Sexuality, Socialism & Sandals: Studying the Obsolescence of Uranian Epistemology, 1867-1933

Abstract

This theses examines the history of the word "uranian" and its place in modern LGBTQ studies. I compare the ideologies revolving around uranianism, and its progression from its creator Karl Heinrich Ulrichs to their successors, Magnus Hirschfeld, and Edward Carpenter. The research I have conducted constructs an argument about the erasure of gender in early discussions of sexuality, and the more formal split built by Magnus Hirschfeld in the early 1900s. I argue that medicalization has monopolized the study of sexuality and gender variation, so much so that "homosexual" has overshadowed its predecessor "uranian." The lineage of uranian ideology has been ignored. As consequence of this absence in study it has established a misunderstanding of Edward Carpenter's socialism. I reincorporate the gender aspect of the uranian identity into discussion while also introducing the term to a wider audience.