Historical Homos Was Marie Antoinette A Lesbian? (feat. Eleanor Herman)
She was young, she was hot, and she was hated. But did she eat pu$$y?
Marie Antoinette was many things: a teen bride, a fashion icon, and according to Sofia Coppola, a big fan of The Strokes (I knew I liked this bitch!)
She's famous nowadays for losing her head, but did she also give it? And to whom / with what degree of relish?
In this week’s episode, Bash is joined by bestselling author and royal dirt-digger Eleanor Herman (Sex with Kings, Off With Her Head) to untangle the messy myth and misogyny surrounding France’s last queen.
From bedroom rumors to an actual revolution, we trace how Marie’s alleged lesbian love affairs and slutty reputation helped take down the French monarchy.
But how much of a labial libertine was dear old Marie?
Did she really let they/them eat cake, or did she prefer to have hers eaten?
And why did the revolutionaries care so much about who she was (or wasn’t) shtupping?
Get ready to cover:
👑 Marie’s teenage trauma: a 14-year-old Austrian girl dropped into horny French court politics
👑 Her disastrous marriage to Louis XVI, France’s least sexy locksmith
👑 Count Axel von Fersen: the hot Swede who became her baby daddy and was the only man in France who loved her
👑 The lesbian propaganda: 18th-century porn pamphlets and political smear campaigns that took Marie down
👑 Marie’s tragic downfall—and why she still makes us feel some kind of way about money, sex, fashion, and power
Plus: masquerade balls (aka cruising for cis-hets), Versailles orgies with her stepbrother, and the story of how Marie Antoinette's lesbian reputation became a 19th century pickup line for aspiring sapphics.
You can find out more about women in power by reading Eleanor Herman's books at her website.
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Episode Credits
Written and hosted by Bash.
Guest: Eleanor Herman
Edited by Alex Toskas.
Produced by Dani Henion.