June 15, 2025

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.

Voltairine De Cleyre, “Letter from Voltairine De Cleyre” (1891)

August 19, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

For the Boston Investigator. LETTER FROM VOLTAIRINE DE CLEYRE. Mr. Editor:—It is so long since I made my bow to the Investigator that I feel somewhat as if an introduction were necessary in order that […]

Voltairine De Cleyre, “Washington Sights and Sounds” (1890)

August 19, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

For the Boston Investigator. WASHINGTON SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. Mr. Editor:—When Charles Dickens visited us in 1842, he wrote that Washington was rather a city that was “going to be,” than an accomplished fact. Choosing between […]

Voltairine de Cleyre, “Are they Fallen?” (1902)

August 19, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

Are They Fallen? I am not sure that the wisest policy for me, having said my say on the subject of fallen women, would not be to display a “masterly inactivity.” I have little taste […]

Emma Goldman, “Walt Whitman” (incomplete manuscript)

August 18, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] WALT WHITMAN Last summer I listened to the reading of a very fine paper on Walt Whitman, at the Public Library of the city. I was struck by what seem[ed] […]

L. M. S., “A Word on Martyrs’ Mistakes,” (1888)

August 15, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

A WORD ON MARTYRS’ MISTAKES. — A Woman’s Comment on a Man’s Sentimentality and Long-Range Sympathy. There should be no more of mere sentiment and gush concerning the martyrdom of our comrades from writers and […]

L. M. S., “A Story of a Giant” (1887)

August 14, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

A STORY OF A GIANT. A Parable Not Laid Down in the Gospels, but Which Will Bear Careful Reflection. Is a Straight-Jacket the Best Remedy for the Contortions and Writhings of the Blind Samson of […]

Voltairine de Cleyre, “The Sorrows of the Body”

August 11, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

I have never wanted anything more than the wild creatures have,—a broad waft of clean air, a day to lie on the grass at times, with nothing to do but slip the blades through my […]

Voltairine de Cleyre, “The Reward of an Apostate” (1908)

August 11, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

I have sinned: and I am rewarded according to my sin, which was great. There is no forgiveness for me; let no man think there is forgiveness for sin: the gods cannot forgive. This was […]

Voltairine de Cleyre, “The Heart of Angiolillo” (1898)

August 11, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

Some women are born to love stories as the sparks fly upward. You see it every time they glance at you, and you feel it every time they lay a finger on your sleeve. There […]

Voltairine de Cleyre, “A Rocket of Iron” (1902)

August 11, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

It was one of those misty October nightfalls of the north, when the white fog creeps up from the river, and winds itself like a corpse-sheet around the black, ant-like mass of human insignificance, a […]

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