Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Vera....

...or Charlie?

In 1921 & 1922 the curious story of Charles Irvin Williams, Ocracoke Island native who was raised as a girl (for 21 years family, friends & neighbors knew him as Vera), was published in newspapers across America, including North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York.

You can read the whole story in our latest Ocracke Newsletter: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052114.htm.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:40 AM

    Philip, is that link correct?

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  2. Anonymous7:13 AM

    Link might be wrong but click on "up" at top of page and index will appear on left side of new page, then click on "May 21" page for Vera story!

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  3. Sorry about the link. I typed a 2 where there should have been a 5. I fixed it.

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  4. Anonymous10:12 AM

    Where was Tilmon in all this? What kind of father allows his son to be raised as a girl? Where was the pediatrician? See, back then birth certificates, social security records, Coast Guard regulations -- life was simple. A transgender individual, was this person gifted far beyond his years as he convinced his mother into cutting his hair, and probably explained that he would cope better on his own in the big city as a man. Was this woman/mother worthy of a case study in Psychological journals ? Where is the side of the story from her? Vera Charlie is a story of strength and survival.

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    1. I believe that Charlie (Vera) presented ambiguous sexuality at birth. More than likely, his actual gender became obvious only at puberty, or maybe even later. I do not think Charlie Irvin was transgendered. I believe he was intersexed. And I believe his mother and father (and he) coped as best they could.

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  5. Debbie Leonard6:32 AM

    That's a very interesting story.

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  6. Anonymous9:12 AM

    Honestly, transgender encompasses many overlapping definitions and by today's standards/knowledge/society peccadillo notions, transgender may be appropriate. This is not a total Myra Breckenridge by any means as Myra became a Myron some how or other...... on another subject are there ramps, wild ramps not boat ramps but ramps ramps on OI?

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    1. I was using the term "transgendered" in an imprecise way to mean "changing from one sex to another by surgery or self-identification." However, the definition in Wikipedia ("Transgender is the state of one's gender identity [self-identification as woman, man, neither or both] or gender expression not matching one's assigned sex [identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex]").

      So, I agree that transgender encompasses many overlapping definitions.

      No one today knows all of the facts about Charlie Irvin, but oral island tradition suggests that he exhibited "ambiguous sexual traits" which may have changed over time. In any case, it seems clear to me that the terms "male" and "female" do not encompass the entire spectrum of human sexuality...and Charlie Irvin may be a good example of that.

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    2. I do not know the answer to your question about wild ramps. Perhaps one of our readers does.

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  7. Anonymous11:23 PM

    Well, NC Mainlander doesn't know what to say, but it did make an interesting, albeit bizarre read! Thanks for sharing. Quite unusual!

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