Gender and Life's Paths: Nov 10, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

"This past Tuesday the small town of Silverton, Oregon elected Stu Rasmussen as its mayor.

Rasmussen is first openly transgender candidate elected mayor in the country.

This short video accompanied a 11/7/2008 news story ("Silverton gives its vote to transgendered mayor") (tinyurl.com/6mxd9h) in The Oregonian about Rasmussen. (11/8/2008)" StephanieKayStevens

Barbara Walters Exclusive: 'Journey of a Pregnant Man'

Thomas Beatie's First Interview Since Giving Birth as a Transgender Male

ABC News: 20/20

November 11, 2008

Last spring, the stunning announcement that Thomas Beatie, a transgender man, was pregnant sparked controversy and questions about traditional notions of what is a man and what is a woman.

In their first interview since the birth of their daughter, Susan, this past summer, Beatie and his wife, Nancy, speak candidly to Barbara Walters. . . .Read More

Nicole Kidman To Play World's First Post-Op Transgender Woman

By Christian Taylor

November 10, 2008

Nicole Kidman will play the world’s first post-op transsexual in the film The Danish Girl, opposite Charlize Theron.

The film is based on the true story of married Danish artists Einar and Greta Wegener. Kidman plays Einar, who stands in for a female model that his wife Greta (Theron) was to paint.

When the portraits become hugely popular Greta encourages her husband to adopt the female identity, which he does, which leads to a complete metamorphosis and a landmark 1931 sex change operation that “shocked the world” and put their love on the line. . . .Read More

Stu Rasmussen is Transgendered Mayor

By Cathryn Friar

November 9, 2008

This is Stu Rasmussen. He was recently elected as mayor of Silverton, Oregon - population 9,600 - for the third time. And yes, he is a man who enjoys dressing as a woman - he’s transgendered. Read more about him, see photos and a video below.

Stu Rasmussen

Silverton is a Willamette Valley farming community about 15 miles northeast of Salem, Oregon our state’s capital. Some in Silverton say Stu Rasmussen is the kind of woman who could stop traffic—and he knows it. From mini-skirts to black boots, Stu likes to dress for looks! Now Stu becomes our country’s first transgendered mayor. . . .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

Monday, November 10, 2008

America's First Transgender Mayor

Oregon Town Elects Transgender Mayor

Barbara Walters Exclusive: 'Journey of a Pregnant Man'

Thomas Beatie's First Interview Since Giving Birth as a Transgender Male

Nicole Kidman To Play World's First Post-Op Transgender Woman

Stu Rasmussen is Transgendered Mayor

Gender variance or nonconformity is found wherever one finds people.

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