Gender and Life's Paths: Mar 12, 2008

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Calpy Slams - Reading Comments on Transamerican Love Story

Calpernia and Andrea read some of the worst comments people have left on perezhilton.com and abc.com in response to "Transamerican Love Story", their new Logo transsexual dating show coming out in February.

Advocates turn out en masse for transgender civil rights bill

by Ethan Jacobs

Bay Windows
Monday Mar 10, 2008

Supporters of a bill to add gender identity to state civil rights laws far outnumbered opponents at a marathon public hearing before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary at the State House on March 4. The committee listened to 10 hours of testimony on a host of bills related to same-sex marriage, abortion, victim’s rights and other issues. But the bulk of the hearing, which lasted until 11:30 p.m., was devoted to H.B. 1722, the first major piece of transgender rights legislation to come before the Massachusetts Legislature. . . .Read More

Patricia Arquette: 'Brother's sex change shocked me'

0/03/2008 - 6:25:00 PM

Patricia Arquette questioned how open-minded she was when her transgender brother Alexis first announced he was going to become a woman.

The True Romance star admits she felt "a loss" when Alexis - born Robert Arquette - told her of his transition plans. . . .Read More

Australia: Trans films welcomed

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

Rachel Cook

Melbourne’s trans community has welcomed the increase in films about transgender and intersex issues at this year’s Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF).

The festival is showing 19 films, including short film, features and documentaries, covering a wide range of topics regarding trans and gender variant subjects.

MQFF Festival Director, Lisa Daniel, told MCV that the festival has always wanted, and had a trans element, but that the quality and quantity of films previously available hadn’t always been as strong as they were this year.

“We search a lot trans films festivals, and a few more trans festivals are popping up now and so more films are being made,” she said. . . .Read More

Author: Gender theory needs to be questioned

Bornstein draws about 100 people to Spring Pride lecture

By Caitlin Schneider, For the Daily on 3/12/08

Author Kate Bornstein threw conventional wisdom out the window as she discussed gender issues before about 100 people in the Michigan League last night.

"I want people to question gender," Bornstein said.

Bornstein's address, which served as the keynote speech for the Spring Pride and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health Week, delved into what it's like to be transgender in a world that largely focuses on just men and women.

Bornstein was born a man and underwent reconstructive surgery 22 years ago to become a woman. After her transition, Bornstein discovered she still didn't feel comfortable in her gender. She said she still feels like she's pretending to be a woman.

"I am not a man, and I am not a woman," she said. . . .Read More

Transsexual bares all in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'

Derek Campbell

3/10/08

German, transsexual, would-be rock star trapped in a small Kansas town in the glam rock era of David Bowie sounds like culture shock at its best. Steven Eubank's production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" provides just that, and more.

As the audience filtered into the Off Center Theatre at Crown Center, they entered the world of Hedwig, a young male-to-female, post-operative transsexual who fled East Berlin while the Berlin Wall still stood.

Biting, sarcastic and humorous, Hedwig's character represented the battle all people face in discovering their true identities. As Hedwig stripped layers of clothing during the course of the show, she bared more about her true self. . . .Read More

Gender variance or nonconformity is found wherever one finds people.

A closer view reveals many variations in gender expression. Note “sex” refers to biology, genes, hormones, body development, whereas “gender” is social role, cultural expectations for appearance and behavior. Gender expression varies over time and throughout cultures and may vary in the lifetimes of individuals. We sometimes hear “male or female”, “masculine or feminine”, as defining “the binary”. Typically, many want males masculine and females feminine, in a world where being androgenous or a hybrid may actually work better. Yet many individuals, for example, parents, teachers, and friends, including some with gender issues, crave the binary. In the case of a significantly gender variant person, gender expression often does not match the social or binary gender role assigned at birth. Nevertheless, the person's expressed gender may feel correct or natural. Thus a gender nonconforming person, maybe someone who even sees themselves as “non-binary”, may feel very uncomfortable with the gender expression expected by parents and significant others. Fortunately, there are a growing number of resources to help those interested understand gender, development, change and adaptation. And there are creative paths one may explore to hopefully find comfort, experience a measure of peace and happiness, and in the process find the gender expression that works best. Here I offer some news, information, resources, opinions and POVs to help you learn more about gender expression and life situations. We now know there are a variety of paths individuals discover that may contribute to positive life changes.

