I think it’s time to consider the fact that Isabelle Eberhardt, writer and explorer, lived lif

I think it’s time to consider the fact that Isabelle Eberhardt, writer and explorer, lived life as a male and that by consistently referring to him as “she” and a “cross-dressing explorer” we are missing out on a very important part of history. Isabelle Eberhardt changed his name to Si Mahmoud Saadi, and yes- dressed as a man, but also lived as a man, wrote as a man, and was accepted by his community as a man.  His whole life, no matter where he lived, he lived as a man.  When asked why he did this he said “It is impossible for me to do otherwise.” (Abel-Jaouad, Isabelle Eberhardt: Portrait of the Artsist as a Young Nomad”). Let’s respect who this brave, brilliant, and intrepid explorer was.

Photo from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/18718154671076087/

Thoughts by C. Moriarty