Spitting in the Face of Time
Transing the dead is just another way to erase fact and promote conformity
Read the following phrase: Joan of Arc was not a woman.
How does that make you feel? Confused? Angry? Upset?
Why? Because you know it’s a blatant lie. But modern pseudo-scholars would have you believe otherwise. In their eyes, countless scores of people throughout time—from great kings to peasant farmers—were actually transgender.
Born circa 1412, Joan of Arc was a strategist who served France during the Hundred Years’ War. In her short yet inspiring life, she went from a peasant girl to a revered military hero to a victim of churchly suspicion who was scorned as a heretic1 and burned at the stake at only 19 years old.
In the six hundred years since her death, Joan has been attached to various cultural and political movements, each adjusting her image to suit their needs. The saint has been used to promote messages of sexual purity, universal suffrage, women’s independence, French patriotism, anarchy, and even Nazism.
In 1930s and ‘40s America and Western Europe, Joan was increasingly used as a symbol of androgyny and historical precedence for cross-dressing. This was an inaccurate interpretation of the saint, cutting out the spiritual and military aspects that defined her life. However, it was innocent when compared to what would later come.
In the 21st century, Joan's status as a cross-dressing, feminist icon has gone one step further, placing the saint as a poster child for transgenderism. Through the work of writers and pseudo-scholars, her memory has been reborn into that of a “nonbinary” person or even a “trans man.” Never mind that Joan often called herself “la Pucelle”—the Maiden—and only wore trousers for convenience on the field and as a way to protect herself from rape. Through the rigid lens of queer theory, Joan didn’t conform to female cultural stereotypes and thus was never really female at all.
This is known as “transing the dead”—a phenomenon that has claimed numerous figures, ranging from those as heroic as St. Joan to those as despicable as Emperor Elagabalus. It has even called entire periods of history into question, such as Medieval Europe or Edo Japan. It has sparked turmoil within the archeology and historical communities and threatens to shatter our understanding of our ancestors and time itself.
Rewriting history is nothing new. Whether it’s updating textbooks based on new evidence, conveniently omitting information, or spouting lies for political gain, every generation of scholars has the power to influence contemporary attitudes on human history.
In terms of how we view sex and history, various ludicrous ideas and attempts at rewrites have appeared in modern “academia.” One being that there are actually three sexes: men, women, and homosexuals. This idea was peddled in some scholarly circles during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and endorsed by scholars such as Magnus Hirschfeld. However, this idea was abandoned once scholars realized that—for this theory to work—many of their favorite historical figures weren’t actually men at all, but something else. In intellectual circles where Not a Man = Lesser, the implications were horrifying.
During that same period, the idea of “gender identity” began to arise, albeit in fringe groups. One such early adopter was Harry Benjamin, who “believed that some people could be born male but feel female and that the more-sensible treatment would be alter the body to better fit the patient’s perceived gender.”2 According to this logic, if some men could really be women in the 1940s, then obviously, such men—sorry, women—had to have existed throughout history.
We all know which of the two theories stuck around. (Hint: It’s the one that’s lucrative for doctors.)
Since then, the idea of changing one’s sex or gender identity has grown increasingly more prominent. From teen boys experimenting with hormones in the 1960s to parents suing school districts in 2024, society has seen what happens when our concept of reality is warped by myth: families are torn apart and vulnerable populations are left to be abused.3
History is just one of countless casualties in the war against reality, and the implications are drastic. Warping historical facts toy with our understanding of who we are. Narratives are crucial to our species, allowing us to put our lives in context and understand who we are, how we got here, and where we’re going. Injecting falsehoods and dogma for ideological gain disrupts this process by discouraging critical thought and shutting down meaningful discussions. False history becomes the norm, hiding the truth in favor of temporary power. In the process, “non-believers” are alienated, conformity is promoted, and countless people are harmed.
Transing the dead is no different. The pseudo-scholars scoff, “See? Trans people have always existed! Why are people making such a big fuss about it today?” It is a desperate attempt to validate transgenderism. Rather than properly preserving the chapters of our history, pseudo-scholars would much cast those on the side of reality as bigots and monsters who are repressing a “natural” form of human expression.
Yet, transgenderism itself is the problem. This ideology has only served to alter or destroy the lives of countless youth, families, organizations, and communities—be it physically, mentally, spiritually, and/or financially. It peddles regressive ideas, weaving a tale in which sex is defined by narrow stereotypes and rules. In the eyes of queer theory, women cannot have military or political power; they are non-men whose ultimate duty is to be a sex object. Any deviation means they are less female. Paradoxically, men are patriarchal scum who are regularly shamed for their desires. (Unless, of course, they claim to be TQ+, then they’re pure.) Further, if a man is homosexual, then he may actually be a promiscuous third gender or a transwoman, with “precedence” found in world history.
Psuedo-scholars and intellectuals preach these ideas aloud on the news and in grand lecture halls. Others work silently, by attempting to overwrite the past through false biographies and laughable museum exhibits. By projecting modern ideas onto history, they disrespect the past and destroy the future. They are the Ministry of Truth, where War is Peace, Queer is Strength, and Freedom is Slavery. Perverted, regressive, and cruel, they are a manipulative beast that threatens to capture us any way they can.
May they fall to the sands of time.
A common misconception is that Joan was killed for wearing men’s clothing. While that was one of her charges, the main reason was that she claimed to have spoken directly to God, which went against Christian doctrine.
Perhaps it should be noted that both Hirschfeld and Benjamin operated in the same circles as Alfred Kinsey, who basically implied that most people are bisexual by nature. Talk about projecting!
One almost wonders what life would be like if the “three sexes” idea stuck around…
Honestly, Joan of Arc as a "proto-trans figure" is not a far leap. She was a cross-dresser, and this was used as evidence of her heretical beliefs. But you make a fair point: Joan's legacy as a French national hero shouldn't be eclipsed by something so banal.