Cross Dressing, Sex, and Gender

Rating:
Summary: Sexological history of cross dressing
Review: A marvelous read that goes well into the sexological depths of cross dressing. It resists a disease model approach discussion of gender variance and gives a more interdisciplinary account. Since the authors have been providing great contributions to the field of transgender studies for so long, they are easily able to provide historical analyses of cross dressing, sex and gender that are rivetting.

This is but one of the amazing texts in their treasure trove. It can easily be read by both scholars and a general reader since it is so accessible and well written.

Rating:
Summary: Gender 501
Review: This book might be a textbook for a first level graduate course in gender variance. If you've already read a lot on the subject, this book will help you to organize your thoughts (and your library). It's a wonderful survey, both from a historical standpoint and from a cross-cultural standpoint. There is also a critical, but sensible, review of the various biological, psychological and sociological explanations of gender variance. The authors suggest that no one explanation suffices; this book was written in 1993 and although a lot has been learned since then, I would guess that they would draw the same conclusion today if they were preparing a second edition. Which I hope they are! Either way, they also argue that gender variance is not a disease (but we already knew that, didn't we!) unless it causes other problems in the life of a particular individual. Although I have described this book as a "textbook", it isn't at all dry, musty and academic. There are endnotes for each chapter which you can reference for aditional reading, and rather than a bibliography the final chapter is the authors' well-thought out list of recommendations for additional reading. Because they tell you why they selected these books, you will find their recommendations very useful. An unusual book---a great textbook and a great read!