Thank you for this review of what sounds like a fascinating study! I would be interested to know whether Skidmore further complicates the retroactive labeling of the individuals she examines as “trans men.” As you point out, society would not have seen them as such, nor would they have had the label “trans” available to them. While by today’s understanding of gender many of these individuals would fall under the category of “trans men,” in the historical context in which they lived, they would not have been able to process their sense of gender identity through our modern understanding of what it means to be transgender.

I plan to pick up the book when it is released!