NOTCHES Blog
@notchesblog.bsky.social
NOTCHES is a collaborative and international history of sexuality blog that aims to get people inside and outside the academy thinking about histories of sex and sexualities in the past and in the present across regions, periods and themes.
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NOTCHES now has a Ko-fi account! If you like what we do and want to support us, visit ko-fi.com/notches and consider leaving us a tip.
How did a Victorian heart medicine become a cornerstone of queer pleasure and politics? Author Adam Zmith joins NOTCHES to discuss his novel Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures.
Read the author interview here 👉 wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Qi
#QueerHistory #LGBTQHistory #NOTCHESBlog #GayCulture
Read the author interview here 👉 wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Qi
#QueerHistory #LGBTQHistory #NOTCHESBlog #GayCulture
November 11, 2025 at 1:37 PM
How did a Victorian heart medicine become a cornerstone of queer pleasure and politics? Author Adam Zmith joins NOTCHES to discuss his novel Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures.
Read the author interview here 👉 wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Qi
#QueerHistory #LGBTQHistory #NOTCHESBlog #GayCulture
Read the author interview here 👉 wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Qi
#QueerHistory #LGBTQHistory #NOTCHESBlog #GayCulture
Our Social Media Manager, Georgia, is moving on from NOTCHES. So, in her final #ThrowbackThursday post, she shares with us some of her favourite NOTCHES articles of all time:
#histsex #historyofsexuality #queerhistory
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#histsex #historyofsexuality #queerhistory
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November 6, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Our Social Media Manager, Georgia, is moving on from NOTCHES. So, in her final #ThrowbackThursday post, she shares with us some of her favourite NOTCHES articles of all time:
#histsex #historyofsexuality #queerhistory
1/12
#histsex #historyofsexuality #queerhistory
1/12
Out today, we have Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas.
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
CW: abortion, death in childbirth, sexual violence
#histsex #historyofsexuality #historyofmedicine #historyofscience
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Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
CW: abortion, death in childbirth, sexual violence
#histsex #historyofsexuality #historyofmedicine #historyofscience
1/3
Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics
Cesarean or sin: the politics of saving the fetus in Brazil.
wp.me
October 28, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Out today, we have Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas.
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
CW: abortion, death in childbirth, sexual violence
#histsex #historyofsexuality #historyofmedicine #historyofscience
1/3
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
CW: abortion, death in childbirth, sexual violence
#histsex #historyofsexuality #historyofmedicine #historyofscience
1/3
New post out now!
Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas.
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas.
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics
Cesarean or sin: the politics of saving the fetus in Brazil.
wp.me
October 28, 2025 at 9:20 AM
New post out now!
Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas.
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Two More Weeks: The Brutality Behind Brazil’s Reproductive Politics by Isabela de Oliveira Dornelas.
Read the full article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Oy
#histsex #historyofsexuality
NOTCHES now has a Ko-fi account! If you like what we do and want to support us, visit ko-fi.com/notches and consider leaving us a tip.
October 24, 2025 at 3:20 PM
NOTCHES now has a Ko-fi account! If you like what we do and want to support us, visit ko-fi.com/notches and consider leaving us a tip.
Back in 2021, we posted an extract from the introduction of Joanna Bourke’s book, Loving Animals: On Bestiality, Zoophilia, and Post-Human Love, published by @reaktionbooks.bsky.social.
Find it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4c1
1/5
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Find it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4c1
1/5
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Loving Animals: On Bestiality, Zoophilia, and Post-Human Love
How have commentators talked about sex with animals and what meanings have been attached to ‘bestiality’ or ‘zoophilia’?
wp.me
October 23, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Back in 2021, we posted an extract from the introduction of Joanna Bourke’s book, Loving Animals: On Bestiality, Zoophilia, and Post-Human Love, published by @reaktionbooks.bsky.social.
Find it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4c1
1/5
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Find it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4c1
1/5
#histsex #historyofsexuality
Today’s #ThrowbackThursday, let’s celebrate yesterday’s, #InternationalLesbianDay. Looking back at lesbian history, today we spotlight Kim Racon’s article, Finding the lesbian premodern: Does it take one to know one?
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-qL
#queerhistory #lgbthistory
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-qL
#queerhistory #lgbthistory
Finding the lesbian premodern: Does it take one to know one?
