Contemplating Albert Cashier

[wuzreb]

By the way, I appreciate everyone contributing here. It's been a really interesting discussion, I'm enjoying everybody's thoughts and perspectives.

My focus lately has been on trying to picture Albert in the context of the world in which he lived. Who was he to the people around him? How did he move through that world, from Guntown and Vicksburg to being a janitor at the local church? Rather than getting too psychological about why he was who he was.

But this conversation and everybody's input is helping me consider and sift through the variety of ways Albert can be viewed. Please do continue, this has been fun conversing and reading.

 

[Library Lady]

I think this is another case, like slave narratives, where there is no proof that will be acceptable to anyone who has already decided what box they'd like the subject person to fit in. He's illiterate and can't write his story himself - then there is no story. He's illiterate but tells his story to a contemporary - then it can't be true because the contemporary has an agenda and the subject can't read what was written. He writes or tells his story in old age - then it can't be true because he's senile and demented. He writes his own story - then it can't be true because he lies.

If your library takes part in The Human Library project, then I'd suggest stopping by when they're offering the program to see if any of the human "books" available is a transgender person. People who take part in The Human Library as "books" are willing to talk about their life experiences with you. They're willing to answer tough questions you might otherwise be afraid to ask. In this case, questions like: When did you first know you were trans? How did you know you were trans? What's it like to be trans? Did your folks or somebody else do something to you that made you trans? Can you stop being trans? If you identify as one sex, can you still like to do things that are usually associated with the sex you were assigned at birth? You get the idea.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Suspect much confusion in these matters is generated by some commentators not clearly distinguishing in their analyses between the two concepts of 'gender' and 'sex' - there is the social (largely) construct of gender, as distinct from the biological construct of sex.

 

[wuzreb]

I think this is another case, like slave narratives, where there is no proof that will be acceptable to anyone who has already decided what box they'd like the subject person to fit in. He's illiterate and can't write his story himself - then there is no story. He's illiterate but tells his story to a contemporary - then it can't be true because the contemporary has an agenda and the subject can't read what was written. He writes or tells his story in old age - then it can't be true because he's senile and demented. He writes his own story - then it can't be true because he lies.

If your library takes part in The Human Library project, then I'd suggest stopping by when they're offering the program to see if any of the human "books" available is a transgender person. People who take part in The Human Library as "books" are willing to talk about their life experiences with you. They're willing to answer tough questions you might otherwise be afraid to ask. In this case, questions like: When did you first know you were trans? How did you know you were trans? What's it like to be trans? Did your folks or somebody else do something to you that made you trans? Can you stop being trans? If you identify as one sex, can you still like to do things that are usually associated with the sex you were assigned at birth? You get the idea.

Dear lady, I deeply apologize if I have somehow offended.

I freely confess that little in my life has exposed me to much about the transgender experience. I'm a small town person with a small town library that takes part in nothing of particular note. Nor could I ever engage in questioning someone as invasively is that. I simply try to approach everyone I meet with kindness and respect.

I have the utmost respect for Albert Cashier. I don't discount or dismiss any part of his experience. My main observation has been that his experience is filtered entirely through the lens of others who, as you suggest, may have their own agenda or perspective.

Newspapers gave wing to some wild flights of fancy, while depositions in his pension file by people who knew him in earlier life were filtered largely through a lens that asked, "Did you notice anything weird about Albert?" That gives an incomplete and narrow view of him as a human being.

When I wrote this post, I was not thinking about his gender identity at all. That has been written about in quantity, and at length, by those vastly more qualified than I. In conversation on this post, I simply tried to follow and partake of the discussion as well as I could.

In writing the original post, I was contemplating the physical and lived experience of being a human in a female body, (however they perceived or identified themselves,) plopped down amidst the robust, possibly intimidating, potentially dangerous reality of several hundred testosterone-laden young men at war.

Albert was a remarkable human who lived a bravely unusual life. By digging up little glimmers and scraps of how others saw Albert, the person, I'm hoping to learn more about that.

Again, I am deeply sorry if I have misspoken or offended. Perhaps I should not have begun this topic at all.

 

[wuzreb]

Suspect much confusion in these matters is generated by some commentators not clearly distinguishing in their analyses between the two concepts of 'gender' and 'sex' - there is the social (largely) construct of gender, as distinct from the biological construct of sex.

I am concerned perhaps it was a mistake for me to have made this post. It seems to have taken a direction I did not intend.

 

[SJU]

I am concerned perhaps it was a mistake for me to have made this post. It seems to have taken a direction I did not intend.

I read an interesting article about Albert Cashier a while back. Unfortunately I can't remember the publication. Albert's life was a compelling human interest story. I hope he found some peace in life.

 

[wuzreb]

I read an interesting article about Albert Cashier a while back. Unfortunately I can't remember the publication. Albert's life was a compelling human interest story. I hope he found some peace in life.

I don't doubt there are millions of words written about Albert, by now. There are so many different ways people choose to approach the phenomenon of his life.

I think, however, on the main he lived a regular life. The deeper I dig, the more I see little hints that he had attachments, he did ordinary things, and kept friends. I'm detecting a pattern of connecting with people and families, and maintaining relationships. During and briefly after the war it was fellow soldier Samuel Pepper, after the war it was the Chesboro family and the Senator Lish family. He joined the GAR and served as an officer for a time.

I wonder if being a soldier may have carried more weight in his definition of self than anything else. It's certainly what defined his last years, where he got money to support himself, where he ended up, and who gathered to support him when things got a little weird. We have letters and written words from only a couple old buddies who visited Albert in the soldiers home, but reports indicate numerous old comrades came to visit when news broke of his sex.

He may have been a little quirky at times, but aren't we all? He was a neighbor, he was a friend, he was a fellow citizen, a veteran, and a soldier. He lived a fully realized life as a human being among other humans. That's the sort of detail I'm looking for.

 

[SJU]

I don't doubt there are millions of words written about Albert, by now. There are so many different ways people choose to approach the phenomenon of his life.

I think, however, on the main he lived a regular life. The deeper I dig, the more I see little hints that he had attachments, he did ordinary things, and kept friends. I'm detecting a pattern of connecting with people and families, and maintaining relationships. During and briefly after the war it was fellow soldier Samuel Pepper, after the war it was the Chesboro family and the Senator Lish family. He joined the GAR and served as an officer for a time.

I wonder if being a soldier may have carried more weight in his definition of self than anything else. It's certainly what defined his last years, where he got money to support himself, where he ended up, and who gathered to support him when things got a little weird. We have letters and written words from only a couple old buddies who visited Albert in the soldiers home, but reports indicate numerous old comrades came to visit when news broke of his sex.

He may have been a little quirky at times, but aren't we all? He was a neighbor, he was a friend, he was a fellow citizen, a veteran, and a soldier. He lived a fully realized life as a human being among other humans. That's the sort of detail I'm looking for.

Well done.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

I am concerned perhaps it was a mistake for me to have made this post. It seems to have taken a direction I did not intend.

It's often a difficult process applying modern concepts/understandings to historical milieu.