Catherine Phipps
@katyphipps.bsky.social
Historian of sexuality and colonial power, looking at race/gender/imperialism/sex work in North Africa and more. Based at University of Bristol and Oxford. Always nosy.
I’ll live on in how others remember me
October 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I’ll live on in how others remember me
🚨 New job🚨 ill be a senior research associate at Bristol this year, looking at race and religion in British colonial port cities with the Mariners project mar.ine.rs
Working on anything to do with colonial ports, sex work or the sea? Let me know
the sea is about to become my mistress 🌊
Working on anything to do with colonial ports, sex work or the sea? Let me know
the sea is about to become my mistress 🌊
September 1, 2025 at 4:35 PM
🚨 New job🚨 ill be a senior research associate at Bristol this year, looking at race and religion in British colonial port cities with the Mariners project mar.ine.rs
Working on anything to do with colonial ports, sex work or the sea? Let me know
the sea is about to become my mistress 🌊
Working on anything to do with colonial ports, sex work or the sea? Let me know
the sea is about to become my mistress 🌊
A shame to see such poor copy editing for such a beautiful new book from some top decolonial feminists.
To include انتفاضة in Arabic but not to connect the letters?
Why you need people who know what they’re doing, not AI.
To include انتفاضة in Arabic but not to connect the letters?
Why you need people who know what they’re doing, not AI.
August 22, 2025 at 8:57 PM
A shame to see such poor copy editing for such a beautiful new book from some top decolonial feminists.
To include انتفاضة in Arabic but not to connect the letters?
Why you need people who know what they’re doing, not AI.
To include انتفاضة in Arabic but not to connect the letters?
Why you need people who know what they’re doing, not AI.
Orwell's sex life was also affected by his time in colonial brothels...
After spending the night with him, one woman wrote that "he makes love Burma-Sergeant fashion, afterwards saying 'ah that’s better' before he turns over”.
At least it would have been quick for the girls in Marrakechi brothels
After spending the night with him, one woman wrote that "he makes love Burma-Sergeant fashion, afterwards saying 'ah that’s better' before he turns over”.
At least it would have been quick for the girls in Marrakechi brothels
August 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Orwell's sex life was also affected by his time in colonial brothels...
After spending the night with him, one woman wrote that "he makes love Burma-Sergeant fashion, afterwards saying 'ah that’s better' before he turns over”.
At least it would have been quick for the girls in Marrakechi brothels
After spending the night with him, one woman wrote that "he makes love Burma-Sergeant fashion, afterwards saying 'ah that’s better' before he turns over”.
At least it would have been quick for the girls in Marrakechi brothels
Did George Orwell pay for sex in a colonial brothel in Morocco?
Orwell and his wife Eileen spent a few months living in a villa outside of Marrakech in the late 1930s. He wrote the essay "Marrakech" about daily life there, but Marrakech in the 1930s was also home to hundreds of colonial brothels...
Orwell and his wife Eileen spent a few months living in a villa outside of Marrakech in the late 1930s. He wrote the essay "Marrakech" about daily life there, but Marrakech in the 1930s was also home to hundreds of colonial brothels...
August 10, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Did George Orwell pay for sex in a colonial brothel in Morocco?
Orwell and his wife Eileen spent a few months living in a villa outside of Marrakech in the late 1930s. He wrote the essay "Marrakech" about daily life there, but Marrakech in the 1930s was also home to hundreds of colonial brothels...
Orwell and his wife Eileen spent a few months living in a villa outside of Marrakech in the late 1930s. He wrote the essay "Marrakech" about daily life there, but Marrakech in the 1930s was also home to hundreds of colonial brothels...
Hello from the archives du Maroc where a cat has walked into the reading room
More to follow
More to follow
August 1, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Hello from the archives du Maroc where a cat has walked into the reading room
More to follow
More to follow
The rumours are false!
The lying media are saying I spent the @sfhs.bsky.social conference in Paris drinking spritzes in the sun.
An incredible few days learning so much from my colleagues, some truly wonderful papers from @sjvigneault.bsky.social @carolinesequin.bsky.social this morning
The lying media are saying I spent the @sfhs.bsky.social conference in Paris drinking spritzes in the sun.
An incredible few days learning so much from my colleagues, some truly wonderful papers from @sjvigneault.bsky.social @carolinesequin.bsky.social this morning
July 19, 2025 at 12:27 PM
The rumours are false!
The lying media are saying I spent the @sfhs.bsky.social conference in Paris drinking spritzes in the sun.
