When Victorian Newspapers Put Gender-Bending on Trial

1870s Press Covered an Otherwise Trivial Case as Breathlessly—and Dangerously—as Today’s Trans Stories

In 1870, Ernest Fanny Boulton and Frederick Stella Park were arrested in London. Their crime? Presenting as women outside their theatrical act.

Fanny and Stella had appeared in newspapers before, known for their colorful personas as entertainers, sometimes praised and sometimes criticized for their performances. Boulton was revered for being the “best amateur performer off the boards,” while Park had a talent for interpreting matrons, dowagers, and old women in pantomimes. As long as their gender-bending impersonating talents were put to the good use of gentlemanly entertainment, there was nothing wrong …

Where Asian Americans Need Affirmative Action

Our Focus on University Admissions Obscures the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ in the Workplace

Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of …

Why Is the Latinx Debate So Fierce?

Gender, Language, and Identity Are Complicated. But Inclusivity Doesn’t Have to Be

In 2018, I was interviewed for Univision’s morning talk show ¡Despierta América! (Wake up, America!) to discuss the meaning of the identity label Latinx. I was nervous because I had …

Who Should Put a Ring on It?

A Modest Proposal for Rethinking ‘Will You Marry Me?’—And What True Egalitarianism Might Look Like

Over 20 years ago, I covered my face with my hands and shyly told my (now) husband, “I’m moving away for graduate school and I’d love you to go with …

mural of la meres lyonnaise

The Female Cooks Who Shaped French Cuisine

A New Generation of Chefs Is Melding the Domestic and Professional—And Moving Toward Equality in the Restaurant Kitchen

As I perch on a stool in her kitchen in Lyon, I think about what makes Sonia Ezgulian’s cooking so compelling. Ezgulian, who is also a journalist, is well known …

What Women Athletes Won When Title IX Became Law | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What Women Athletes Won When Title IX Became Law

This Landmark Legislation Has Evened the Playing Field for 49 Years—In Fits and Starts

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 decreed, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits …