Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Great Britain    3. Law    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Legal status, laws, etc    6. Legal status, laws. etc    7. Legal status, laws. etc.    8. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    9. Political Science    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Sex and law    12. Transsexuals    13. English law: statutes & regulations    14. Gay & Lesbian studies    15. Human rights   

Reviews (3)

A Basic Self-Contradiction
Israel and Tarver write that they respect the self-determination of transgendered people, yet they propose guidelines that leave decisions about transgendered people's bodies, ultimately, in the hands of mental health professionals. The authors do not address this basic self-contradiction. To their credit, the authors also include essays by other writers, some of whom contest this autonomy-denying aspect of their proposed guidelines.

Gives a most current (1997) view of human sexuality
The authors propose three elements of human sexuality:sex (male, female, or intersexed), gender identity (male, female, androgynous), and sexual orientation (attracted to male, attracted to females, attracted totransexuals, attracted togay men, attracted to lesbian women, etc.). Excellent overview, not for novices
A great overview of current care standards and practices. Also includes some personal narratives. Directed to professionals in the health and therapeutic fields, but clear and readable by non-professionals, including patients, family and friends.Probably more useful if reader already has some familiarity with the field. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Community Mental Health    2. Health & Fitness    3. Health Care Delivery    4. Health Care Issues    5. Health Services For Special Classes    6. Medical    7. Medical / Nursing    8. Health systems & services    9. Transsexuals   

Reviews (2)

A Guide to What?
I agree with the previous reviewer. I found the book to be something wholly different than the title encouraged the reader to believe that it was. It was more a memoir and truly a very personal memoir - certainly valuable as a journey to the writer - but of little value to the reader, more a chatty diary than a guide to transsexualism. Plus, it was very poorly edited. I felt like I was reading a first draft of a book, something that the editor had failed to review before publishing. In fact, I wonder if the Trafford publishers act as editors at all. Are they simply publishers of texts submitted to them without any sort of review before publication? Many of the spelling errors could have been identified with a decent spell-checker program, and the book was rife with grammatical errors, which weighed down the reader with having to add letters to a text which was already fairly indecipherable.
The Guide that Fails to Guide
I honestly feel cheated having bought this little book. The title is misleading, for it is not so much a guide as a poorly written memoir. I was looking for information and found nothing useful here. If you're looking for a thoughtful and eloquently written memoir see Jan Morris's classic "Conundrum." If you're looking for a source of information for potential transsexuals - well, I haven't found one yet. You'd do well to just skip this one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Psychology    3. Self-Help    4. 141204149X,1-4120-4149-X,04-1956,041956,trafford publishing,ritalynn sly,so you want to be a woman: a transsexual\'s guide,transsexual,cross dressing,gender differences,alternate life styles,self help    5. Biography: general    6. Health & Fitness / General    7. Sex & sexuality   

Reviews (1)

Groundbreaking insight into the transgender experience
Mr. Mallon once again shows his special ability to look into the souls of others and grasp their experience.Further, he includes the thoughts and perspectives of articulate trangendered people who have a singular abilityto help us understand.I have been working to educate myself to betterserve my transgendered clients.This publication helped me immensely in myjourney towards that goal. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Studies    2. Human Sexuality    3. Mental health services    4. Psychology    5. Social Work    6. Social work with youth    7. Sociology    8. Transsexual youth   

Subjects:  1. Developmental - Child    2. Gender Studies    3. Gender identity    4. Human Sexuality    5. Identity    6. Psychology    7. Sex    8. Sex role    9. Transsexuals    10. Clinical psychology    11. Psychiatry    12. Psychology & Psychiatry / Clinical Psychology   

Editorial Review

The idea of gender is no long as fixed as it once was: Tootsie, La Cage aux Folles, and Milton Berle saw to that. But none of this has prepared us for Loren Cameron's amazing portraits of transsexuals. Beautifully reproduced and complemented with notes and short essays, these portraits of women who are now men may startle, but they will also make you marvel at the genuine complexities of life, sex, and desire. Read more

Reviews (15)

Amazing
Simply stunning collection of photographs and stories of men from every backround, and men who are willing to share this personal (yet public) journey.

