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This paper traces the fragility of the subject in the period extending from the aftermath of the Sexenio through to the early twentieth century. In particular, two case studies are focused upon: the question of gender “deviance” and the figure of the genius, in order to understand how medicine participated in the construction of “outsider” identities within the context of the emerging liberal order. How did liberal rationales exclude or curtail certain wayward expressions of identity and subjectivity? What consequences did the marking of “excessive” figures or outsiders have for notions of inclusiveness and citizenship within the late-nineteenth-century liberal order? By concentrating primarily on medical texts and journals published during the period, this study builds on existing research to tease out answers to these questions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article takes one representation of male homosexuality in Spain - the 'fairy' (or marica as he was often termed at the time)[1] - in order to assess its importance with respect to framing other expressions of homosexuality and masculinity in general in the years 1850-1930. The argument here, following the work of George Chauncey with respect to New York gay subcultures, is that the effeminate form of homosexuality, as discursive representation and actual rived experience, can be viewed by the historian as a kind of benchmark by which many other forms of homosexuality were considered in the major Spanish cities by the 1920s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]