Julia Pastrana and Jennifer Miller

Julia Pastrana, 1834 - 1860

Oh Julia Pastrana. Her story is so heart-wrenching.

She was billed as the "Missing Link" and the "Ugliest Woman in the World."
Her manager, Theodore Lent, toured her all around the world, got nervous that she'd find a better job and proposed marriage. She was quoted as saying: "He loves me for my own sake."

Which of course, he didn't.

She became pregnant and prayed that the child wouldn't look like her.

Of course, it did.

The baby boy passed away a few days after its birth. Julia followed not long after.
Then Lent had the bodies mummified and toured with their bodies for long after their death, until he went insane.

The box they were displayed in.

Their embalmed bodies

The bodies continued to tour until 1990, at which point they'd been stolen by vandals, eaten by mice and generally torn apart.

She was an intelligent woman and a skilled dancer with a beautiful singing voice who suffered immensely.

Shaun Prendergast actually already wrote a play about her, The True History of the Tragic Life and triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, the Ugliest Woman in the World, which was performed in the dark.  Unfortunately, I can't find any copies anywhere.

A band, aptly named Ass Ponys, wrote a song about her as well:

As did the artist John Kaada:

Something I've found throughout all of my research, is that most bearded women were incredibly unlucky in childbirth. Either they didn't have children, or their children died soon after their birth. And more often than not, the child looked like its mother, hairy and possibly deformed.


Julia Pastrana's story, the exploitation and power that Lent put upon her, as well as her anguish in trying to do something innately feminine – giving birth – is something both beautiful and tragic.
This, of course, gave me an idea for the play, possibly the climax.
I already wanted to include a male character, a love interest of some sort, someone who would slowly reveal his sexism and prejudice throughout the play - playing off of Lola's desperation for love, while showing her that she is more than that, more than him - but I suppose my other ideas never seemed like enough.
My idea is to have Lola become pregnant. She's already fallen for this man, and given herself entirely to the idea of a new, normal life, but then finds herself terrified that the child will look like her - especially since the man has never seen her with a beard, and has no idea of the "risk" he's taken in being with her. She feels like she's tricking him, which of course, leads to more inner turmoil on her part.
When she gives birth, the child, of course, looks like her. She is heartbroken and conflicted, looking down at a child just like her. Then, the child dies and she's further conflicted. Should she be crushed, or relieved?
However, this leads to further heartbreak as the man suggests that they sell the child's body to the circus.

BAM. End of Act I.

Both of my parents think I'm treading on eggshells by even considering this as part of the plot. My dad in particular is afraid of the play becoming about the baby rather than about gender and sexuality, but I would argue that there is nothing more extreme in terms of gender than birth. That's where, supposedly, our sexes and genders are chosen. It's the product of sexuality. And there's something intrinsically powerful about the whole process, creating life. It's also something we're still struggling with now - who is in control in terms of birth? Is it the woman, or the man? Or both?
Any thoughts from my readers? Is it too extreme?

Another person I've become even more excited about is JENNIFER MILLER.

She is seriously gorgeous.

Present day bearded woman. She's a writer, entertainer, professor, juggler, fire eater, activist, feminist, awesome lady. She performs with the Circus Amok in New York (which I WISH I could go see). She's an all around fascinating woman who has spoken out about gender and other topics of social justice.

"I was raised in the energetic, intellectual fervor of second-wave feminism, so I was surrounded by peers who were making me reflect on what it meant to be afraid of what other people were thinking. I was encouraged to be strong in the face of that."

 "I tend to teach in areas that involve making theatre that involves the world around us. I tend to direct more politically oriented work or work that might have to do with some kind of social justice. We’re exploring ways to explain what’s happening in the world today."

"In Circus Amok and in the teaching work I do, we try to support the labor and creative, intellectual and artistic work of women in any way we can."

 I'm going to try to get in contact with her. I want to pick her brain.

I love the dress. And the lady. Oh goodness. Be my friend, Jennifer Miller, pretty please?