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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

New on NOTCHES: Ali in Biskra: Sex Tourism, Algeria 1895 by Padraig Rooney This article discusses Oscar Wilde’s and Lord Alfred Douglas’ visit to Algeria in 1895 for the purposes of ‘sex tourism’. Rooney traces Wilde’s and Douglas’ sexual encounters with underage Algerian boys during their visit

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

New on NOTCHES: Beautiful: The Story of Julian Eltinge, America’s Greatest Female Impersonator by Andrew L. Erdman. One of the most notorious 20th c. female impersonators, Erdman examines Eltinge's career amidst wider drag history and evolving ideas about gender and sexuality. 🔗: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Un

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

New on NOTCHES: Queer Crafts: LGBTQ+ Identity, Politics, and Cultural Expression by Daniel Fountain. Fountain discusses how LGBTQ+ artists and makers use craft to explore identity, embodiment, community, and queer worldmaking. 🔗 Link to full interview: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4XT #NOTCHES #MaterialCulture

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Queer Crafts: LGBTQ+ Identity, Politics, and Cultural Expression

Craft is not simply the act of making; it is a powerful site of identity, politics, and cultural expression.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New on NOTCHES: On the Origins of Queer #Islamophobia in #Germany: From Sex Tourism to Queer Fascism in The Color of Desire by Christopher Ewing. This article traces the historical development of the claim that Islam and queerness are fundamentally incompatible Link to blog: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Zg

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On the Origins of Queer Islamophobia in Germany: from Sex Tourism to Queer Fascism in The Color of Desire

The story of the making of homonationalism is also the story of its unmaking.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

New on NOTCHES: The Roots of the Global Culture Wars over Birth Control by Wannes Dupont How did debates over contraception become internationally entangled with population control, reproductive rights, and the Catholic church? Link to article: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Yp #QueerHistory #ReproductiveRights

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The Roots of the Global Culture Wars over Birth Control

A showdown involving the Catholic Church, the United Nations, and Planned Parenthood over the politics of birth control.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Love queer history? Work with us! NOTCHES is seeking up to two social media editors to join our team. Please visit the posting on our blog to find out more. Link here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Ym #queerhistory #lgbtqhistory #historyofsexuality #historian #notchesblog #volunteer

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

New on NOTCHES: The Log Books by Tash Walker & Adam Zmith. Drawing on log books from London’s LGBT+ Switchboard, Walker & Zmith uncover fascinating queer life stories in the everyday concerns, fears, desires, and acts of resilience recorded by volunteers in the 70s-90s. Link wp.me/p6JJ6S-4XY

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The Log Books

A helpline that has listened to LGBTQ+ people of Britain since 1974.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

New on NOTCHES: The Lion, the Witch, and the Closet? Friendship and Queer Desire in the Life of C. S. Lewis by Tom Hulme explores queer desire, emotional intimacy, and male friendship in early 20th c. Belfast. Link to article: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Wl #QueerHistory #LGBTHistory #PrideMonth #NOTCHES

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The Lion, the Witch, and the Closet? Friendship and Queer Desire in the Life of C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis and his friend Arthur Greeves had a queer relationship. This article approaches it with a focus on desire, sexuality, and literature.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

New on NOTCHES: What Franco’s Archives Accidentally Preserved About Queer Life in Spain by Javier Fernández-Galeano. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4VR How did the state’s repressive apparatus inadvertently preserve traces of queer intimacy, erotic life, and dissident desire? #QueerHistory #SpanishHistory

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What Franco’s Archives Accidentally Preserved About Queer Life in Spain

The archive was a technology of power that paradoxically ended up preserving the very traces of queer life it set out to eradicate.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

New on NOTCHES: “Come to My Cottage: Queer Pleasures and Female Fandom in the Silent Hollywood Era” by Diana W. Anselmo. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4UE #FandomHistory #Herstory #QueerHistory #QueerFandom #HeatedRivalry

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

New on NOTCHES: In A Queer Theory of the State, Samuel Clowes Huneke examines a central paradox of today's queer rights movement against intensifying political backlash, and the resulting difficulty of imagining transformative futures. 🔗Full article: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4TO #QueerTheory #LGBTQIA

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

This Trans Day of Visibility, we invite you to revisit this fascinating 2024 article by Margarita Vaysman about Trans life in Russia: Aleksandr Aleksandrov: New Sources in Nineteenth-Century Russian Trans Life-Writing Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4H0 #RussianHistory #TransHistory #TDOV #NOTCHESBlog

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Aleksandr Aleksandrov: New Sources in Nineteenth-Century Russian Trans Life-Writing

Aleksandr Aleksandrov (1783-1866) was a Russian-Ukrainian hero of the Napoleonic wars and a celebrated trans author.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