An incredible few days learning so much from my colleagues, some truly wonderful papers from @sjvigneault.bsky.social @carolinesequin.bsky.social this morning
The lying media are saying I spent the @sfhs.bsky.social conference in Paris drinking spritzes in the sun.
An incredible few days learning so much from my colleagues, some truly wonderful papers from @sjvigneault.bsky.social @carolinesequin.bsky.social this morning
The Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition at Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris is 🔥
Dozens of paintings, obsessed with femininity, violence, power and sensuality, and most showing her as the main heroine. They show Gentileschi’s work throughout her life, not just the rape trial or her fury as a survivor
Dozens of paintings, obsessed with femininity, violence, power and sensuality, and most showing her as the main heroine. They show Gentileschi’s work throughout her life, not just the rape trial or her fury as a survivor
July 16, 2025 at 3:37 PM
The Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition at Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris is 🔥
Dozens of paintings, obsessed with femininity, violence, power and sensuality, and most showing her as the main heroine. They show Gentileschi’s work throughout her life, not just the rape trial or her fury as a survivor
Dozens of paintings, obsessed with femininity, violence, power and sensuality, and most showing her as the main heroine. They show Gentileschi’s work throughout her life, not just the rape trial or her fury as a survivor
Desperate to get away from the front lines?
In WW1, some men tried to make it look as though they had venereal diseases and had unhealthy discharge. How?
By injecting condensed milk inside their penises… others purposefully bruised their penises to look ill and get out of action
In WW1, some men tried to make it look as though they had venereal diseases and had unhealthy discharge. How?
By injecting condensed milk inside their penises… others purposefully bruised their penises to look ill and get out of action
June 26, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Desperate to get away from the front lines?
In WW1, some men tried to make it look as though they had venereal diseases and had unhealthy discharge. How?
By injecting condensed milk inside their penises… others purposefully bruised their penises to look ill and get out of action
In WW1, some men tried to make it look as though they had venereal diseases and had unhealthy discharge. How?
By injecting condensed milk inside their penises… others purposefully bruised their penises to look ill and get out of action
The brothel stayed open until 1946. Salvador Dali bought the champagne bathtub, custom-made to fit Edward VII, in 1972
A “private collector” bought the sex chair (ew)
A “private collector” bought the sex chair (ew)
June 21, 2025 at 5:08 AM
The brothel stayed open until 1946. Salvador Dali bought the champagne bathtub, custom-made to fit Edward VII, in 1972
A “private collector” bought the sex chair (ew)
A “private collector” bought the sex chair (ew)
This was a brothel for CELEBRITIES…
think Toulouse-Lautrec, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Maupassant and even Mae West
Madame Kelly died in 1899, having built an incredibly successful business worth about 1.7 million francs and running the most celebrated brothel in Paris…
think Toulouse-Lautrec, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Maupassant and even Mae West
Madame Kelly died in 1899, having built an incredibly successful business worth about 1.7 million francs and running the most celebrated brothel in Paris…
June 21, 2025 at 5:05 AM
This was a brothel for CELEBRITIES…
think Toulouse-Lautrec, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Maupassant and even Mae West
Madame Kelly died in 1899, having built an incredibly successful business worth about 1.7 million francs and running the most celebrated brothel in Paris…
think Toulouse-Lautrec, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Maupassant and even Mae West
Madame Kelly died in 1899, having built an incredibly successful business worth about 1.7 million francs and running the most celebrated brothel in Paris…
The most famous brothel in Paris was owned by an Irish women
Madame Kelly, aka Alexandrine Jouannet, opened Le Chabanais in 1878 when sex work was legal in France. The brothel was known for keeping Edward VII’s sex chair and champagne bath tub
Mme Kelly famously dressed very well and smoked a LOT…
Madame Kelly, aka Alexandrine Jouannet, opened Le Chabanais in 1878 when sex work was legal in France. The brothel was known for keeping Edward VII’s sex chair and champagne bath tub
Mme Kelly famously dressed very well and smoked a LOT…
June 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM
The most famous brothel in Paris was owned by an Irish women
Madame Kelly, aka Alexandrine Jouannet, opened Le Chabanais in 1878 when sex work was legal in France. The brothel was known for keeping Edward VII’s sex chair and champagne bath tub
Mme Kelly famously dressed very well and smoked a LOT…
Madame Kelly, aka Alexandrine Jouannet, opened Le Chabanais in 1878 when sex work was legal in France. The brothel was known for keeping Edward VII’s sex chair and champagne bath tub
Mme Kelly famously dressed very well and smoked a LOT…
Coming soon….
