h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Margaret Bulkley aka Dr James Barry - Pioneering Surgeon - A87849490
Author: SashaQ - eccentric editor - U9936370

I read about Dr Barry in The Times last month, as this year is 150 years since his death. Intrigued, I decided to find out more about him and write an Entry

Another intriguing Entry, Sasha. I found it very interesting.

The only observation I'd make, is that the paragraph where you describe the advent of James Barry/aka Bulkley I had to read twice, in order to grasp that s/he took on her uncle's name. Perhaps you could tweak it slightly for the less quick folk like me, to make it easier to follow?

Good entry well overdue well done

Great entry, well done.

Can't say I blame him for going back to England for a haircut – the pudding bowl look doesn't really suit anyone. Did you know that following the Crimean War and until 1916, army regulations stated that in the British Army, you had to grow a moustache (beards were forbidden except on religious grounds)? (Completely pointless fact of the day)

I love the sentence 'the servant of the house where he lodged discovered his female anatomy' – almost as if she found that missing library book or his keys down the back of the chaise longue. Do we know what Sophia was doing examining his body so closely, for instance tidying and dressing it in its finest to be presentable for an open-coffin funeral service?

The following sentence I found a little bit long:
'There is some evidence to suggest that a woman who was not transgender, so identified with the prevailing definition of what a woman was and was comfortable with having a female body, would not have been able to live as a man for so many years without ill effect (the John/Joan case, where a boy was brought up as a girl following damage to his male anatomy, demonstrated that he knew he was a boy all along, and in the book Self-Made Man, author Norah Vincent was glad to return to being a masculine woman after spending just a year living as a man, as it affected her mental health badly).'

The bit in brackets I thought should probably be split into two sentences, and possibly consider rewording them to make them tie in more directly to Dr James as I'm afraid I found them a little unclear.
You mention 'the John/Joan case' – when was this? Did it take place during Barry's lifetime? It isn't something I know anything about and as you don't really elaborate on the details, my first thought was to the legend of the fictional mediæval Pope John who was supposedly a woman called Joan and only discovered when he was pregnant, but you don't seem to be discussing that. Similarly, when was 'Self-Made Man' published?

Other than that minor query, another well-written entry.

<BB<

This is an intriguing story.

It certainly must have taken courage and determination for a woman to pass herself off as a man and work as a doctor at this time. It's interesting that her mother went along with her transformation into a boy. We shall never know why.

I agree with Bluebottle that the passage beginning "There is some evidence that.." needs some teasing out.

Thanks everyone

Good points all

I have made tweaks accordingly, and hope that is better now. I also added a few more links while I was editing.



"I love the sentence 'the servant of the house where he lodged discovered his female anatomy' – almost as if she found that missing library book or his keys down the back of the chaise longue."

Fascinating concept...

A: Where's your anatomy?
B: I left it at home...

This is better.

I was also a bit confused by the sentence beginning 'Mary Anne's brother's friends.' Were three people involved? If so, perhaps you could spell this out.

Thanks mvp - I tweaked it again to make it clearer, hopefully.

That's much clearer
(I'm happy to accept that a non-transgender woman would not be able to live as a man for many years without ill effect, but can't help but wonder whether James' frequent habit of going AWOL was a symptom of this? Or were the disappearances timed around the alleged pregnancy/pregnancies? I suppose we'll never know.)
You've written an article that makes me want to know more, well done!

<BB<

Yes, I must admit I was thinking overnight that perhaps James had a different way of managing the stress of being a man if he actually wasn't a man, so I'll add something in about that later

Updated

Great entry SashaQ. Informative and interesting and refreshingly concise!

Thanks for reading Elektra Glad you enjoyed it

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Well done, SashaQ!

, your article's been recommended!

<BB<

Congrats on an interesting entry, SashaQ.

Thanks everyone