I have never met a gay guy who preferred to be called 'she'.
> Wouldn't using a masculine name and wearing masculine clothing be grounds to consider her in fact a him, a transgender man?
This is all moot. The only one who is to decide is the person themselves. Trying to work out the correct backpatched term is a waste of time as it's trying to read a dead person's mind.
I don't think Dupin used a masculine name day to day; just as a pen name (very common for female authors at the time). The wearing mens' clothes was also a Thing at the time (though very controversial; some jurisdictions actually banned it!)
But yeah, there are probably arguments either way here.
The trans community likes to trans all sorts of people, including those like Joan of Arc (which if you've read any book about her, you know that's ridiculous).
George Eliot might not have suffered anything like gender dysphoria. She might have been a woman, who was perfectly fine being a woman, but just wanted to dress like a man, or wanted what society gave to men - status, certain rights, etc.
Gender labels and the huge umbrella of 'trans' is extremely regressive and harmful.
I don’t understand how that is regressive or harmful. Who is it harming and how does this harm them?
There is zero dichotomy between the two. Of course peoples choices are dependent on society they are in - both unconsciously and consciously as they weight consequences of their decisions. "Fully by choice" does not mean "you have to act like autistic person with no knowledge of society you operate in".
> Wouldn't using a masculine name and wearing masculine clothing be grounds to consider her in fact a him, a transgender man?
Not necessary. You cant translate our society into them that straightforwardly. Quoting wikipedia: "Sand was one of many notable 19th-century women who chose to wear male attire in public." The reasons varied from practical to basically expression of radical feminism. It also allowed her to go to places she could not go to otherwise.
She might or might not be trans, but you cant judge it from this that easily.
Don't disagree with anything you've written, but could you not do this?
Autistic people have trouble with theory of mind (attributing thoughts and desires to others) we don't lack the capability to learn social norms. They're just not automatic to us.
It's an interesting situation because it's obviously meant to honour the authors but in doing so it's speaking for them. It relies on the idea that these authors were women who took pseudonyms because of the society they were in rather than fully by choice.
The description of George Sand stood out to me
> Amantine Aurore Dupin, the 19th-century author better known as George Sand, who famously scandalised society by wearing male clothing and smoking cigars in public.
Wouldn't using a masculine name and wearing masculine clothing be grounds to consider her in fact a him, a transgender man? Today, Marsha P. Johnson is considered to be a trans woman rather than a gay man yet she never used the term. Admittedly, Johnson also used feminine pronouns but so have many other gay men.
It reminds me of Foone's Don’t Deadname the Dead https://foone.wordpress.com/2019/04/27/dont-deadname-the-dea...