The truth of queer Australian women within history is often hidden and replaced with the common belief that these women were “just good friends“.
It’s the narrative that historian and author Danielle Scrimshaw hopes to set straight on in her new book She and Her Pretty Friend.
As part of the OUTintheOPEN Festival, Ms Scrimshaw is coming to Shepparton to share her research.
The book explores the misrepresentation of queer women throughout Australian history through the lives of specific female figures and different time periods.
Her passion for this topic stems from both her previous honours research at university, where she completed her thesis on this topic and her personal life.
“At the time (of studying) I realised I was bisexual,” Ms Scrimshaw said.
“I decided I wanted to do women’s history specifically as when I was looking at the books and articles already available, there was a lot of male writing on male queer history.
“Not to say there weren’t also lesbian authors out there writing about this. However, it was male-dominated, and there was a lack of literature on queer women’s experience.”
After completing her honours in 2019, COVID-19 lockdowns hit, which thrust Ms Scrimshaw into further research and ultimately writing this book.
Prominent figures such as Anne Drysdale, Lesbia Harford and Cecilia John are just some of the female pioneers and leaders mentioned in Ms Scrimshaw’s book.
In her research, Ms Scrimshaw said there were a lot of similarities shared between these prominent women in history, one being they were involved in political movements such as women’s rights and anti-conscription efforts.
She said these movements provided a protected space for queer females as these groups would be less likely to discriminate, and being surrounded by women, there was a likelihood of finding someone else who was also queer.
Women in these movements were also not suspected of being queer as their social status, and the fact they were women allowed it to be less noticeable.
“Homosexuality for men was criminalised, and so you have all these criminal records in the archives for men being arrested because police and society were actively looking for it,” Ms Scrimshaw said.
“Whereas for women, it was very normal for two women to walk on the street or live together.
“If these women were deemed socially acceptable, like some attended church daily and were active in the community because they were middle class, it was harder for people to think of them as devious or anything other than ‘normal’.”
Ms Scrimshaw found that the lack of language and discussion around queer relationships during the early 20th century meant that the definition of being queer wasn’t the same as it is today.
“I think some women experienced these feelings without quite realising what they were feeling and would have kept quiet about it or dismissed it,” she said.
“On the other hand, there were women putting into practice and forming these relationships. However, they might not have called themselves queer or lesbian.”
To hear more about Ms Scrimshaw’s book, you can attend her author talk on Thursday, November 16, at 7.30pm at the Shepparton Library.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
To book your space, contact Goulburn Valley Libraries on 1300 374 765 or email shepparton@gvlibraries.com.au