In Schlauchgelüste: Liebesbrief an eine verlorene Männlichkeit (Desires in a Tube: A Love Letter to a Lost Masculinity), author Jacob Winter, better known by her stage and pen name Johanna Kamermans, offers readers an unflinching, ironic, and deeply honest look at life beyond gender norms.
This autobiographical novel is not just a personal journey; it’s a piece of living history from the smoky, neon-lit cabarets of postwar Europe.
Kamermans describes her book as a vivid portrayal of a time when being "not quite man, not quite woman, but always both" was not just a personal identity but a political and artistic act. A celebrated striptease dancer in the 1960s and 70s, Johanna lit up the stages with a daring blend of femininity and masculine physicality. She was "a woman on top, a man below," never surgically transitioned, but "glued," as she cheekily puts it.
Her decision not to undergo gender-affirming surgery was deeply connected to her sexuality and her refusal to compromise her physical pleasure. This was not a lack of authenticity, but rather a declaration of selfhood in a world that demanded conformity. Schlauchgelüste is peppered with provocative scenes, yet told in a polished, ironic voice, a literary striptease of sorts, revealing the tension, humor, and drama of a gender outlaw's life on stage and off.
But make no mistake: this is no fairytale. Johanna’s world was not built on fantasy, but on hard-earned experience. These were the "Sex’n Roll" years, a time when anything felt possible and nothing was off-limits. Her story is an ode to that era, capturing its unvarnished reality with wit, heartbreak, and clarity.For readers looking to understand Johanna's remarkable life beyond the pages of Schlauchgelüste, her 2014 interview on Heroines of My Life offers even more insights into her fearless approach to identity, art, and survival. There, she recounts her life as a trailblazing performer and her perspective on gender and sexuality with the same raw honesty that fills every page of her book.
Schlauchgelüste isn’t just a memoir. It’s a cultural document. A queer time capsule. A portrait of trans femininity before the term “transgender” had even found its place in the public lexicon. And above all, it's a love letter, to a past self, to lost masculinity, and to the wild, dazzling era that shaped Johanna Kamermans into the legend she remains today.
Available via buchvorstellung.net
Photo via The Heroines of My Life
Other publications about Johanna Kamermans:
Interview with Johanna Kamermans
Johanna Kamermans (born 1938) is a writer, translator, and former striptease dancer from the Netherlands. With a career spanning nearly 15 years, she worked in prestigious cabarets...
Freier Fall: Johanna K.
Director: Klaus Wildenhahn Release Year: 1993 In Freier Fall: Johanna K., the legendary documentary filmmaker Klaus Wildenhahn offers not just a portrait, but a raw, unvarnished glimpse into a life...
Post a Comment