Good trans kids and bad trans lovers as expressions of trans misogyny in the Seven Sages/Sindbad story matter and the Roman de Silence

This article takes the theoretical framework of trans misogyny to two versions of the Seven Sages/Sindbad story matter – the Hebrew Mishle Sendebar and the Latin Historia septem sapientum– as well as to the French Seven Sages continuation Marques de Rome and to the Roman de Silence. These texts, which were all produced in the North-East of French-speaking lands between c. 1175 and 1350, contain two strikingly consistent character types: the trans lover and the trans kid. In this article, we suggest that violent trans misogynistic force is brought to bear on the figure of the trans lover, whose body is figured as a site of guilt. The trans kids, on the other hand, who are often but not exclusively trans masculine characters, evade lethal forms of punishment, and are typically infantilised in these same texts. These contrasting depictions are not only related to one another but also reinforce wider systems of misogyny.