As you certainly know, Jean Baret was a famous botanical explorer of the 18th century, travelling on Louis Antoine de Bougainville’s expedition and circumnavigating the world collecting and discovering new plants. But Jean was Jeanne, a female, who at first pretended to be a man, then later changed her story slightly to being a Eunuch, to stay on board after others had become suspicious of her gender identity. She was actually married to her boss, who presumably knew her secret.
Very recently, Glynis Ridley wrote a biography of her life (The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe
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There is a similar story in Australian history where the woman who pretended to be a man married a woman who did not know of her real sex after years of marriage. Assuming all of the details to be true, and there is not much reason do doubt them, what would that say about 19th century personal relations? I’ll try to find out more details.
Yes, that’s one where the details would be very important. Or, at least, interesting.
You must be able to read my mind, Greg.
Tonight I’m off to a lecture at the NCSU arboretum on EH Wilson. Today, I was thinking how exciting it must have been to explore so much of the world that hadn’t been seen much (by Europeans anyway). But then suddenly I realized that it only must have been interesting for men, because how many women would have been able to go on such expeditions?
Then I open your blog and see this post. Weird. Good for Jeanne!
I was a bit unclear on one point: “travelling on Louis Antoine de Bougainville’s expedition and circumnavigating the world” … “She was actually married to her boss, who presumably knew her secret.”
Was she married to Louis Antoine de Bougainville, the “boss” of the expedition? And if so, why couldn’t she have gone openly? I know some sailors had superstitions about having women on board ships, but at the same time women did get across the sea as passengers and I believe that sometimes officers took wives along on merchant ships. Maybe it was some lesser boss.
Achrachno, good question, I’m sure it’s in the book. Maybe because she couldn’t have a job if she was a girl.
This is quite intriguing. I love stories like this as it was probably the only way for women to get to do things like that back then. A shame really, but excellent that she made a name for herself doing what she loved!
I am paying “blog calls” to each @scio12 attendee to say “Hi” and give your blog a shoutout on twitter. I look forward to meeting you in January!
Joanne, thanks, see you in a couple of weeks!
If you like stories where women got past the gates as men, you might like Rita Mae Brown’s High Hearts
about a woman who joins the Confederate army during the Civil War.
I’ve been posting posts of Science online attendees on G+ over the last several weeks.