The Sex Question

In the writings of the 19th and early 20th century, the questions we associate with feminism were addressed under a variety of labels, one of the most economical of which was “the sex question,” which referred, in practice, to a wide range of question concerning sex, gender, sexuality, etc. The texts collected here cover a wide range of “women’s issues.” The current collection includes material previously contained in the following archives: La Frondeuse (Black and Red Feminist History), Anarchy and the Sex Question and A Beautiful Nihilist.

poetry

Joaquin Miller, “Sophia Perovskaya” (1881)

June 26, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
Sophie Perovskaya, LIBERTY’S MARTYRED HEROINE. Hanged April 15, 1881, For Helping to Rid the World of a Tyrant. Down from her high estate she stept,             A maiden, gently born And by the icy Volga kept             Sad watch, and waited morn; And peasants say that where she slept             The new moon dipped her horn.                         Yet on and on, through shoreless snows                                     Stretched tow’rd the great north pole,                         The foulest wrong the good God known                                     Rolls as dark rivers roll.                         While never once for all these woes                                     Upspeaks one human soul. She toiled, […]
poetry

George Barlow, “Sophia Perovskaia” (1895)

June 26, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
SOPHIA PEROVSKAIA. Blue-eyed, fair-haired, a girl in outward seeming, With lips, men held, that only cared to sing, When thy foot passed along the meadows dreaming Soft dreams and tender of the gold-haired Spring— When other maidens dreamed with longing wonder Of love, thou crowned with Spring’s most loving light Beneath blue skies wast dreaming of the thunder, Beneath the morn wast dreaming of the night . High-born, thou didst forsake the lordly places; Thy young heart thrilled at Freedom’s trumpet-call: Thou wanderedst forth, a light for poor men’s faces; Love, wealth, repose,—thou didst surrender all. And has not yet […]
Anarchy and the Sex Question (anthology)

Available now!

June 24, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
Anarchy and the Sex Question: Essays on Women and Emancipation, 1896-1917 By Emma Goldman Edited by Shawn P. Wilbur Available from PM Press, August 1, 2016 Emma Goldman (1869 – 1940) remains one of the best known figures of the political tradition known as anarchism, and with good reason, as few writers have so convincingly explained the evils of authority in government. But Goldman’s anarchism extended beyond the political realm, and arguably found its most essential expressions in her writings on matters more directly connected to everyday life. For Goldman, anarchism was not just an ideology, but a living force […]
Anarchy and the Sex Question (anthology)

Available now!

June 24, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
Anarchy and the Sex Question: Essays on Women and Emancipation, 1896-1917 By Emma Goldman Edited by Shawn P. Wilbur Available from PM Press, August 1, 2016 Emma Goldman (1869 – 1940) remains one of the best known figures of the political tradition known as anarchism, and with good reason, as few writers have so convincingly explained the evils of authority in government. But Goldman’s anarchism extended beyond the political realm, and arguably found its most essential expressions in her writings on matters more directly connected to everyday life. For Goldman, anarchism was not just an ideology, but a living force […]
Saint Ravachol

“Extraordinary escape of a young Nihilist girl…” (1879)

June 22, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
THE Moscow journals relate an extraordinary escape of a young Nihilist girl named Gobieslawska from the hands of the police. They had discovered the house in which she was concealed, and were about to make the arrest, when, to their surprise, they saw a balloon rising from the garden containing the object of their search and two men. The balloon rapidly disappeared. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (September 13, 1879): 23. Up in a Balloon.— A novel mode of escape was recently practiced by a Nihilist. A young woman named Olga Gobieslawska had been wanted for a long time by the […]
Saint Ravachol

Tragedy In San Francisco (1893)

June 22, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
Tragedy In San Francisco.—A shocking accident is reported from San Francisco during the performance of a charade representing a Nihilist plot, which was being given at the residence of Mrs. M’Coy, whose son, Mr. Albert M’Coy, appeared in the role of a Russian officer. Miss Grace King, who took the part of a Nihilist girl, and had to assassinate the officer, had been suffering from a sprained ankle. She had used a crutch, which, however, she laid aside previous to the charade. At the moment she was making a dagger-thrust her ankle failed, and she fell against M’Coy, the weapon […]
Saint Ravachol

Plot of a Beautiful Nihilist (Sophie Gunsberg, 1891)

June 22, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
PLOT OF A BEAUTIFUL NIHILIST ______ To Make Her Lovers Kill the Czar—Her Failure and Trial—The Official’s Side of a Story Hitherto Told Differently. No authentic account has yet been given of the late political trial—or rather condemnation—of Russian Nihilists for high treason; for trial, in the English sense of the word, there was none. I have just had a long conversation with one of the dignitaries who played the part of judge, jury, and counsel for the crown during the brief ceremony which began by accusation, was continued by voluntary confession, and ended in condemnation to death. The ringleader […]
Saint Ravachol

A Horrible Story (Gesya Gelfman, 1881)

June 22, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
A HORRIBLE STORY. The story told by the dispatches about Hessy Helfmann, the Nihilist girl, is from Paris, and therefore to be received with strong suspicion, apart from the almost incredible character of the statement. Were it a story of any other country than Russia indeed it might be dismissed at once as a palpable fiction. Rut unhappily there are too many reasons for believing that in Russia police brutality is capable of being carried to great lengths, and that in a case like this, where the victim was a condemned regicide, there could be little temptation to refrain from […]
Saint Ravachol

Suspected Nihilists (Olga Ivanovsky, 1890)

June 22, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
Suspected Nihilists. St. Petersburg, Dec. 9—The woman now on trial for connection with the nihilist conspiracies is a niece of Privy Councilor Illinsky, Director of the Holy Synod. Her name is Olga Ivanowsky. Several high ecclesiastical officials are Involved and startling developments are expected. “Suspected Nihilists,” San Francisco Call 69 no. 10 (December 10, 1890): 1.
Saint Ravachol

Arrested as Nihilists (1891)

June 22, 2016 A Beautiful Nihilist
Arrested as Nihilists. St. Petersburg, Oct. 8.—A profound sensation was created here to-day. A young woman from Moscow was arrested, charged with being a Nihilist. She confessed and admitted that she left a trunk at the home of the well-known composer, Glazounoff, in which was a revolutionary proclamation. The police immediately proceeded to the house of Glazounoff. He vehemently protested his innocence, declaring that he was utterly ignorant of the contents of the trunk. He was nevertheless compelled to deposit 15,000 rubles as bail. “Arrested as Nihilists,” San Francisco Call 70 no. 131 (October 9, 1891): 1.