I am especially asking the LGBT scholarly community to critique the "Note on Pronouns" that will appear on in the final edition of Frances Kellor's biography, Founding Mother.
Your comments are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Here is the text:
A Note on Pronouns
Throughout this text, though transgender, Frances Kellor will be
referenced with the feminine pronouns, “she,” “her,” and, “herself.” Kellor was
the male persona in her forty-seven year relationship with Mary Dreier, argued
publically that women needed to take on more “masculine” characteristics, changed
her name from the feminine “Alice” to the more masculine “Frances,” and dressed
in men’s clothes. Within the broad
parameters of today’s language, Kellor was transgender. But, the past lives
with different terms. In Kellor’s time, sex change operations did not yet
exist. As such, to expect her to
even consider becoming anatomically male is anachronistic. In her ongoing
focus on gender roles, Kellor called herself “masculine,” but she never called
herself “male.” Therefore, throughout this text we shall use feminine pronouns
in reference to Kellor.