Just Great
What can I say that hasn't already been said before?
Empowering
This book was one of the greatest gifts I have ever gotten myself. When I finished reading and looking at the beautiful photographs, I hugged the book to my chest. Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    3. Gender Studies    4. Interviews    5. Photoessays & Documentaries    6. Photography    7. Portraits    8. Social Science    9. Transsexualism    10. Transsexuals    11. United States    12. Photographs: portraits   

Reviews (97)

This Book Tells It Like It Is
Despite the all out war the transsexual fundies have waged against this book and its author, it remains one of the best books I have ever read about transsexualism.It doesn't gloss over the truth inand couch the language in politically correct terms.It paints real portrayals of real people, and not the sanitized poster children some people in the gender community are eager to put out front.
Andrea James and autogynephilia
Well I never expected her to admit it, but reports are that she considers (or at least at one time considered) herself autogynephilic. She called Blanchard's ideas "brilliant." I agree.
The BEST Book on Transsexuality in Press
This book needs to be read by all transsexuals, including those who are in denial about their autogynphelia.This includes some of the most "famed" transsexuals, who don't accept or refuse to accept their autosexual motivations for undergoing sex reaassignment surgeries.A masculine man has surgery to become a woman.Why on earth would a man do this? A man would do this if he has autogynephilia and has a fanatical obsession with being a woman for autoerotic gratification.
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Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay men    4. Gender Studies    5. Homosexuality    6. Homosexuality, Male    7. Human Sexuality    8. Psychological aspects    9. Psychology    10. Psychology Of Homosexuality    11. Social Science    12. Sociology    13. Transsexuals    14. United States    15. Popular psychology   

Reviews (5)

review of neither man nor woman
I found this book very interesting and informative. I had read accounts of this type of goddess worship in ancient records (greek and roman)when I was a teenager but there was little cultural context and no rationale concerning the practices of emasculation. This book answered a lot of questions, why the operation, what the benefit to the devotee, who were these worshippers. I enjoyed finelly getting the answers to decades long questions.

Unforgettable!
A classic, absolutely fascinating study of the transvestite eunuch hijras of India.Combining objectivity with sympathy and respect, the writer allows us to glimpse the feelings and aspirations of these people, whose lives encompass joy, sadness, degradation, liberation, hope. The reader comes to know the hijras as real people while gaining an understanding of a very ancient and significant way of life.Nanda's lucid writing and subtle insights are augmented by a marvelous collection of color photographs and vivid case histories, including numerous first person accounts.This book is a model for ethnographic study and will leave an indelible impression on the heart and mind of anyone who reads it.

Interesting ethnography
This was a very interesting book on a very interesting group of people.Nanda did a superb job of describing the Hijras in the context of Indian society.The personal accounts of individual Hijras added a greatperspective.My one problem with this book is that throughout, whilestriving to show the validity of the concept of more than two genders,Nanda gave the impression that she feels that the Western cultural conceptof gender dichotomy is backward and naive.To me, this felt like an attackon Western culture, which I do not look for in supposedly unbiasedethnographies. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Eunuchs    3. Gender Studies    4. India    5. Sex role    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Transsexuals    9. Cultural studies    10. Ethnic studies    11. Ethnography    12. Social Science / Anthropology / General   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Great Britain    3. Social Science    4. Sociology    5. Sociology - General    6. Transsexualism    7. Transsexuals   

Reviews (31)

More Of The Same
Not a bad book, but not a great one, either.The story of yet another middle aged, married person with a history of transvestism who decides to undergo sex reassignment.
A very honest and courageous portrayal
Donna Rose is a very attractive, feminine woman. I highly recommend "Wrapped in Blue: A Journal of Discovery," as Donna gradually becomes aware that although apparently born as a boy, there was a strong feminine side to his personality, which did not completely go away even during years as a successful athlete, an intially happy marriage and the birth of a son.
great book - lots to think about
This isn't written nearly as well as "She's not there" however it is a very telling story.A very "normal" story of a trasformation. The focus on how relationships were altered forever is a sobering reality and a pretty realistic picture I would expect. I enjoyed this book very much. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. General    4. Social Science    5. Social Science / Gender Studies    6. Sociology    7. Specific Groups - General    8. Biography & Autobiography    9. Biography & Autobiography / General    10. Gender Studies    11. Gender identity    12. Personal Memoirs    13. Sex change    14. Transsexualism    15. Transsexuals   

Reviews (5)

NOTHING SHORT OF A GREAT BOOK
Riki Wilchins has crafted a marvelous primer on the major gender issues facing Americans today, and it's worth reading the book for that purpose alone; but Wilchins manages to provide more than a primer, she gives new life to the long dormant idea that King, Gandhi and Jesus died for, the idea that across the board social constructs must be abandoned, and the fight must be for equal rights for all. Period. No sub-divisions, no special rights, just rights that each and every person is entitled to simply because they are a person.
great for undergraduates or those new to queer/gender theory
I assign this book in a class called Sexual Identity. It offers an introduction to queer/gender/postmodern theory, situatedwithin contexts of social and political movements. It is extremely accessible, and guides readers through difficult concepts that are often complicated and dense in their original works (e.g., Foucault, Derrida, Butler). For people who want to sample some of the central theoretical concepts related to gender and sexuality, this book is a great resource. The students reading this book often comment on the accessible reading and Wilchins' connections to personal stories and experiences. Such comments starkly differ from when I previously assigned the more abstract and antiquated Queer Theory (Jagose).