How can we find out about female same-sex experiences and intimacy in the middle ages?
wp.me
October 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Today’s #ThrowbackThursday, let’s celebrate yesterday’s, #InternationalLesbianDay. Looking back at lesbian history, today we spotlight Kim Racon’s article, Finding the lesbian premodern: Does it take one to know one?
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-qL
#queerhistory #lgbthistory
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-qL
#queerhistory #lgbthistory
Today’s #ThrowbackThursday, we return to the bedroom...or, rather, the counselling couch, with ‘This isn’t so boring if you can get an outside climax’: Dr Joan Malleson and sexual counselling in Britain by Caroline Rusterholz.
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#HistSex #HistoryofSexuality
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#HistSex #HistoryofSexuality
September 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Today’s #ThrowbackThursday, we return to the bedroom...or, rather, the counselling couch, with ‘This isn’t so boring if you can get an outside climax’: Dr Joan Malleson and sexual counselling in Britain by Caroline Rusterholz.
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#HistSex #HistoryofSexuality
1/2
#HistSex #HistoryofSexuality
New on NOTCHES!
Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community by William Jankowiak
Read the exclusive author interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PT
#LGBTQHistory #HistoryOfSexuality #FamilyStudies #ReligiousHistory #Polyamory #Polyamorous #Mormon
Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community by William Jankowiak
Read the exclusive author interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PT
#LGBTQHistory #HistoryOfSexuality #FamilyStudies #ReligiousHistory #Polyamory #Polyamorous #Mormon
September 16, 2025 at 12:52 PM
New on NOTCHES!
Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community by William Jankowiak
Read the exclusive author interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PT
#LGBTQHistory #HistoryOfSexuality #FamilyStudies #ReligiousHistory #Polyamory #Polyamorous #Mormon
Illicit Monogamy: Inside a Fundamentalist Mormon Community by William Jankowiak
Read the exclusive author interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PT
#LGBTQHistory #HistoryOfSexuality #FamilyStudies #ReligiousHistory #Polyamory #Polyamorous #Mormon
Yesterday was #InternationalMakeupDay and so what better way to spend #ThrowbackThursday than to spotlight some of the histories that are intertwined with makeup.
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September 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Yesterday was #InternationalMakeupDay and so what better way to spend #ThrowbackThursday than to spotlight some of the histories that are intertwined with makeup.
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In today’s new NOTCHES post, we interviewed Jacob Bloomfield on his monograph, Drag: A British History.
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#historyofsexuality #histsex #genderhistory
1/3
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#historyofsexuality #histsex #genderhistory
1/3
Drag: A British History
A fresh history of British drag performance in all its ubiquity, glamour, fun, and tawdriness.
wp.me
September 9, 2025 at 2:46 PM
In today’s new NOTCHES post, we interviewed Jacob Bloomfield on his monograph, Drag: A British History.
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#historyofsexuality #histsex #genderhistory
1/3
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#historyofsexuality #histsex #genderhistory
1/3
To add a little excitement to your Tuesday, today on NOTCHES we bring you a new interview with Jacob Bloomfield on his book, Drag: A British History.
We will delve into the article as the day goes on, but for now
read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#histsex
We will delve into the article as the day goes on, but for now
read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#histsex
wp.me
September 9, 2025 at 7:51 AM
To add a little excitement to your Tuesday, today on NOTCHES we bring you a new interview with Jacob Bloomfield on his book, Drag: A British History.
We will delve into the article as the day goes on, but for now
read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#histsex
We will delve into the article as the day goes on, but for now
read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4PW
#histsex
New on NOTCHES 🚻✨
“Dolled up to the nines to go to a flippin' public toilet!”: Cruising in Belfast During the Troubles by Niall Herron. How did queer cruising unfold during the Troubles, and what can it teach us about sexuality, space, and conflict?
Read the full feature here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pq
“Dolled up to the nines to go to a flippin' public toilet!”: Cruising in Belfast During the Troubles by Niall Herron. How did queer cruising unfold during the Troubles, and what can it teach us about sexuality, space, and conflict?
Read the full feature here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pq
September 2, 2025 at 12:48 PM
New on NOTCHES 🚻✨
“Dolled up to the nines to go to a flippin' public toilet!”: Cruising in Belfast During the Troubles by Niall Herron. How did queer cruising unfold during the Troubles, and what can it teach us about sexuality, space, and conflict?