New Interview on NOTCHES: In Sex Work in Contemporary Russia, Emily Schuckman Matthews examines how the figure of the sex worker operates as a cultural symbol, illuminating shifting ideas of gender, sexuality, and national identity across modern #RussianHistory. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4TK

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

New on NOTCHES In Looking Through the Speculum, Judith Houck traces the evolution of the US women’s health movement from the 1960s. The interview highlights the complexities of feminist organizing including debates around race, institutional survival, and trans inclusion. 🔗: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4TT

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Looking through the Speculum

Women’s bodies were not the only focus of the women’s health movement in the United States.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

New Photo Essay on NOTCHES: A Love Letter to Bolts Nightclub by Stephen Brogan Drawing on rare photographs, Brogan’s essay reconsiders Bolts as more than just a nightclub but a cultural institution that reshaped queer music, media visibility, and club culture across Britain. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4RJ

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A Love Letter to Bolts Nightclub

Bolts was one of the most vibrant LGBTQ nightclubs in 1980s London, renowned for its Hi-NRG music and its weekly shows that were at the vanguard of gay culture.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

New on NOTCHES: Criminally Queer: The Bolton 7, an interview with Hugh Sheehan. Sheehan revisits the 1998 prosecution of seven gay and bisexual men charged with gross indecency and buggery for consensual group sex. 🔗Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4T9 #QueerHistory #LGBTQHistory #Bolton7 #BritishHistory

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

New on NOTCHES: Sexuality in Modern German History by Katie Sutton. Sutton examines how sexual 'norms' have shaped key forces in modern German history, including nationhood, citizenship, fascism, and memory culture. 🔗Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4ST #QueerHistory #GermanStudies #Gender #Germany

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Sexuality in Modern German History

A deep look at shifting views about ‘normal’ and nonconforming sexuality across two centuries, and how these shaped people’s behaviours, politics, and lives.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

New on NOTCHES: The Massage Establishments Scandal: Coding and De-coding Sex Work at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Jessica Gregory. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4SG #SexWorkStudies #VictorianHistory #Herstory #Censorship #NotchesBlog

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

How did a Victorian heart medicine become a cornerstone of queer pleasure and politics? Author Adam Zmith joins NOTCHES to discuss his novel Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures. Read the author interview here 👉 wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Qi #QueerHistory #LGBTQHistory #NOTCHESBlog #GayCulture

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Our Social Media Manager, Georgia, is moving on from NOTCHES. So, in her final #ThrowbackThursday post, she shares with us some of her favourite NOTCHES articles of all time: #histsex #historyofsexuality #queerhistory 1/12

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Out today, we have Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas. Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy CW: abortion, death in childbirth, sexual violence #histsex #historyofsexuality #historyofmedicine #historyofscience 1/3

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Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics

Cesarean or sin: the politics of saving the fetus in Brazil.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

New post out now! Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas. Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy #histsex #historyofsexuality

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Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics

Cesarean or sin: the politics of saving the fetus in Brazil.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

NOTCHES now has a Ko-fi account! If you like what we do and want to support us, visit ko-fi.com/notches and consider leaving us a tip.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Back in 2021, we posted an extract from the introduction of Joanna Bourke’s book, Loving Animals: On Bestiality, Zoophilia, and Post-Human Love, published by @reaktionbooks.bsky.social. Find it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4c1 1/5 #histsex #historyofsexuality

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Loving Animals: On Bestiality, Zoophilia, and Post-Human Love

How have commentators talked about sex with animals and what meanings have been attached to ‘bestiality’ or ‘zoophilia’?

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Today’s #ThrowbackThursday, let’s celebrate yesterday’s, #InternationalLesbianDay. Looking back at lesbian history, today we spotlight Kim Racon’s article, Finding the lesbian premodern: Does it take one to know one? Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-qL #queerhistory #lgbthistory

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Finding the lesbian premodern: Does it take one to know one?

How can we find out about female same-sex experiences and intimacy in the middle ages?

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Today’s #ThrowbackThursday, we return to the bedroom...or, rather, the counselling couch, with ‘This isn’t so boring if you can get an outside climax’: Dr Joan Malleson and sexual counselling in Britain by Caroline Rusterholz. 1/2 #HistSex #HistoryofSexuality

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

New on NOTCHES! Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community by William Jankowiak Read the exclusive author interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PT #LGBTQHistory #HistoryOfSexuality #FamilyStudies #ReligiousHistory #Polyamory #Polyamorous #Mormon

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Yesterday was #InternationalMakeupDay and so what better way to spend #ThrowbackThursday than to spotlight some of the histories that are intertwined with makeup. 1/7

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

In today’s new NOTCHES post, we interviewed Jacob Bloomfield on his monograph, Drag: A British History. Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW #historyofsexuality #histsex #genderhistory 1/3

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Drag: A British History

A fresh history of British drag performance in all its ubiquity, glamour, fun, and tawdriness.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

