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You are born 100 years earlier, but in the same place; what do you do with your life?

My parents even meeting is a tricky one considering the only reasons my mum and my dad's sides of the family ended up in Tarnów were Volhynia and post-WW2 internal migration respectively and there were, shall we say, class differences, but let's overlook that for a second.

Born in 1898 in Galicia, so I probably get drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army during WW1. Lots of possibilities there, but quite likely I share my great-grandfather's OTL fate and end up somewhere on the Italian Front. I could do without that, to be honest. Assuming I even survive, I have the Polish-Soviet War, the May Coup, World War II, the German occupation, and Stalinism to look forward to. So strong chance of early death.

Assuming I make it into the 20s, I'm probably not in great shape and I can't imagine I'd want to stay in the army for very long, so I probably try for a quiet life as a lawyer in Kraków or Tarnów or somewhere else. Maybe I join the Socialist Party (or, for maximum lol, PSL), in which case I might not have a great time with the authorities depending on how active I am.
 
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Sideways said:
Let's see, born 1886 to, let's say teachers and keep the economic class what I grew up in. I'd likely get fascinated by the occult but have limited access to information about it. By 1914 I'd be an ardent pacifist and likely not a Marxist but a "fellow travellor". I'd be unwilling to fight in World War I but also unwilling to go to prison because both are far too masculine environments. I'd probably end up a stretcher bearer or something and hang out with the Quakers. I'd be fascinated by eugenics and the whole idea of making fundamental changes to humanity. The Kibbo Kift's love of camping wouldn't appeal to me even if other aspects did and I'd likely end up in the Communist Party. By WW2 I'd be 59 and likely very angry about a lot of things. I could see myself leaving the Communists over the Soviet occupation of Poland, if not before that. Without antidepressants or medicine for dysphoria I'd be reliant on alcohol and tobacco to get by and I'd likely die due to this at some point in WW2. If I somehow survived I'd likely end up in OBOD.

But fuck it, maybe I'd get lucky, end up in prison in World War I, and have an interesting time stuck around a bunch of men who are exploring homosexuality and think I'm one of them. Drift towards the disorganised occultism of Spare and such, join the Kibbo Kift, hang out with Angus McBean's crew and write some articles that feature in a future thesis, get involved with the crew who went onto form OBOD and live to see the sixties and be enamored with the idea that the kids are going to be alright.
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What's OBOD? Also, FWIW, you could still cross-dress back then even if you couldn't actually get SRS done.
 
Heat said:
My parents even meeting is a tricky one considering the only reasons my mum and my dad's sides of the family ended up in Tarnów were Volhynia and post-WW2 internal migration respectively and there were, shall we say, class differences, but let's overlook that for a second.

Born in 1898 in Galicia, so I probably get drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army during WW1. Lots of possibilities there, but quite likely I share my great-grandfather's OTL fate and end up somewhere on the Italian Front. I could do without that, to be honest. Assuming I even survive, I have the Polish-Soviet War, the May Coup, World War II, the German occupation, and Stalinism to look forward to. So strong chance of early death.

Assuming I make it into the 20s, I'm probably not in great shape and I can't imagine I'd want to stay in the army for very long, so I probably try for a quiet life as a lawyer in Kraków or Tarnów or somewhere else. Maybe I join the Socialist Party (or, for maximum lol, PSL), in which case I might not have a great time with the authorities depending on how active I am.
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Would you consider moving somewhere else--such as to France or Britain? If you're Jewish, Palestine is also another possible option.
 
David Flin said:
In the British Army from 1916 onwards, feet deformities did not warrant military rejection, but did limit the branches in which one could serve. Essentially, and to oversimplify, infantry is taken out of the equation, but there was demand for gunners, tank drivers, pilots, the Navy, and countless other places one can get impromptu metal ventilation of one's body. Pilot/Observer in the RFC was especially popular for those with feet deformity because "They go into battle sitting down."

Good luck with that.
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What about arrythmia?
 
CaliGuy said:
What's OBOD? Also, FWIW, you could still cross-dress back then even if you couldn't actually get SRS done.
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The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids - one of many groups that kind of proliferated in the post-war left with membership coming in from the Kibbo Kift and other left of centre - also firmly off-centre sources.

I could see myself being the sort to have Subscriptions.

I doubt transition would have been much on my radar - I mean it wasn't much in the 2000s. It just wasn't the done thing in this way that made it intensely frightening.
 
Sideways said:
The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids - one of many groups that kind of proliferated in the post-war left with membership coming in from the Kibbo Kift and other left of centre - also firmly off-centre sources.

I could see myself being the sort to have Subscriptions.
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Gotcha.

I doubt transition would have been much on my radar - I mean it wasn't much in the 2000s. It just wasn't the done thing in this way that made it intensely frightening.
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You were intensely scared to transition?

Also, FWIW, someone such as John Maclean might interest you. He literally identifies as The Man but presents as female:

https://twitter.com/houseofmaclean/

Of course, whether he'd have actually been able to do this had he lived 100 years ago is certainly an open question. :(
 
CaliGuy said:
You were intensely scared to transition?
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I mean, more, some things depend on them being seen as options. In the 00s transition was a very extreme decision that would leave you outside the protection of the law and a figure of intense gossip in many communities. In the 90s it was something to hide entirely and there was very little trans community to rely on for information - it was a decision that often meant losing every social connection you had in your life. The further back you go, the harder the path. By the time we're talking about the 1920s... well Magnus Hirschild would hire you if you lived in Berlin and you could put up with being described as a fetishist in his books but the options were limited, and from hat I can see breaking the mold took intense courage and, frankly, often money or some form of social connections/skills that would give you a way to survive.