Read the full feature here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pq
“Dolled up to the nines to go to a flippin' public toilet!”: Cruising in Belfast During the Troubles by Niall Herron. How did queer cruising unfold during the Troubles, and what can it teach us about sexuality, space, and conflict?
Read the full feature here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pq
Would you mind if Neil Bartlett asked you a few personal questions about sex?
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#histsex #historyofsexuality #sexology
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#histsex #historyofsexuality #sexology
August 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Would you mind if Neil Bartlett asked you a few personal questions about sex?
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#histsex #historyofsexuality #sexology
1/3
#histsex #historyofsexuality #sexology
In case you haven’t seen it, today we posted our fascinating interview with Douglas Pretsell on Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century.
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
1/3
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
1/3
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory
August 26, 2025 at 11:55 AM
In case you haven’t seen it, today we posted our fascinating interview with Douglas Pretsell on Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century.
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
1/3
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory
Read the full interview here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
1/3
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory
Brand new NOTCHES post out now!
Read Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century by Douglas Pretsell here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory #queerhistory
Read Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century by Douglas Pretsell here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory #queerhistory
August 26, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Brand new NOTCHES post out now!
Read Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century by Douglas Pretsell here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory #queerhistory
Read Urning: Queer Identity in the German Nineteenth Century by Douglas Pretsell here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Px
#historyofsexuality #Germanhistory #queerhistory
Today lets #ThrowbackThursday to the article Making Histories of Bolivian Sexual and Gender Diversity Legible in the Twenty-First Century by Nell Haynes and David Aruquipa Pérez.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-397
#LGBTHistory #LGBTQ #QueerHistory
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-397
#LGBTHistory #LGBTQ #QueerHistory
Making Histories of Bolivian Sexual and Gender Diversity Legible in the Twenty-First Century
In Bolivia, political allegiances and competing priorities have shaped movements for equality for LGBTI Bolivians, and thus, their histories.
wp.me
August 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Today lets #ThrowbackThursday to the article Making Histories of Bolivian Sexual and Gender Diversity Legible in the Twenty-First Century by Nell Haynes and David Aruquipa Pérez.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-397
#LGBTHistory #LGBTQ #QueerHistory
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-397
#LGBTHistory #LGBTQ #QueerHistory
Today’s #ThrowbackThursday is the wonderful article, ‘The Stimulus of the Flesh’ and Margaret Singleton’s Broken Vow by Laura Wood.
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#medievalhistory #historyofsexuality
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#medievalhistory #historyofsexuality
August 14, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Today’s #ThrowbackThursday is the wonderful article, ‘The Stimulus of the Flesh’ and Margaret Singleton’s Broken Vow by Laura Wood.
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#medievalhistory #historyofsexuality
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#medievalhistory #historyofsexuality
In her 2016 article The Romantic Concept of Psychological Androgyny, Victoria Russell revisits the radical 18th/19th century idea of psychological androgyny. That is, the belief that the human mind is naturally unsexed and fluid.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-1UY
#ThrowbackThursday
#Androgyny #Romanticism
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-1UY
#ThrowbackThursday
#Androgyny #Romanticism
The Romantic Concept of Psychological Androgyny
The history of the concept of psychological androgyny both raises and responds to the question “what is the history of sexuality?”
wp.me
August 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
In her 2016 article The Romantic Concept of Psychological Androgyny, Victoria Russell revisits the radical 18th/19th century idea of psychological androgyny. That is, the belief that the human mind is naturally unsexed and fluid.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-1UY
#ThrowbackThursday
#Androgyny #Romanticism
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-1UY
#ThrowbackThursday
#Androgyny #Romanticism
Who wants reverence when we can have ribaldry? In our latest article, the Sex Lives of Historic Houses, Joshua Adair examines Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, as a case study in how historic house museums can evoke queer desire without sacrificing joy, sensuality, or style.
Link wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pc
Link wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pc
wp.me
July 29, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Who wants reverence when we can have ribaldry? In our latest article, the Sex Lives of Historic Houses, Joshua Adair examines Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, as a case study in how historic house museums can evoke queer desire without sacrificing joy, sensuality, or style.
Link wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pc
Link wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Pc
Love reading?
Then you’ll adore today’s pick for our #ThrowbackThursday, our interview with Christine Varnado on her book The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature.
