"Lizzie Borden and the Labrys," by Carolyn Gage

[BlueIris]

Ah. So happy to be able to post this here. I discovered this piece in 2001; shortly after finding the awesome feminista.org, (now feminista.com) where it was originally published. I won't spoil the gist of the article's conclusions for you, but let's say this was the first time I was truly enlightened to the way that feminist examination of a "known" historical event could completely change readers' perceptions and opinions about that event. Man, I'm glad feminista.com didn't just disappear (for a long time, I thought it had). It's great.

http://www.feminista.com/archives/v4n1/gage.html

[Ripley]

1. Very interesting details about Lizzie.

I never read anything about those murders other than hearing that "fifty whacks" sing-songy children's rhyme and an occasional ghost-story pseudo-science show about it on TV.

Oddly enough, just this past weekend I caught part of a show on the Travel Channel, I think, where ... get this ... They profiled the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast! I thought it was obscene. Yes, you too can sleep in the actual room where one murder took place and sleep in the actual bed!

Back to the feminista story. There have always been high profile cases that got out of hand by the media or the town mobs or where someone's wealth and power overrode the truth in the case. But it is pretty shocking how this case was handled and the legend has endured.

You are so right about how history can be seen so differently depending upon the viewpoint of the person writing or telling it. So why do so many people get angry when it is pointed out that the history of America, or WWII, or anything is biased when it is almost always well-off white men who wrote the history of those events????

[Eloriel]

2. So true

There is an absolutely shocking (to me) passage in The Chalice and the Blade (Rianne Eissler) in which she describes how several male archeologists had been so flummoxed by something they found which challenged the conventional wisdom about women's "real place" in the scheme of things) for this culture (and every culture, of course) that they it not only "didn't compute," these jerks simply IGNORED the find. It took a WOMAN archeologist to come along later and not only NOT ignore it but properly identify it and write it up.

I really should try to find that, because it was absolutely jaw-dropping to me, and the whole concept of the world getting viwed thru the lens of Western sexism wasn't new to me at all. In fact, I should re-read the whole book.

Edited: Fascinating article. Thanks, Iris! I particularly enjoyed reading about her later years.

[Ripley]

3. The Mismeasure of Man is a classic, too.

I did a book review of Gould's book for an archaeology class in college. I honestly didn't know at the time that one of the scientists debunked for his racist way of measuring skulls was related to my professor. LOL! Needless to say, he ripped into my paper and I didn't get an A. Although to his credit, he ripped into my spelling, grammar, minor poorly written conclusions instead of defending his relative. I got an A in the class, so I guess he didn't really take it out on me.

I remember hearing something on the radio recently where a male DJ was reading an article in some paper to a female DJ. He said it was a list of the top 10 most Powerful women in the world (not just US, but world). He asked the female to guess...she hemmed and hawed and finally said "Oprah." GEEEAADDDDS!!!! I mean yeah, Oprah is extremely wealthy and well known and does philanthropic works...but POWERFUL? To do what...sell books, become even richer with her sappy show? Anyway, the guy was starry eyed over who was in the top 3 - Condoleeza. He said she was astonishingly brilliant.

Now I have to tell you I was on a road trip in the mountains and I was flipping through the channels on my Sirius, so I have no idea what I was listening to. At that moment I turned it off, so I don't even know who the other Powerful women were on the list.

It just seems we aren't really making progress or we are going backwards. I guess you can't blame people in general for not being able to name strong powerful women off the top of their head, when the media refuses to show any of them. Oh, except TV, Movie, Music celebrities. It's really depressing.

The MSM is the root of all evil, I'm convinced.

[eridani]

4. Ann Jones, author of Women Who Kill--

--thinks Lizzie did it. However, there is a Bridget Sullivan in another chapter who got the death penalty for murdering her employer's family. This Bridget had periodic seizures, during which the family would typically let her lie on the floor until she recovered. Jones speculated that she might have done it while having a seizure, some kinds of which are linked with outbursts of extreme violence that the victim can't recall later, and noted that the jury nonetheless didn't cut her any slack.

[foreigncorrespondent]

5. Very interestng...

...thanks for posting this.

After learning a lot about Lizzie through my (true crime lover) partner, I was in two minds about whether or not Lizzie actually did the crime, this article certainly clears a lot up for me. :)

It also gives an interesting insight into Lizzie herself, after the murders and trial. There was stuff there I never knew about.

On edit, typo and to add a question. It never mentioned a husband, was Lizzie a lesbian?

[Eloriel]

6. foreigncorrespondent, where have you been?

I've missed you!!! :hi: Have you been around DU and I just didn't see you? Or have you been away.

In any case, I'm really glad to see you.

[foreigncorrespondent]

9. Hey woman!!!!

I been around, we just haven't been posting in the same threads in quite a while. :)

And I am really glad to see you too. You know how Sapph and I feel about you. :)

[atommom]

7. I read another Lizzie Borden book, a few years ago, in which

the author argued that her father had an illegitimate son who had a hot temper and was quite skilled at butchering animals with a hatchet. It was a very interesting story ... though the author got carried away with his excitement and didn't produce quite enough evidence to satisfy me. If his version is correct, the whole trial was a set-up, and Lizzie's reputation was savaged in order to preserve her family's secrets. Whatever the truth might have been, it's hard not to feel sorry for her.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1558530991/qid=1123633769/sr=8-11/ref=pd_bbs_11/002-0354094-6826435?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[BlueIris]

8. Interesting. Glad to see many authors defended her.

Even in books or articles that walk the middle ground regarding her probable innocence or defend certain conventional assumptions about Lizzie Borden, I've noticed that many historians feel uncomfortable outright condemning her. Mainly because the evidence against her was relatively circumstantial.

[LisaLynne]

10. Thanks for posting this.

A very interesting article.