On April 28, Carleton’s German department hosted University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Associate Hazel Rhodes to give a talk entitled “Trans Fads and Trans Panics in Early 20th-Century Germany.”
Rhodes, who studies German, Nordic, Slavic and Dutch with a particular interest in trans and queer studies, explored the complex understandings of queer identities in Germany, especially drawing modern parallels to the historical record.
While the talk discussed queer identities as a whole, Rhodes’ analysis centered on how ideas about gender identities existed throughout history. This analytical focus served to center the comparisons between historical treatment of underrepresented gender identities and the vocal anti-transgender movement that currently exists in the U.S.
Rhodes is particularly interested in how shared ideas, terminology and understandings of queerness spread during her period of focus. She showed students the first recorded use of the “trans-” prefix applied to humans, and photographs of printed lesbian periodicals from the Weimar Republic, while explaining how primary evidence has shaped scholars’ understanding of how queer Germans understood themselves at the time.
During the rise of authoritarianism in Germany, non-conforming people were scrutinized, pathologized and fetishized. Many of the discussions surrounding queerness, especially the historical treatment of trans women, are reminiscent of discussions happening in the present. On one of her slides, for example, Rhodes showed a German newspaper headline that discussed public controversy surrounding the question of trans people participating in athletics. She also showed various examples of rhetoric weaponizing imagined threats to children and women that resemble contemporary anti-trans talking points.
The presentation was not entirely pessimistic, however. Rhodes spoke specifically about the historical precedent of solidarity between queer minority communities, as well as evidence of cisgender womens’ historical support of transgender women.
Notably, studying identity throughout history is often complicated by the fluidity of cultures and communal understandings of queerness. During the presentation, Rhodes specifically reminded the attending students that terminology, accepted science and concepts of gender are shaped by cultural context. People with atypical gender expression in twentieth-century Germany did not use the same words to explain their identity that would be used in modern discussions of transgender identities, but Rhodes argued for the value of dissecting the historical record to explore the inherent emotions that underscore queerness throughout time.
Most of the attending students were members of the Queer Culture and Movements in Germany class taught by Chloe Vaughn in the German department at Carleton. Attending students sometimes spoke in German when asking questions and made detailed contributions based on material from the course.