“Sex, race and colonial power in North Africa: the French Protectorate in Morocco” with @manchesterup.bsky.social
I’m away this summer for a fellowship at NIMAR in Rabat, Morocco to finish up, thanks to BILNAS funding via @britishacademy.bsky.social
Anyone in Rabat/Casa? Say hi!
“Sex, race and colonial power in North Africa: the French Protectorate in Morocco” with @manchesterup.bsky.social
I’m away this summer for a fellowship at NIMAR in Rabat, Morocco to finish up, thanks to BILNAS funding via @britishacademy.bsky.social
Anyone in Rabat/Casa? Say hi!
June 19, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Coming soon….
“Sex, race and colonial power in North Africa: the French Protectorate in Morocco” with @manchesterup.bsky.social
I’m away this summer for a fellowship at NIMAR in Rabat, Morocco to finish up, thanks to BILNAS funding via @britishacademy.bsky.social
Anyone in Rabat/Casa? Say hi!
“Sex, race and colonial power in North Africa: the French Protectorate in Morocco” with @manchesterup.bsky.social
I’m away this summer for a fellowship at NIMAR in Rabat, Morocco to finish up, thanks to BILNAS funding via @britishacademy.bsky.social
Anyone in Rabat/Casa? Say hi!
This seems an utterly cruel and completely mad practice, and definitely needs more historic enquiry. There are claims that Black babies in the US in the early 20th c. were also used to hunt crocodiles. Is this just sensationalism? Could it really be true?
more: threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/Jo...
more: threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/Jo...
June 18, 2025 at 7:15 AM
This seems an utterly cruel and completely mad practice, and definitely needs more historic enquiry. There are claims that Black babies in the US in the early 20th c. were also used to hunt crocodiles. Is this just sensationalism? Could it really be true?
more: threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/Jo...
more: threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/Jo...
Did British army officers really use Indian babies to hunt crocodiles?
In India and Sri Lanka, from the 1890s, newspapers report British army officers using Indian babies as "bait" to hunt crocodiles. One officer claimed to have shot over 100 crocodiles by using a baby to lure them to shore.
In India and Sri Lanka, from the 1890s, newspapers report British army officers using Indian babies as "bait" to hunt crocodiles. One officer claimed to have shot over 100 crocodiles by using a baby to lure them to shore.
June 18, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Did British army officers really use Indian babies to hunt crocodiles?
In India and Sri Lanka, from the 1890s, newspapers report British army officers using Indian babies as "bait" to hunt crocodiles. One officer claimed to have shot over 100 crocodiles by using a baby to lure them to shore.
In India and Sri Lanka, from the 1890s, newspapers report British army officers using Indian babies as "bait" to hunt crocodiles. One officer claimed to have shot over 100 crocodiles by using a baby to lure them to shore.
and left his six children and wife in poverty in the East End. When he was 9, Albert's mother was arrested for fighting in the street and the children taken to the Limehouse workhouse. They eventually moved to a workhouse in Norfolk, where their uncle rescued them. Albert found work as a servant...
June 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
and left his six children and wife in poverty in the East End. When he was 9, Albert's mother was arrested for fighting in the street and the children taken to the Limehouse workhouse. They eventually moved to a workhouse in Norfolk, where their uncle rescued them. Albert found work as a servant...
Albert John Mahomet (b.1858), one of the first Indian-British photographers. His father was an Indian sailor who came to Britain, selling watches and knives in Norfolk then marrying a British woman and moving to East London. But Albert's father returned to India, suffering homesickness and racism...
June 17, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Albert John Mahomet (b.1858), one of the first Indian-British photographers. His father was an Indian sailor who came to Britain, selling watches and knives in Norfolk then marrying a British woman and moving to East London. But Albert's father returned to India, suffering homesickness and racism...
Obsessed with sitting watching someone in the bath
June 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Obsessed with sitting watching someone in the bath
The baths and shampooing head massages became WILDLY popular in the 19th century. Dean Mahomed even became the doctor for George IV and William IV, nicknamed the "Shampooing Surgeon". He and Jane helped relieve symptoms of gout, rheumatism, arthritis, and he died just two months after her in 1851.
June 16, 2025 at 7:02 AM
The baths and shampooing head massages became WILDLY popular in the 19th century. Dean Mahomed even became the doctor for George IV and William IV, nicknamed the "Shampooing Surgeon". He and Jane helped relieve symptoms of gout, rheumatism, arthritis, and he died just two months after her in 1851.
