America in the run-up to the Revolutionary War wasn't just a period of dramatic political change, it was also a time of great religious and social instability, anxiety and experimentation. And in the midst of it all there arose a self-proclaimed genderless prophet — the Public Universal Friend. This week, how the Public Universal Friend rocked society's norms and paved the way for others to reject religious and gender expectations for centuries to come.

If you would like to read more on the topic, here's a list:

• The Public Universal Friend: Jemima Wilkinson and Religious Enthusiasm in Revolutionary America by Paul Benjamin Moyer
• A genderless prophet drew hundreds of followers long before the age of nonbinary pronouns (The Washington Post)

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