A Perfect Primer for Gender/Queer Theory!
This book does exactly what it sets out to do: whereas my initial attempts at reading and understanding Foucault and Butler left me interested but confused, now, after reading this book -- in a mere four days -- I actually get postmodernism, a.k.a. the theory behind gender rights. I've retained more from this book in less than a week than from an entire semester of a college philosophy of race and gender class. In other words, thanks Riki!
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Subjects:  1. Bisexuality    2. Gender Studies    3. Gender identity    4. Homosexuality    5. Postmodernism    6. Sex Roles (Sociological Aspects)    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Transsexualism    10. Gay & Lesbian studies    11. Social Science / Gender Studies   

Reviews (1)

Transvestites and Transsexuals--Technical Background
This book is an excellent summary of the psychological research on the subject and presents a theory of the origins and process of heterosexual transvestites.It establishes a research methodology and the results. However, due to the population available the results can not meet completeand definitive research standards and the results are therefore suppositionbased on the available data.Read more

Subjects:  1. Clinical Psychology    2. Gender Studies    3. Human Sexuality    4. Identity    5. Psychological aspects    6. Psychology    7. Psychology Of Sexuality    8. Sexual behavior surveys    9. Sociology    10. Transsexuals    11. Transvestism    12. United States    13. Psychology & Psychiatry / Clinical Psychology   

Reviews (7)

the FTM end of it.
So - why Jamison Green's Becoming a Visible Man? For starters, it's a good read. James writes to be read, unlike a lot of writers on trans experience or in gender theory. Since my "audience" comes mostly from the MTF end of things, I also think it's vital for us to educate ourselves as to what the experiences are from those on the other side of the fence. Having run FTM International for a million years, James has more than his own experience to rely upon for this book - he has head the stories of thousands of FTMs, from those that embrace a more genderqueer radical place, to those who wish, simply, to pass well enough so they can marry and mow their lawn on Saturdays.
Becoming a Visible Man
The book is intriguing.I admire Jamison Green to no end and would love to meet him. He is helping so many others with his own personal revelations.The book is excellent.

Thought provoking
Helpful in its moments of the "nuts and bolts" of transitioning, I've found it even more useful for the insights shared by Mr. Green - the struggle determining oneself to be lesbian or trans (not to set up another binary), the sense of 'normality' induced by hormones, those were the big pieces for me.I also appreciated the historical perspective.
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Subjects:  1. 1948-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Gender Studies    5. Gender identity    6. General    7. Green, Jamison,    8. Sex role    9. Sexuality    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Transsexuals    13. United States   

Reviews (8)

Condundrum by Jan Morris
This is an early work by a transsexual person but I did not enjoy it. Ms. Morris of course knows how to use the English language in an elegant manner but the book still failed for me. She treats women as nothing more than a shadow of men. Her book thinks it is perfectly acceptable for women to be sexually harrassed by men. She accepts sex role stereotypes pertaining to men and women. This book would not behelpful to modern day transgendered youth.

MAN ENOUGH TO BE A WOMAN...
This is an intriguing memoir, beautifully written by an author who has written numerous other non-fiction books. Jan Morris, formerly known as James Morris, was the correspondent for the London Times assigned to cover England's historic summit of Everest. The author actually accompanied the expedition to the Himalayas and did on site dispatches of the historic event. It would be as James Morris that she wouldwrite the wonderful book, "Coronation Everest", which chronicles the events leading to the historic summit of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the eve of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The author would eventually become a celebrated writer of many travel books, journeying the world over. A very special book on many levels
Conundrum is a classic of the small but powerful field of transgender writing. What places this book at the top of the list are the fame of the author, the stellar prose, the non-sensational style of the telling, the humor, and the many layers and levels of love that carry Morris' passage from man to woman through to completion.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Case studies    6. Gender Studies    7. Great Britain    8. Historians    9. Literary    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Sex change    12. Transsexuals    13. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (1)

Amazing!: Thai Butch-Femme
Dennis Altman asked whether gays in developing countries are adopting Western gay rights, nomenclature, and culture or do they view it as imperial.Sinnott notes that his focus is upon gay men, rather than women-loving women.She looks at Thailand to investigate these matters.For those that don't understand the essentialism-constructivism debates, this book will help to explain everything.Sinnott discusses "toms" and "dees" and doesn't even bring up the Western term "butch-femme" until the latter half of the book.
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Gender Studies    4. General    5. Identity    6. Lesbians    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Thailand    10. Transsexuals    11. Women    12. Lesbian studies   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (1)

oh, jack!
it's impossible for me to be entirely fair because i absolutely LOVE judith halberstam...
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Subjects:  1. 1972-1993    2. Feminist    3. Gay & Lesbian    4. Gender Studies    5. Gender identity    6. Literary Criticism    7. Sex role    8. Teena, Brandon,    9. Transsexualism    10. Psychology & Psychiatry / Human Sexuality   

