Queer signs

The women of the British projective test movement

Bibliographic Data

ID3136739
AuthorsKatherine Hubbard (0000-0002-4862-0466, Department of Sociology University of Surrey UK), Katherine A Hubbard (0000-0003-1990-7449, University of Surrey, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume53
Issue3
Pages265-285
Publication date2017-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5061 • E-ISSN: 1520-6696
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jhbs.21863
PMID28556944
OpenAlexW2612197225
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited83

As queer history is often hidden, historians must look for "signs" that hint at queer lives and experiences. When psychologists use projective tests, the search for queer signs has historically been more literal, and this was especially true in the homophobic practices of Psychology in the mid-twentieth century. In this paper, I respond to Elizabeth Scarborough's call for more analytic history about the lesser known women in Psychology's history. By focusing on British projective research conducted by lesbian psychologist June Hopkins, I shift perspective and consider, not those who were tested (which has been historically more common), but those who did the testing, and position them as potential queer subjects. After briefly outlining why the projective test movement is ripe for such analysis and the kinds of queer signs that were identified using the Rorschach ink blot test in the mid-twentieth century, I then present June Hopkins' (1969, 1970) research on the "lesbian personality." This work forms a framework upon which I then consider the lives of Margaret Lowenfeld, Ann Kaldegg, and Effie Lillian Hutton, all of whom were involved in the British projective test movement a generation prior to Hopkins. By adopting Hopkins' research to frame their lives, I present the possibility of this ambiguous history being distinctly queer

Lesbian · Projective test · Psychoanalysis · Queer · Queer theory · Rorschach test · Sociology · Test (biology) · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Psychological Testing and Assessment · Psychology · Social Psychology

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