Together they moved to Brighton, where they opened a bath-house that offered shampooing treatments and head massages; he was convinced that this would help improve the health of British people. Local people were suspicious, but Dean offered to give them the first treatment free...
They loved it!
They loved it!
June 16, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Together they moved to Brighton, where they opened a bath-house that offered shampooing treatments and head massages; he was convinced that this would help improve the health of British people. Local people were suspicious, but Dean offered to give them the first treatment free...
They loved it!
They loved it!
Did you wash your hair this morning?
Then you've Dean Mahomed, the "Shampooing Surgeon" to thank. Born in India in the 18th century, he fought in the British army under an Irish man, Captain Baker, who encouraged him to move to Cork, where he fell in love with an Irish woman, Jane...
Then you've Dean Mahomed, the "Shampooing Surgeon" to thank. Born in India in the 18th century, he fought in the British army under an Irish man, Captain Baker, who encouraged him to move to Cork, where he fell in love with an Irish woman, Jane...
June 16, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Did you wash your hair this morning?
Then you've Dean Mahomed, the "Shampooing Surgeon" to thank. Born in India in the 18th century, he fought in the British army under an Irish man, Captain Baker, who encouraged him to move to Cork, where he fell in love with an Irish woman, Jane...
Then you've Dean Mahomed, the "Shampooing Surgeon" to thank. Born in India in the 18th century, he fought in the British army under an Irish man, Captain Baker, who encouraged him to move to Cork, where he fell in love with an Irish woman, Jane...
article in the Times blaming smartphones for the UK’s “fertility crisis”
the reasons are childcare costs, finances/housing and because being a parent sounds hard and crap; compare that a multi-generational community with shared caring responsibilities? Don’t think it’s the damn phones
the reasons are childcare costs, finances/housing and because being a parent sounds hard and crap; compare that a multi-generational community with shared caring responsibilities? Don’t think it’s the damn phones
June 15, 2025 at 7:56 AM
article in the Times blaming smartphones for the UK’s “fertility crisis”
the reasons are childcare costs, finances/housing and because being a parent sounds hard and crap; compare that a multi-generational community with shared caring responsibilities? Don’t think it’s the damn phones
the reasons are childcare costs, finances/housing and because being a parent sounds hard and crap; compare that a multi-generational community with shared caring responsibilities? Don’t think it’s the damn phones
are you wearing the...
Roman child's penis ring? Yeah, I am
Tiny gold ring for a child from the 1st century with a phallus as a symbol for protection from the evil eye. Would wear.
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O122231...
Roman child's penis ring? Yeah, I am
Tiny gold ring for a child from the 1st century with a phallus as a symbol for protection from the evil eye. Would wear.
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O122231...
June 14, 2025 at 10:34 AM
are you wearing the...
Roman child's penis ring? Yeah, I am
Tiny gold ring for a child from the 1st century with a phallus as a symbol for protection from the evil eye. Would wear.
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O122231...
Roman child's penis ring? Yeah, I am
Tiny gold ring for a child from the 1st century with a phallus as a symbol for protection from the evil eye. Would wear.
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O122231...
Denise Foucard carryied a coded message that she had to swallow before flirting her way through a police block. She had to give the policeman "a quick kiss with subversive paper breath". In another instance, she was carrying a suitcase of bullets through a railway station and suddenly saw the police
June 14, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Denise Foucard carryied a coded message that she had to swallow before flirting her way through a police block. She had to give the policeman "a quick kiss with subversive paper breath". In another instance, she was carrying a suitcase of bullets through a railway station and suddenly saw the police
How can you resist fascism through the clothes you wear?
In occupied France in WW2, female members Resistance members dressed as elegantly as possible as the police were less likely to stop them, and to try to flirt their way through document checks. High heels and stockings could save their lives🧵
In occupied France in WW2, female members Resistance members dressed as elegantly as possible as the police were less likely to stop them, and to try to flirt their way through document checks. High heels and stockings could save their lives🧵
June 14, 2025 at 9:18 AM
How can you resist fascism through the clothes you wear?
In occupied France in WW2, female members Resistance members dressed as elegantly as possible as the police were less likely to stop them, and to try to flirt their way through document checks. High heels and stockings could save their lives🧵
In occupied France in WW2, female members Resistance members dressed as elegantly as possible as the police were less likely to stop them, and to try to flirt their way through document checks. High heels and stockings could save their lives🧵