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Sex Changes: The Politics of TransgenderismOther Selections By: Pat Califia Pub Group West
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- Author(s): Pat Califia
- Publisher: Pub Group West
- Release Date: 01 July, 1997
- Media: Paperback
- ISBN: 1573440728
- Sales Rank: 146,700
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Editorial
| Common sense has dictated that there are two genders--female and male. But this perspective is becoming less accepted and making less sense for many people. Pat Califia's Sex Changes is a frank, forthright, and sometimes funny challenge to the traditional ideas about gender and sexuality. Transgenderism is the term used to describe people who feel they belong to both, or neither, traditional genders. Califia--a vocal sex radical as well as a therapist--explores the worlds of biology, sociology, psychology, and politics and comes to the conclusion that life and personal experience is far more complicated than most people believe and that the simple two-gender system most people accept is more harmful that helpful. Clear-headed writing and enormous empathy for everyone who exists outside of "the norm" make Sex Changes challenging and vital reading. |
Top Customer Reviews
 Anaylsis of the Binary Gender System and Who Benefits
The reviewer who claimed that Califia thinks that transexuals should not exist or change their bodies clearly did not read the book. Not only does she protect transexuals, transgenders and gender misfits in general, she praises transsexual Kate Bornstien lavishly, calling her brave, beautiful and brilliant. What Califia does is question the binary categorization of gender, given that humanity is expressed on a spectrum of gender expression, not two distinct categories. Why do people feel the need to pathologize those that don't cleanly fit? Is changing our bodies giving in or resisting the binary gender discourse? In her introduction she makes clear that only the individual can decide what gender path to take, and that claims of objectivity in gender research or theory should be viewed skeptically. She ultimately upholds personal choice of gender expression, which is varied, not one-or-the-other, and attacks those who judge, medicalize, and pathologize those of! us who refuse to conform to one box or the other. Her chapter on the gender "scientists" of John Hopkins medical school was brilliant. Excellent work, as usual, from Pat Califia.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended. Patrick Califia writes:
"What would it be like to grow up in a society where gender was truly consensual? If the rite of passage was to name your own gender at adolescence, or upon your transition into adulthood? What would it be like to walk down the street, go to work, or attend a party and take it for granted that the gender of the people you met would not be the first thing you ascertained about them? ... If these questions frighten, offend, or annoy you, you are one of the people who stand to benefit from transactivism - although it probably doesn't feel like your benefactor. And if these questions amuse, engage, and challenge you, you're probably a transactivist already. Welcome to the genderevolution."
Readily accessible history and analysis
Most of you may know Pat Califia as a SM writer -- both fiction and non-fiction. This is one of Califia's non-fiction works. In 8 chapters, Califia tackles the public lives of several transgendered folks in the twentieth century. In no way does Califia endorse their views, in fact she points out that many of them are hardly gender radicals because they embrace very traditional views of gender roles. In many ways, this was quite sad to read. If you know that Califia has now become Patrick Califia you can read this book as both a historical and psychological analysis of the issue of transgenderism as well as a historical look at Califia's own personal journey. This book is not for those of you with very conservative views of sexuality or gender roles so if you buy it, it will make your upset but now you are warned.
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