the relevance of gender
The topic of gender is relevant to everyone. It is also a topic that evokes a strong emotional response. Gender is a social construct and few of us are aware of the system of rewards and punishments that have shaped our gender identity. For others who this system did not 'succeed' are often more aware of the process that shape identity as they have had to confront and defy. It is worthwhile to spend some time thinking about how your fear manifests itself, and how your fear of stepping outside the boundaries of 'appropriate' gender behavior limits your life. It starts many of us asking a slew of questions such as what was done to us in the name of Manhood and Womanhood, why? Why dose this process exist in the first place? Whose interest dose it serve? These questions are important to understanding our gender and us as a whole. Sex Changes: The politics of Transgenderism by Pat Califia addresses such questions. The following is a summary of the general description of t!he book and it's main points, which I have broken down chapter by chapter. The first chapter examines three autobiographical testimonies about the benefits of medically mediated sex reassignment. These works may be seen as the first generation of transsex
As Califia probes the history and politics of medical and psychiatric discourse in relation to transgendered people at the core of her argument is that although the dichotomy of male and female categories may be unrealistic and smothering, sexual variation is seen not as a normal, but as lacking all intrinsic worth. It is treated as a disease that should be 'cured'. I definitely agree with this, it is clearly evident in the conduct of the mentioned doctors. The doctors focused on conformity not tolerance or acceptance. None of the doctors mentioned by Califia wrote as if the 'gender outlaws' had any intrinsic worth. Medicine had a heavy hand in public policy and law on transsexuals as these people were seen as 'sick' and thus under the jurisdiction of medical experts. There was likely some doctors who opposed this view but they were far and few between with little weight to their voice. The third chapter examines the critics of the concept of gender dysphoria, the therapy of sex reassignment, and the first transsexual activists. Some of the early critics were the New Christian Right who condemned transsexuals for going against God's divine plan. Also there was backlash from feminists who argue from a biological determinate difference between men and woman in order to affect social change. Califia discusses The Transsexual Empire by Janice Raymond, Horsexe by Catherine Millot, and the Perversion: The Erotic Form of Hatred by Robert J. Stroller, M.D. In Sex Changes Califia analyzes history and politics of transgendered people in medical and psychiatric discourse, gay liberation and transphobia, and feminism movements and transphobia. Each analysis focuses on a particular objective, which I will discuss in reference with my own opinion. most at ease. Also there are many transsexuals that are gay men, lesbian, or bisexuals and thus share many of the same tribulations. An objective of this book is to attempts to encourage an alliance between transsexuals and the gay activist and community coordinators. Homosexuals are often viewed as men and woman who do not conform to the more traditional forms of sex-role stereotypes, which is a very similar view of transsexuals. The subjugation of gay men and lesbians overlie with that of transsexuals. Gays, lesbians, and transsexuals share a common history of being considered mentally ill people who need treatment. Gay and lesbians were once the subjects of medical and psychiatric professionals, as are transsexuals, but in the case of gay and lesbian they have manage to free themselves through legal, political, and social activism. Transsexuals unlike gays and lesbians, require letters, hormonal therapy, and/or surgery in order to live a way that they feel most comfortable. In this way they depend on the medical and scientific community in order to find a way to live in this world in a way they feel! e to accept the differences in others when the rest of 'us' are able to accept our own gender conflicts and isolate our own prejudices about social sex-roles. In world that is hostile to someone, community is needed to maintain mental health and as a refuge from isolation. Califia is by far not a self-proclaimed expert on transsexuals. She dose not take the objective outsider view that often identifies itself with academics or scientific institutions. These institutions regularly claim impartiality and may assert that their point of view as more important or powerful than that of transgendered people themselves. In this discourse the experts have a privileged voice, which undermines that of the differently gendered people. Califia attempts to be sensitive to this and to not treat transsexuals as patients or troubled clients of therapists. Califia ha
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Approximate Word count = 2518
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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