Events

Special Public Program

Gender Roles in Revolutionary and Colonial Times
A virtual slideshow lecture by Michael Bronski

Tuesday, June 22, 2021
6:30 PM
access via Zoom

In celebration of Pride Month and women’s influence in America, the HSW presents a lecture by Michael Bronski on colonial and revolutionary era attitudes toward gender roles and homosexuality and their significance in shaping modern American culture.  Bronski will touch on such topics as cross-dressing women who took part in the Revolutionary War and the non-binary evangelist Public Universal Friend who, in the early 1800s, refused to use pronouns and challenged gender roles.  The evolution of how we think about sexual identity and the words we use, the relaxed attitude colonial America had toward homosocial relationships and the way early LGBTQ pioneers, such as Watertown’s own Harriet Hosmer, helped change the image of the all-American male will also be discussed.

Mr. Bronski is a Professor of the Practice in Media and Activism in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University.  He has been involved with LGBT politics since 1969 as an activist, organizer, writer, publisher, editor and independent scholar.  He is best known for his 2011 book, A Queer History of the United States.

All HSW meetings and events are free and open to the public, but registration is required for this lecture.  RSVP using the HSW Contact form and enter Bronski lecture as the subject line to receive a Zoom link approximately 24 hours before the event.