(i ripped this off wikipedia real fast so sorry if it's lib)
In October 1776, the Public Universal Friend contracted an epidemic disease and was bedridden and near death with a high fever. Their family summoned a doctor from Attleboro, six miles away, and neighbors kept up a death-watch at night. The fever broke after several days. The Friend later reported that [deadname redacted] had died, receiving revelations from God through two archangels who proclaimed there was "Room, Room, Room, in the many Mansions of eternal glory for Thee and for everyone". The Friend further said that [deadname redacted]'s soul had ascended to heaven and the body had been reanimated with a new spirit charged by God with preaching his word, that of the "Publick Universal Friend", describing that name in the words of Isaiah 62:2 as "a new name which the mouth of the Lord hath named".
From that time on, the Friend refused to answer to their deadname, ignoring or chastising those who insisted on using it. When visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, the Friend simply quoted Luke 23:3 ("thou sayest it"). Identifying as neither male nor female, the Friend asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns. Followers respected these wishes; they referred only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F.", and many avoided gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries. When someone asked if the Friend was male or female, the preacher replied "I am that I am", saying the same thing to a man who criticized the Friend's manner of dress (adding, in the latter case, "there is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to mortals").
editorial note: I think this is a very cool story and I really love hearing it. We've been around forever and we've been doing variations of this forever. It's really beautiful
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There are updated editions of Whipping Girl but none of them try to rectify this literal find-and-replace issue, or straighten out its bizarre assortment of trans related terms... again why...
wait, really?? why indeed!! you think Serano would have an enby arc or wake up one day and be like "wait gender is made up"
I mean you would desperately hope, but despite reading Bornstein and Feinberg that didn't really seem to click, or the terms weren't there yet Idk.
oh she read both of them ig?
She says as much in Whipping Girl, which is like "
Did you, Julia? Did you really...?"
wow, that is super fascinating, but agree... did she??! i'd love to hear more of your thoughts tomorrow but i gotta sleep soon ...
Go to bed
I will probably repost this in the new mega come tomorrow since nobody DEBATED ME
It's weird how much the book explicitly quotes sources, but the whole book seems to push the idea of "NBs are the real oppressors" without nearly as much direct quotes and I wonder if it's an argument against those texts, but I've yet to read those so feel unqualified to say. Enjoyed a lot of the book overall, but the anti-"unique snowflake" messaging throughout seems a little too truscummy for me to want to give it an uncritical recommendation.