Sex and Women in the Archive and New Imaginaries of Female Same-Sex Relations in the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The article aims to contribute to queer histories of marginalised people and those who have left behind limited traces. It analyses medical sources informing about female same-sex relations among poor and marginalised women in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the late nineteenth century. The medical sources repeatedly mention how women in prostitution engaged in sexual and romantic relations with one other. The article provides examples of how female same-sex relations were described as passionate and dramatic, as well as violent, and proposes an expanded notion of female same-sex relations to accommodate “grim” stories of intimate partner violence and death. Furthermore, the medical reports associated women’s relations with carnal sex, . Finally, the article suggests that it might not have been the gender of a woman’s same-sex partner but rather the woman’s sexual activity, that caused condemnation. As the medical sources are confined to inform about women’s encounters with power authorities, such as doctors and police, I employ “imaginary scenarios” (Hartman 2021) to be able to represent the same-sex relations in a more profound way.