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.