Books you may find interesting:

Benjamin, Harry. (1966). The Transsexual Phenomenon. New York: The Julian Press, Inc. Full text and photographs available as an electronic book: http://www.symposium.com/ijt/benjamin/

Blanchard, Ray and Steiner, Betty W. (1990). Clinical Management of Gender Identity Disorders in Children and Adults. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc.

Bolin, Anne. (1988). In Search of Eve: Transsexual Rites of Passage. South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey.

Boenke, Mary, (Ed). (2003). Trans Forming Families. Hardy, VA: Oak Knoll Press.

Bornstein, Kate. (1994). Gender Outlaw: On men, women and the rest of us. Routledge: New York & London.

Brill, Stephanie & Pepper, Rachel. (2008). The Transgender Child. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Brown, Mildred L. & Rounsley, Chloe Ann. (1996). True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brownmiller, Susan. (1984). Femininity. New York: Linden / Simon Schuster.

Buss, David M. (1994). The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating. New York: Basic Books.

Califia, Pat. (1997). Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Cameron, Loren. (1996). Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits. San Francisco: Cleis Press.

Colapinto, John. (2000). As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl. New York: HarperCollins.

Cromwell, Jason. (1999). Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders and Sexualities. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Devor, Holly. (1989). Gender Blending: Confronting The Limits of Duality. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Devor, Holly. (1997). Female to Male Transsexuals in Society. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Docter, Richard F. (1988). Transvestites and Transsexuals: Toward a Theory of Cross-Gender Behavior. New York: Plenum Press.

Ehrensaft, Diane. (2011). Gender Born, Gender Made. New York: The Experiment, LLC.

Green, Jamison. (2004). Becoming a Visible Man. Nashville:Vanderbilt Univerrsity Press.

Griggs, Claudine. (1996). Passage through Trinidad: Journal of a Surgical Sex Change. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Co.

Griggs, Claudine. (1998). S/He: Changing Sex and Changing Clothes. Oxford: Berg.

HBIGDA, Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders, Sixth Version. (2001). http://www.hbigda.org/socv6.html#top

Kessler, Suzanne and McKenna, Wendy. (1978). Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Serano, Julia. (2007). Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Women on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. San Francisco: Seal Press.

Stuart, Kim Elizabeth. (1983). The Uninvited Dilemma: A Question of Gender. Portland, Oregon: Metamorphous Press, Inc.

Available from Metamorphous Press, Inc. P.O. Box 10616, Portland, Oregon 97210-0616. Fax (503) 223-9117 or Toll Free 1-800-937-7771

Sullivan, Lou. (1990). Information for the Female to Male Cross Dresser and Transsexual. Seattle, Washington: Ingersoll Gender Center.

Available from Ingersoll Gender Center. 1812 E. Madison Seattle, Washington 98122-2843. (206) 329-665

Williams, Walter L. (1986). The Spirit and The Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture. Boston: Beacon Press.

Zucker, Kenneth J. and Bradley, Susan J. (1995). Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford.

Gender and Life's Paths

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Calpy Slams - Reading Comments on Transamerican Love Story

Advocates turn out en masse for transgender civil rights bill

Patricia Arquette: 'Brother's sex change shocked me'

Australia: Trans films welcomed

Author: Gender theory needs to be questioned

Bornstein draws about 100 people to Spring Pride lecture

Transsexual bares all in 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'

Derek Campbell

Gender variance or nonconformity is found wherever one finds people.

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