Christiane Leidinger:
Transgressionen – Streifzüge durch Leben und Werk von Emma Trosse (1863–1949)
Christiane Leidinger: Transgressions – Forays into the life and work of Emma Trosse (1863–1949).
The first woman scholar to conceptualize of homosexuals and "Sinnlichkeitslose" (those who lack sensuality / sexuality) as a "third sex"
English abstract
Emma Trosse (1863–1949), later known under her married name Külz, was supposedly the first woman author to publish emancipatory writings on homosexuality. In 1897 she published "Ein Weib?" ("A Women?") focussing especially on female homosexuality. Two years earlier she had already written a text on "contrary to nature" sexualism / "Konträrsexualismus". She understood homosexuality as a predisposition and hence denounced various forms of discrimination, like prejudices and defamation of homosexual men and women, within a very broad concept compared to her contemporaries. Trosse advocated a brave struggle for emancipation ardently. In contrast to this position, her detachment from women’s movement is striking. Demands for female emancipation can only be found marginally in Trosse’s work. In addition to her discussion of homosexuality, her re-conceptualisation of a third sex as in almost queer terminology stands out from today’s view-point. Trosse uses the term third sex to include not only homosexuals but also "Menschen ohne Sinnlichkeit" (human beings without sensuality / sexuality), who are not interested in sexual passion but pursue a passionate working life. In one of her works Emma Trosse herself professes to belong to this category of "Sinnlichkeitslose".
In addition to being an author, Trosse worked as a teacher and sometimes headmistress of several schools and in private tuition. Later she co-founded and directed a specialist sanatorium for people with diabetes. She spent most of her life in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, where she is known today as a "Heimatdichterin" / regional writer. The essay here inspects the life and work of the woman author, who was born in Gransee, for the first time.