CaliGuy said:
Also, FWIW, someone such as John Maclean might interest you. He literally identifies as The Man but presents as female:

https://twitter.com/houseofmaclean/

Of course, whether he'd have actually been able to do this had he lived 100 years ago is certainly an open question.
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I think the thing to bare in mind here is that being male but dressing up as female is rather putting the cart before the horse. I don't really mind how I dress it's more about who I am.
 
Like so many other boys born just outside Kramfors in 1894 there's a good chance that I'd either end up working with logging, in a saw mill or a paper mill. From what I know of my father's side of the family that's what most of the men did during this time period. On my mother's side there was a mixture of forestry workers and dockworkers, but they lived around Skellefteå at the time so I'm guessing I'd probably follow the same path as my father's side.

Given the political climate around those parts and that I'd be one of many young working class men I don't believe it's particularly far-fetched to think that I'd end up joining the labour movement and the Social Democrats at some point. Though considering that the communists were relatively strong in the area I don't know which way I would end up going during the 1917 party split.
 
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David Flin said:
In 1916, when Conscription kicks in? Depends on your doctor. Since it was first recorded in the 1920s, you've got a technical problem that the most a doctor could say in 1916 would be that you had a fragile heart.

Good luck with convincing people you weren't just a coward. "Sure, he's got a problem with his heart. It's from that yellow streak down his back."

If the doctor doesn't find anything wrong, its time to don khaki.
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What about during World War II?

Sideways said:
I mean, more, some things depend on them being seen as options. In the 00s transition was a very extreme decision that would leave you outside the protection of the law and a figure of intense gossip in many communities. In the 90s it was something to hide entirely and there was very little trans community to rely on for information - it was a decision that often meant losing every social connection you had in your life. The further back you go, the harder the path. By the time we're talking about the 1920s... well Magnus Hirschild would hire you if you lived in Berlin and you could put up with being described as a fetishist in his books but the options were limited, and from hat I can see breaking the mold took intense courage and, frankly, often money or some form of social connections/skills that would give you a way to survive.
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Yeah, I certainly see what you mean here. :(

I think the thing to bare in mind here is that being male but dressing up as female is rather putting the cart before the horse. I don't really mind how I dress it's more about who I am.
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Yes, I get that. My point here, however, was that the next best thing to living life as a woman would be living life looking like a woman--in order words, living life as a grrrl if not as a girl.

Pauli Murray might have been a trans man and even though she never actually lived as a man she nevertheless lived very close to such a way--thus allowing her to express herself at least partially albeit not necessarily fully.
 
BTW, do you think that, historically speaking, someone such as John Maclean would have been treated better than a trans woman would have been treated since John Maclean would have continued to identify as the gender that he was assigned at birth? Or would transphobes have not drawn a distinction between John Maclean and trans women and thus treated both of them equally bad?
 
David Flin said:
Not really my field of expertise. A quick bit of Google-fu suggests that as UK manpower needs rose, minimum medical standards fell. There was also the expectation that even if one was not fit enough for front-line service, you should be doing work that freed up someone who was.

Current US military standards on arrythmia get complicated (see here), and today, for the US, the answer would be a definite maybe, it all depends.

During WW2, that would apply doubly so. How bad is it; what are the consequences; and you try explaining to people why you're not in uniform, not in a reserved occupation, not a recognised Conscientious Objector, and do not have any obvious medical conditions.

Google-fu is quite an easy skill to learn.
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Thanks! Anyway, the reason that I was asking is because I previously applied for a job with the US military as a Human Resources Specialist but was told that I am automatically disqualified once they asked and I told them that I had arrythmia--even though I also told them that I was currently taking medication for this.
 
Assuming my physical health problems are hand-waved, I'm still left with having Asperger's Syndrome in pre-WW1 Britain. Now, as I've grown and matured I've developed coping mechanism and ways of dealing with the issues it brings, but I won't like and say it doesn't effect me. I mean it doesn't effect me as some people, but I'm still effected by it. Presuming I'm very lucky and have the right combination of teachers, parents and general support, I probably get a good education and score well in technical issues-I'm interested in technology but I've never really pursued it, preferring history. So, seaside upbringing, good technical/mechanical education, father an engineer and mother a standard housewife, I'd probably join the Navy at point. Maybe end up on those new fangled submarines.
 
Sulemain said:
Assuming my physical health problems are hand-waved, I'm still left with having Asperger's Syndrome in pre-WW1 Britain. Now, as I've grown and matured I've developed coping mechanism and ways of dealing with the issues it brings, but I won't like and say it doesn't effect me. I mean it doesn't effect me as some people, but I'm still effected by it. Presuming I'm very lucky and have the right combination of teachers, parents and general support, I probably get a good education and score well in technical issues-I'm interested in technology but I've never really pursued it, preferring history. So, seaside upbringing, good technical/mechanical education, father an engineer and mother a standard housewife, I'd probably join the Navy at point. Maybe end up on those new fangled submarines.
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Are you a non-white Muslim (as per your username)? Because that could certainly make for an interesting experience in early 20th century Britain.
 
CaliGuy said:
Are you a non-white Muslim (as per your username)? Because that could certainly make for an interesting experience in early 20th century Britain.
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Oh no, I'm an atheist. The username comes from an Ottoboo phrase I was going through at the time. Suleiman was, as you suggest, the inspiration, but I misspelled it when I created my account at the Other Place, and It's become part of my wider online brand.

You're not the first person to ask me that btw.
 
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I'd be born to middle class or poor Irish farmers but all had their own farms so not dirt poor but certainly hard living.


I'd turn 18 in 1914 and I've been pretty political and interested in all things warty as long as I remember.

So I'd get a wide variety of options of being shot at by Germans, Brits or Other Irishmen depending on my exact persuasion.
 
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