To add a little excitement to your Tuesday, today on NOTCHES we bring you a new interview with Jacob Bloomfield on his book, Drag: A British History. We will delve into the article as the day goes on, but for now read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW #histsex

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

New on NOTCHES 🚻✨ “Dolled up to the nines to go to a flippin' public toilet!”: Cruising in Belfast During the Troubles by Niall Herron. How did queer cruising unfold during the Troubles, and what can it teach us about sexuality, space, and conflict? Read the full feature here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pq

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Would you mind if Neil Bartlett asked you a few personal questions about sex? 1/3 #histsex #historyofsexuality #sexology

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

In case you haven’t seen it, today we posted our fascinating interview with Douglas Pretsell on Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century. Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px 1/3 #historyofsexuality #Germanhistory

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Brand new NOTCHES post out now! Read Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century by Douglas Pretsell here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px #historyofsexuality #Germanhistory #queerhistory

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Today’s #ThrowbackThursday is the wonderful article, ‘The Stimulus of the Flesh’ and Margaret Singleton’s Broken Vow by Laura Wood. 1/3 #medievalhistory #historyofsexuality

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

In her 2016 article The Romantic Concept of Psychological Androgyny, Victoria Russell revisits the radical 18th/19th century idea of psychological androgyny. That is, the belief that the human mind is naturally unsexed and fluid. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-1UY #ThrowbackThursday #Androgyny #Romanticism

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The Romantic Concept of Psychological Androgyny

The history of the concept of psychological androgyny both raises and responds to the question “what is the history of sexuality?”

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Who wants reverence when we can have ribaldry? In our latest article, the Sex Lives of Historic Houses, Joshua Adair examines Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, as a case study in how historic house museums can evoke queer desire without sacrificing joy, sensuality, or style. Link wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pc

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Love reading? Then you’ll adore today’s pick for our #ThrowbackThursday, our interview with Christine Varnado on her book The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature. Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4de #literature #earlymodern #queerhistory

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The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature

The Shapes of Fancy stages an impassioned defense of the inherently desirous nature of reading.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

#ThrowbackThursday Victorian society developed a curious and complex fascination with the human hand. Josh Adair’s 2017 work “Disembodied Desire” explores how the hand became a potent symbol of erotic desire, social status, and personal identity in the late 19th century. Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-2LJ

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Disembodied Desire

For Victorians, the hand served as an acceptable object of fixation upon which to leer and project meaning and fantasy.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Yesterday was #bastilleday, so we thought we’d delve into some of our old #Frenchhistory posts. Post-revolutionary France saw much societal upheaval, particularly in the capital, as Andrew Israel Ross’ article outlines. #le14juillet #fêtenationale #historyofsexuality 1/7

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Before #Playboy became a global brand and lightning rod in debates about sex, media, and morality, Hugh Hefner was just a college student with a flair for satire and an eye for disruption. Let’s revisit Nathan Tye’s 2017 article, the College Roots of Hugh Hefner and Playboy. #ThrowbackThursday

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The College Roots of Hugh Hefner and Playboy

A college humor magazine, Shaft, documents Hugh Hefner’s first forays into commercializing sex.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

What can we Learn from Germany’s Early Queer History? by Mathias Foit challenges a number of assumptions about German queer history, from the broader historical narratives to the geographic spread of queer public life. Read today’s new article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Hr #Germanhistory 1/6

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What can we Learn from Germany’s Early Queer History?

Lessons that we can learn from Germany’s early queer movements from the 1890s to 1930s.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Censorship by broadcasters is topical, and today’s #ThrowbackThursday post begins with the censoring of the word “syphilis” in a public broadcast, and from there delves into the history of public health campaigns to combat venereal diseases.

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Taking the Venereal Out of Venereal Disease: The 1930s Public Health Campaign against Syphilis and Gonorrhea

VD was often associated with immorality.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Happy Canada Day!🇨🇦 Lets turn our attention to the complex, often overlooked histories of queer activism in the western Canadian prairies with Valerie Korinek’s 2017 work, ‘After Stonewall’ and Gay and Lesbian Liberation in Western Canada. 📖 Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-30q #CanadaDay #QueerHistory

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‘After Stonewall’ and Gay and Lesbian Liberation in Western Canada

‘After Stonewall’ was one of the most vocal regional gay periodicals in Canada to challenge a national gay activist platform.

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Over the past two months, NOTCHES has proudly spotlighted Trans-centered histories, stories, and voices. As we culminate our #Pride2025 coverage, we affirm that Trans histories are not marginal, they are integral to broader histories of sexuality, identity, and resistance.🏳️‍⚧️ #TransHistory #Pride

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NOTCHES Blog @notchesblog.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Trans newsletter editor Billie Jean Jones responded to definitions of “transvestite” that suggested clothing had a sex as follows: “If I leave my male clothes in contact with my female clothes, will I eventually have baby clothes? If not, then my clothing has no sex.” #transhistory 1/2

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