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4de
#literature #earlymodern #queerhistory
Then you’ll adore today’s pick for our #ThrowbackThursday, our interview with Christine Varnado on her book The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature.
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4de
#literature #earlymodern #queerhistory
The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature
The Shapes of Fancy stages an impassioned defense of the inherently desirous nature of reading.
wp.me
July 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Love reading?
Then you’ll adore today’s pick for our #ThrowbackThursday, our interview with Christine Varnado on her book The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature.
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4de
#literature #earlymodern #queerhistory
Then you’ll adore today’s pick for our #ThrowbackThursday, our interview with Christine Varnado on her book The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature.
Read it here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4de
#literature #earlymodern #queerhistory
#ThrowbackThursday
Victorian society developed a curious and complex fascination with the human hand. Josh Adair’s 2017 work “Disembodied Desire” explores how the hand became a potent symbol of erotic desire, social status, and personal identity in the late 19th century.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-2LJ
Victorian society developed a curious and complex fascination with the human hand. Josh Adair’s 2017 work “Disembodied Desire” explores how the hand became a potent symbol of erotic desire, social status, and personal identity in the late 19th century.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-2LJ
Disembodied Desire
For Victorians, the hand served as an acceptable object of fixation upon which to leer and project meaning and fantasy.
wp.me
July 17, 2025 at 1:37 PM
#ThrowbackThursday
Victorian society developed a curious and complex fascination with the human hand. Josh Adair’s 2017 work “Disembodied Desire” explores how the hand became a potent symbol of erotic desire, social status, and personal identity in the late 19th century.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-2LJ
Victorian society developed a curious and complex fascination with the human hand. Josh Adair’s 2017 work “Disembodied Desire” explores how the hand became a potent symbol of erotic desire, social status, and personal identity in the late 19th century.
Link: wp.me/p6JJ6S-2LJ
Yesterday was #bastilleday, so we thought we’d delve into some of our old #Frenchhistory posts.
Post-revolutionary France saw much societal upheaval, particularly in the capital, as Andrew Israel Ross’ article outlines.
#le14juillet #fêtenationale #historyofsexuality
1/7
Post-revolutionary France saw much societal upheaval, particularly in the capital, as Andrew Israel Ross’ article outlines.
#le14juillet #fêtenationale #historyofsexuality
1/7
July 15, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Yesterday was #bastilleday, so we thought we’d delve into some of our old #Frenchhistory posts.
Post-revolutionary France saw much societal upheaval, particularly in the capital, as Andrew Israel Ross’ article outlines.
#le14juillet #fêtenationale #historyofsexuality
1/7
Post-revolutionary France saw much societal upheaval, particularly in the capital, as Andrew Israel Ross’ article outlines.
#le14juillet #fêtenationale #historyofsexuality
1/7
Before #Playboy became a global brand and lightning rod in debates about sex, media, and morality, Hugh Hefner was just a college student with a flair for satire and an eye for disruption. Let’s revisit Nathan Tye’s 2017 article, the College Roots of Hugh Hefner and Playboy.
#ThrowbackThursday
#ThrowbackThursday
The College Roots of Hugh Hefner and Playboy
A college humor magazine, Shaft, documents Hugh Hefner’s first forays into commercializing sex.
wp.me
July 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Before #Playboy became a global brand and lightning rod in debates about sex, media, and morality, Hugh Hefner was just a college student with a flair for satire and an eye for disruption. Let’s revisit Nathan Tye’s 2017 article, the College Roots of Hugh Hefner and Playboy.
#ThrowbackThursday
#ThrowbackThursday
What can we Learn from Germany’s Early Queer History? by Mathias Foit challenges a number of assumptions about German queer history, from the broader historical narratives to the geographic spread of queer public life.
Read today’s new article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Hr
#Germanhistory
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Read today’s new article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Hr
#Germanhistory
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What can we Learn from Germany’s Early Queer History?
Lessons that we can learn from Germany’s early queer movements from the 1890s to 1930s.
wp.me
July 8, 2025 at 7:39 AM
What can we Learn from Germany’s Early Queer History? by Mathias Foit challenges a number of assumptions about German queer history, from the broader historical narratives to the geographic spread of queer public life.
Read today’s new article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Hr
#Germanhistory
1/6
Read today’s new article here: wp.me/p6JJ6S-4Hr
#Germanhistory
1/6