Reviews (1)

Very Real and Human Stories
I recently had the opportunity to read "'O Au No Keia: Voice's From Hawaii's Mahu and Transgender Community". As someone with no transgender feelings, it was a glimpse into a part of our community that I knew very little about. Its a very real book, written by the transgendered people themselves. Mr. Matzner interviewed a number of transgendered people on O'ahu, edited what they had wrote and then gave them a chance to review, correct and add to what they had said. So rather than being a book about transgender people, its really a book by transgendered people. Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Gender Studies    3. Hawaii    4. Human Sexuality    5. Oahu    6. Psychology    7. Sociology    8. Transsexuals   

Editorial Review

This fascinating memoir chronicles Deirdre McCloskey's transformation from Donald McCloskey, an economist at the University of Iowa and married father of two, into the woman he finally accepted he had always wanted to be. McCloskey had been dressing in women's clothes since he was 11, but after his daughter went to college in 1994, the 52-year-old man grew increasingly aware that he was more than "just a heterosexual crossdresser." As he moved toward the decision to become a transsexual, his wife reacted angrily, and his sister tried twice to have him declared insane. The passages detailing McCloskey's ordeal within the psychiatric and legal establishment are as gripping as a topnotch thriller. But the memoir's deeper interest lies in the author's reflections on the nature of gender and identity. Donald was a macho academic who dominated every discussion, viewing conversation as an exercise in one-upmanship. As he surgically altered his appearance and began to take estrogen on the road to "The Operation," he found himself relating to people in a more conventionally female way: listening to others, considering feelings. "The hormones are working, he thought at first. Or was it merely that the real person could now stand up?... Biology or core identity?" There are no final answers to such questions, but McCloskey poses them with sensitivity and insight. Read more

Reviews (42)

A Bizarre Biography
Am I the only reader disturbed by this memoir?First of all, I found the cover ghastly ...almost macabre.The book takes us from McCloskey's childhood, through his early exploration of cross dressing, his marriage, and ultimately, his tortured decision to become a transsexual.His wife abandons him; she cannot accept the fact that her husband is having surgery to become a woman.Neither Don nor Deirdre can understand her angst.
A Good Read, Illustrative
This is a great read.There aren't many trannsexual memoirs as honest and riveting as McCloskey's whirlwind tour, from married heterosexual to avowed transsexual.
The Economist is Transsexual
I was utterly fascinated by the author's transformation.At the start of the book we meet Donald McCloskey, a noted economist, as well as husband, father, and professor.We also learn that he is a compulsive cross dresser who walks around casually in women's clothing and heavy make up--at home.In his 50s, Donald had a major life epiphany and decided to become a transsexual.He has "the works"---breast implants, electrolysis, facial feminization, female voice surgery, and sex reassignment surgery.The results are evident in the photographs (before and after) in the center section of the book."Deidre" is a tall, blond, large-boned transsexual.Arms folded, legs crossed, "Deirdre" is not exactly my image of the womanly ideal.But judge for yourself.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Gender Studies    5. General    6. Specific Groups - General    7. Biography: general    8. Social Science / Gender Studies    9. Transsexuals   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. California    3. Education    4. Gay Studies    5. Gender Studies    6. Human Sexuality    7. Life Stages - Teenagers    8. Los Angeles    9. Popular Culture - General    10. Social Science    11. Social conditions    12. Sociology    13. Transsexual youth    14. Social Science / Gender Studies   

Reviews (2)

C'mon, we're better than this.
Walworth's books (now two of them) have the sad tendency to reduce the trans experience to a path of struggle and pain.For lots of us, that's not how it works when we approach the world as active contributors.If a worker is a good worker, well-liked by his/her coworkers, they won't have a problem with the transition.If the worker is so self-indulgent as to demand special consideration (meetings, sensitivity training, books) how can the organization respond positively?

An Excellent Guidance for Successful Transition
The second book of Janis Walworth is a complement to her firstbook "Transsexual Workers - An Employer's Guide" regardingtranssexuals in the workplace. To better understand transsexuals, it tells the story of Brian's early childhood, his struggle of being a boy but feeling and identifying as a girl, conflicts with his parents, and socially being pressed into a life which was not his at all. His desperate prayers, his secret life as a "woman", his depressions, his wedding plans that ended in a suicide attempt, his seeking counseling that guided him safely through his transitioning from Brian to Brenda and helped him/her to become a valuable employee.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business & Economics    3. Business & Economics / General    4. Gender Studies    5. Sexuality    6. Social Science / Gender Studies    7. Transsexuals    8. Workplace    9. Employment    10. Transsexualism    11. Transvestites