Uranian: Difference between revisions

|ref=<ref>Original untranslated quote: ''"Ich bin vollkommen Weibling. Am liebsten beschäfftige ich mich mit weiblichen Handarbeiten. Ginge es nur an, so würde ich mich weiblich auch kleiden... Der Welt gegenüber muss ich mich ja in den Gebräuchen der Männer zeigen."'' from {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tZ9kAAAAcAAJ|title=Prometheus|last=Ulrichs|first=Karl Heinrich|publisher=Serbe'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung|year=1870|volume=10|location=Leipzig|pages=14|language=de}}</ref>}}

'''Uranian''', or '''Urning''', is a term used during the 19th and early-20th centuries for a varying set of gender and sexual identities, originally with ''Mannling'' Uranians generally describing effeminate homosexual men, and ''Weibling'' Uranians describing people who were not [[Sexes|assigned female at birth]] but whose gender identity and expression is female. Aside from ''Mannling'' and ''Weibling'', several other sub-classifications of Uranians exist solely based on sexuality.<ref name="Ulrichs1">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAkQAAAAYAAJ|title=Forschungen über das Räthsel der mannmännlichen Liebe|last=Ulrichs|first=Karl Heinrich|date=|publisher=C. Hübscher'sche Buchhandlung (Hugo Heyn)|others=|year=1868|location=Leipzig|pages=10}}</ref>   

Although the specific distinction between the sub-classifications of Uranians originally existed, by the early-20th century the original sub-classifications were rarely used, and Uranian on its own had broadened into an umbrella term for homosexual men, third gender people,<ref name="Lewis">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-3d4PKb3_NkC&newbks=0&redir_esc=y|title=Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Sexual Inversion|last=Ellis|first=Havelock|publisher=F. A. Davis Company|year=1901|location=Philadelphia|pages=227-231|language=en}}</ref> nonbinary people, and others.   

In a book by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs from 1868, where where the term ''Urning'' (a German word from which the English "Uranian" is said to have derived) is first used, the separate term [[Urningin]] is proposed. This is defined as homosexual, assigned female at birth people who identify and express themselves in a generally-masculine way.<ref name="Ulrichs2">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAkQAAAAYAAJ|title=Forschungen über das Räthsel der mannmännlichen Liebe|last=Ulrichs|first=Karl Heinrich|date=|publisher=C. Hübscher'sche Buchhandlung (Hugo Heyn)|others=|year=1868|location=Leipzig|pages=6}}</ref> Urningin was rarely used however, and its meaning was (by the early-20th century) generally considered to fall within the range of meanings of Uranian on its own.   

The word ''Urning'' was derived by Ulrichs from the Greek goddess Aphrodite Urania, who was created out of the god Uranus' testicles; it stood for homosexuality, while Aphrodite Dionea (''Dioning'') represented heterosexuality.<ref>[http://www.mmkaylor.com Michael Matthew Kaylor, ''Secreted Desires: The Major Uranians: Hopkins, Pater and Wilde'' (Brno, CZ: Masaryk University Press, 2006)]</ref>

Later in his work, Ulrichs provides supposed specific homosexual preferences to which (according to him) all ''Mannling'' and ''Weibling'' Uranians are said to adhere. It must be remembered however that at the time of Ulrichs' coining of the term ''Urning'', the word "homosexual" did not yet exist. The term "homosexuality" first appeared one year after the publication of Ulrichs' work in 1869 within a pamphlet published anonymously by Karl-Maria Kertbeny (1824–82). Because terms like homosexuality did not yet exist, Ulrichs resorted to using terms at his disposal, which in his case included terms he himself created (in this case also used to refer to gender identity), leading to sweeping generalizations such as these. Aside from ''Mannling'' and ''Weibling'' though, both of which could be used in the sense of someone's gender identity, Ulrichs also defined several more sub-classifications of Uranians solely related to sexuality.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAkQAAAAYAAJ|title=Forschungen über das Räthsel der mannmännlichen Liebe|last=Ulrichs|first=Karl Heinrich|date=|publisher=C. Hübscher'sche Buchhandlung (Hugo Heyn)|others=|year=1868|location=Leipzig|pages=18}}</ref>

