Synopses & Reviews
"Transgender" has become a convenient umbrella term to cover a collectivity of individuals (including cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals, and intersexuals) who do not conform to traditional norms of gender identity or behavior. Until recent centuries, transgender behavior has rarely been the subject of scholarly or public attention. During the 20th century, medical advances in hormone therapy and reconstructive surgery, the worldwide publicity generated by the Christine Jorgensen story in the 1950s, and the popularity of such plays and movies as La Cage Aux Folles and The Birdcage make the subject much more visible for society.
This book is a compilation of autobiographies of women and men who openly describe their different and often very difficult journeys, frankly. Using a decade-by-decade format, the contributors provide the reader with critical insights into the process of realization that led to their various gender expressions. The contributors include homosexuals, heterosexuals, and bisexuals, and their life stories make clear that a good deal of diversity exists within the gender community.
A thorough introduction by the editors provides many insights into gender issues from a biological, socio-anthropological, and historical perspective.
About the Author
J. Ari Kane-DeMaios, Ed.D., is a consultant and life-coach with a focus on gender diversity and on aging and gerontology. Formerly he served as executive director for the Outreach Institute of Gender Studies and is currently the executive director of the Educational Institute for Sex and Gender Diversity.
Vern L. Bullough, Ph.D., D.Sci., R.N., the author or editor of over fifty books and an internationally recognized sexologist, is the founding director of The Center for Sex Research at California State University, Northridge (CSUN); professor emeritus of the History Department at CSUN; and formerly dean of social and behavioral sciences and a distinguished professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalo. After retiring, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Southern California from 1993 to 2003.