In the 20th century, one celebrated personality said to another, “No one is as masculine as you pretend to be.” Who said it? And to whom?
- Zelda Fitzgerald to Ernest Hemingway.
- Katharine Hepburn to John Wayne.
- Cecil Beaton to Gertrude Stein.
- Lady Astor to Winston Churchill.
The answer is Zelda Fitzgerald to Ernest Hemingway. According to Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation (and other sources), the incorrigible Zelda didn't mince words, saying it directly to the great writer's face. Zelda was not alone in her suspicions, however. Gertrude Stein also questioned Hemingway's masculinity, explaining that when she disparaged male homosexuality to him, it was because she thought he was "a secret one."
 Ernest Hemingway Hunting (Doth Protesting Too Much?) |  "Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation" |
Image Credit: High on the Wild with Hemingway
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