Like a number of the articles in this collection, this is more about the general social context of Anne Lister's life, with little direct reference to her sexuality. But because of the detailed nature of her archives, we can trace more general patterns in the social dynamics of her time.
LHMP
Blog entry
The modern political landscape might suggest an association between queer lives and progressive politics, but history is more complicated than that. Like some of her contemporaries, Lister embraced what Lanser frames as a "compensatory conservatism," resting also on her status as a landowner and entrepreneur, where conservative politics to some extent helped balance out the eccentricities of her personal life.
Not all of the articles in this collection have the historic focus that's my primary interest. But if my teasers intrigue you, the collection is available through Open Access.
Everything I've read by Stephen Turton on the history of queer language has been fascinating. This is no exception.
Anne Lister was widely read and infinitely curious about scientific topics. When she turned her curiosity to the human body, there was an underlying purpose.
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 347 - On the Shelf for June & July 2026 - Transcript
(Originally aired 2026/07/18)
Welcome to On the Shelf for—well, this is a catch-up episode covering both June and July 2026, after my broken arm-related vacation. I’m back to typing with both hands now, though it’s a bit slower and more painful than usual and I may continue using my computer’s speech-to-text function sometimes to help out.
Attention has been drawn to the fact that -- in all of her voluminous journaling -- Anne Lister never identifies with existing terms for women-loving-women, such as "tribade" or "lesbian" (yes, the word existed during her era) and explicitly rejected identification with "sapphic." Some have seen this as a strong argument for viewing her primarily through a transgender lens. But this article points out a different angle: that Lister considered herself to be unique and unprecedented in terms of identity, not only her sexual identity, but her social identity in general.
My brief break is over and I have another series of Anne Lister posts coming before moving on to other topics. This is a collection of articles revolving around archival material and/or the relationship between history and popular culture.
Well I did it: I posted something for the Project on every day in June. This was, in part, thanks to tackling the longer work that could be chunked up into multiple posts. I try to do the marathon posting every year for Pride month, but this year was on hard mode due to the broken arm. The cast comes off in two days, after which there will be an unknown period of physical therapy getting back to 100%. I'll be taking a short break from the blog, even though I have another collection of articles all written up and ready to go.
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