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Public Universal Friend: Difference between revisions
removing birth name but adding a footnote with it, as there are many sources that use it, so it's notable/widely known.
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(removing birth name but adding a footnote with it, as there are many sources that use it, so it's notable/widely known.) |
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The [[Public Universal Friend]] | The [[Public Universal Friend]]<ref group="note">Further reading about the Public Universal Friend can often be found under the birth name of Jemima Wilkinson.</ref> (November 29, 1752 – July 1, 1819), was born as a fourth-generation English-American to a Quaker family in Rhode Island, and [[sexes#Assigned female at birth|assigned female at birth]]. As a child, the person was strong and athletic, loved animals, and was an adept rider and avid reader.<ref>Wisbey (2009), pp. 2-5, 53; Moyer (2015), pp. 13-14</ref><ref name="Lamphier-Welch-331"/> The person suffered a severe illness in 1776 (age 24), and reported having died and been reanimated by God (who proclaimed there was "Room, Room, Room, in the many Mansions of eternal glory for Thee and for everyone") as a genderless evangelist named the Public Universal Friend.<ref>Wisbey (2009), pp. 10-12; Moyer (2015), pp. 12, 18; Brekus (2000), p. 82; originally spelled ''the Publick Universal Friend'', a name which referenced the term for Quakers who traveled to preach, "Public friends".</ref><ref>Michael Bronski, ''A Queer History of the United States'' (2011, Beacon Press, ISBN 978-0-8070-4465-0), p. 50; Douglas L. Winiarski, ''Darkness Falls on the Land of Light'' (2017, ISBN 1469628279), p. 430; James L. Roark, Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, ''The American Promise, Combined Volume: A History of the United States'' (2012, ISBN 0312663129) p. 307.</ref> | ||
The Friend refused to answer to the previous name any longer,<ref name="Moyer-12 Winiarski-430 Juster-MacFarlane-27-28">Moyer, p. 12; Winiarski, p. 430; and Susan Juster, Lisa MacFarlane, ''A Mighty Baptism: Race, Gender, and the Creation of American Protestantism'' (1996), p. 27, and p. 28.</ref> quoted [[:wikisource:Bible (King James)/Luke#Chapter 23|Luke 23:3]] ("thou sayest it") when visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, and ignored or chastised those who insisted on using it. The preacher shunned the name completely, having friends hold realty in trust rather than see the name on deeds and titles. Even when a lawyer insisted that the person's Will should identify its subject as having been born under the name | The Friend refused to answer to the previous name any longer,<ref name="Moyer-12 Winiarski-430 Juster-MacFarlane-27-28">Moyer, p. 12; Winiarski, p. 430; and Susan Juster, Lisa MacFarlane, ''A Mighty Baptism: Race, Gender, and the Creation of American Protestantism'' (1996), p. 27, and p. 28.</ref> quoted [[:wikisource:Bible (King James)/Luke#Chapter 23|Luke 23:3]] ("thou sayest it") when visitors asked if it was the name of the person they were addressing, and ignored or chastised those who insisted on using it. The preacher shunned the name completely, having friends hold realty in trust rather than see the name on deeds and titles. Even when a lawyer insisted that the person's Will should identify its subject as having been born under the birth name, the preacher refused to sign that name, only making an X which others witnessed, despite being able to read and write.<ref name="Brekus-85">Catherine A. Brekus, ''Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America, 1740-1845'' (2000), p. 85</ref> | ||
The Friend asked [[English neutral pronouns#No pronouns|not to be referred to with gendered pronouns]]. Followers respected these wishes, largely avoiding gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries, and referring only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F."<ref name="Juster-MacFarlane-27-28 Brekus-85 etc">Juster & MacFarlane, ''A Mighty Baptism'', pp. 27-28; Brekus, p. 85</ref> The Friend wore [[clothing|clothes]] that contemporaries described as androgynous or masculine, chiefly black robes. When a man criticized this manner of dress, saying "the singularity of [your] appearance would excited many remarks" including "some indecent ones", the preacher replied "there is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to mortals, I am that I am",<ref>Susan Juster, ''Doomsayers: Anglo-American Prophecy in the Age of Revolution'' (2010, ISBN 978-0-8122-1951-7, p. 228</ref><ref>Adam Jortner, ''Blood from the Sky: Miracles and Politics in the Early American Republic'' (2017), p. 192</ref><ref>P.U.F uses the same phrase God told Moses to use to identify God to the Israelites. [https://www.bible.com/bible/1/EXO.3.13-14.KJV Exodus 3:13-14 (KJV)] says "…they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM." This was a famous passage so P.U.F's reference would have been obvious to his audience.</ref> saying the same thing ("[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_that_I_Am I am that I am]") when someone asked if the Friend was male or female.<ref>Moyer (2015), p. 24</ref><ref name="Schmidt"/> Followers considered the Friend's androgynous clothing consistent with the evangelist's genderless spirit, and Susan Juster and other writers speculate that, for followers, the Friend embodied Paul's statement in [[:wikisource:Bible (King James)/Galatians#Chapter 3|Galatians 3:28]] that "there is neither male nor female" in Christ.<ref name="Juster 373">Juster, p. 373; also Charles Campbell, ''1 Corinthians: Belief'' (2018, ISBN 1611648432).</ref><ref name="Larson" /> | The Friend asked [[English neutral pronouns#No pronouns|not to be referred to with gendered pronouns]]. Followers respected these wishes, largely avoiding gender-specific pronouns even in private diaries, and referring only to "the Public Universal Friend" or short forms such as "the Friend" or "P.U.F."<ref name="Juster-MacFarlane-27-28 Brekus-85 etc">Juster & MacFarlane, ''A Mighty Baptism'', pp. 27-28; Brekus, p. 85</ref> The Friend wore [[clothing|clothes]] that contemporaries described as androgynous or masculine, chiefly black robes. When a man criticized this manner of dress, saying "the singularity of [your] appearance would excited many remarks" including "some indecent ones", the preacher replied "there is nothing indecent or improper in my dress or appearance; I am not accountable to mortals, I am that I am",<ref>Susan Juster, ''Doomsayers: Anglo-American Prophecy in the Age of Revolution'' (2010, ISBN 978-0-8122-1951-7, p. 228</ref><ref>Adam Jortner, ''Blood from the Sky: Miracles and Politics in the Early American Republic'' (2017), p. 192</ref><ref>P.U.F uses the same phrase God told Moses to use to identify God to the Israelites. [https://www.bible.com/bible/1/EXO.3.13-14.KJV Exodus 3:13-14 (KJV)] says "…they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM." This was a famous passage so P.U.F's reference would have been obvious to his audience.</ref> saying the same thing ("[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_that_I_Am I am that I am]") when someone asked if the Friend was male or female.<ref>Moyer (2015), p. 24</ref><ref name="Schmidt"/> Followers considered the Friend's androgynous clothing consistent with the evangelist's genderless spirit, and Susan Juster and other writers speculate that, for followers, the Friend embodied Paul's statement in [[:wikisource:Bible (King James)/Galatians#Chapter 3|Galatians 3:28]] that "there is neither male nor female" in Christ.<ref name="Juster 373">Juster, p. 373; also Charles Campbell, ''1 Corinthians: Belief'' (2018, ISBN 1611648432).</ref><ref name="Larson" /> | ||
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* [[History of nonbinary gender]] | * [[History of nonbinary gender]] | ||
* [[Gender variance in Christianity]] | * [[Gender variance in Christianity]] | ||
==Notes== | |||
<references group="note"/> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||