Josephine Joseph

Josephine Joseph was born in Austria of Polish-Austrian descent in 1913, whose body was allegedly split down the middle, one side male and the other female. She/he claimed to be a true intersex, or "hermaphrodite,' but there is no evidence to confirm whether this was the case or not. Hermaphrodites generally share the genitals of both sexes, but are not "divided," as circus performers would lead the general public to believe. This was known as a "gaffed" or fake presentation. Most likely, she/he was just a skilled male-female impersonator. One side of the body would be exercised, with shaved body hair and a suntan; the other side would be pale and flabby due to lack of exercise, and the pectoral muscle would resemble a woman's breast. The performer would then wear a split costume, a Tarzan-style loincloth on the "male" side, and a low-cut, tight-fitting blouse on the "female" side. In the majority of cases, half-and-half performers were men, so Josephine Joseph was most likely a male impersonator, with the feminine side being dominant.