were illegal, and other forms of sexual expression faced oppressive societal taboos. But despite fear, secrecy, and blackmail, Germany’s imperial capital nurtured a vibrant and diverse queer subculture. In Berlin’s Third Sex, German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld offers a sympathetic glimpse into this queer life, depicting spaces such as gyms, bars, cafés, aristocratic drawing rooms, and tenement apartments that drew the "third sex" – exiles from contemporary gender and sexual norms. Intimate, striking, and surprisingly sentimental, Hirschfeld’s account takes us from drag king cavaliers at all-night lesbian balls to "uranian" men darning socks for their soldier sweethearts, and from cigar-smoking trans men to sex workers in moonlit parks. Hirschfeld reveals vast networks of clandestine connections: coded vernacular, camp aliases inspired by pop culture, encrypted classified ads, and even a pre-Grindr telegraphic service for summoning temporary companions. Featuring extensive notes, an informative afterword, and an earlier pamphlet on same-sex attraction by Hirschfeld, this volume is of crucial importance for students, scholars, and readers interested in queer history.

• Autore: Magnus Hirschfeld
• Traduttore: James Conway
• Editore: University of Toronto Press
• Anno: 2025
• Rilegatura: Paperback / softback
• Pagine: 277 p.
• Dimensioni: 216 x 140 mm
• Peso: 1 gr.
• EAN: 9781487558451

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