Although significant work and literature regarding Uranians was done in Germany, laws criminalizing homosexuality (specifically under Paragraph 175 of the German legal code) caused the punishment of significant numbers of people identifying as Uranian throughout the entire time period during which the term was used. German legal author Prof. Ludwig Frey protested against these regulations, writing in his 1898 book ''Die Männer des Rätsels und der Paragraph 175 des Deutschen Reichsstrafgesetzbuches'' ("The Men of Riddles and Paragraph 175 of the German Imperial Criminal Code") that the state should stop punishing Uranians on account of their gender and sexuality:<ref name="Frey">{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/DieMaennerDesRaetselsUndDerParagraph175DesDeutschen|title=Die Männer des Rätsels und der Paragraph 175 des Deutschen Reichsstrafgesetzbuches|last=Frey|pages=216|first=Ludwig|publisher=Verlag von Max Spohr|year=1898|location=Leipzig}}</ref>

Lesbian activist [[Anna Rueling]] used the term in a 1904 speech, "What Interest Does the Women's Movement Have in Solving the Homosexual Problem?"<ref name="Meem">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAny0qfa6qsC&pg=PA79|title=Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBT Studies|first1=Deborah T.|last1=Meem|first2=Michelle|last2=Gibson|first3=Michelle A.|last3=Gibson|first4=Jonathan|last4=Alexander|date=28 May 2018|publisher=SAGE|via=Google Books|isbn=9781412938655}}</ref>

In 1922, Dudley Ward Fay, a psychoanalyst, visited a hospital for mental illnesses where he came into contact with a person, diagnosed with schizophrenia, who identified himself as a Uranian. (Fay uses he/him pronouns in his work to refer to the individual.) As part of an agreement reached concerning publication, Fay refers to the individual as Adolf, withholding his true identity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=67BIAAAAYAAJ|title=The Psychoanalytic Review|date=1922|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=267|language=en|volume=9}}</ref> There was no correlation between Adolf's schizophrenia diagnosis and his gender identity, with both relating to Adolf simply being a coincidence. Both before experiencing any symptoms of schizophrenia, and being released from the hospital, Adolf is reported to have made remarks and conducted himself in ways not traditionally seen as completely masculine.

In an interview with his parents, Adolf was described as having "never cared much for rough and tumble play and was inclined to play indoors and read rather than mingle with studier boys outside."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=67BIAAAAYAAJ|title=The Psychoanalytic Review|date=1922|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=269|language=en|volume=9}}</ref> During his late-teens, Adolf became romantically involved with several men, occasionally making remarks that less-masculine men were superior to more masculine ones. During this same period, many of his actions and decisions became more rash, eventually culminating in an episode of psychosis requiring hospitalization. During the first day of his hospitalization, Adolf revealed to his doctor that he was "of the intermediate sex (not strongly masculine)".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=67BIAAAAYAAJ|title=The Psychoanalytic Review|date=1922|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=275|language=en|volume=9}}</ref> Resulting from his schizophrenia, many of Adolf's statements became progressively more unclear and nonsensical, although reflecting on his gender identity was a reoccurring theme:

{{quote|"I'm ambidextrous, ambisextrous. I'm intermediate sex."<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=67BIAAAAYAAJ|title=The Psychoanalytic Review|date=1922|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=281|language=en|volume=9}}</ref>}}

{{quote|[I'm] Uranian. Uranus for the benefit of the Uranians.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=67BIAAAAYAAJ|title=The Psychoanalytic Review|date=1922|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=283|language=en|volume=9}}</ref>}}

By the fourth month of Adolf's observation by Fay, he seems to have identified more so as Uranian and/or female than any point previously. Many of Adolf's statements during his hospitalization were significantly affected by his schizophrenia, although upon his release, he still considered himself to be at least somewhat less male than his peers. Begun shortly before, and continued after his release, Fay attempted to pressure Adolf toward "trying to become male", which may be considered an attempt at [[nonbinary erasure]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=67BIAAAAYAAJ|title=The Psychoanalytic Review|date=1922|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=323|language=en|volume=9}}</ref>

In the 2021 [[Gender Census]], three respondents (0.01% of people) wrote that they identify as uranian.<ref name="GC2021">{{cite web |url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WCFvopijdsWAsT6NGGnjUB7QpLmrs584Q9slbId3JDw/edit#gid=260963482|title=[GC2021] Identity |access-date=2 July 2021}}</ref>

Also in 2021, a Discord server was created for Uranians & Urnings, as well as people questioning if they are Uranian/Urning, and people generally interested in LGBT history of the late 1800s to 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=hallo!!! a friend and i have created a discord server centered around uranians/urnings and our history. |author= |work=flamingcreature |date=31 August 2021 |access-date=7 November 2021 |url= https://flamingcreature.tumblr.com/post/661070409627795456/hallo-a-friend-and-i-have-created-a-discord}}</ref>