Curated Resource List
The go-to source for mental health practitioners wanting to offer some specialization working with transgender people. Coming in at a hefty 468 pages, social worker Arlene Lev provides great resources for front-line workers. She includes a good discussion of the language around transgender including transsexual and gender identity dysphoria. Her work here was an inspiration for the development of my Assessment Tool for Transgender-related Stress and Trauma, the last chapter of Transforming Practice.
Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper provide smart and practical guidance for caring families and service providers on the delicate topic of children. Stephanie deftly handles and pulls apart the conflation of sexuality and gender, while bringing needed comfort to the minds of all concerned. I had the pleasure to participate in a Providers Day workshop with Stephanie at the Gender Odyssey conference in Seattle - I was blown away. If you have gender-variant children in your life or practice, you'll be glad you read this book.
Charming, kind, loving and nurturing...all words to describe Kate Bornstein and all reflected in the tone of this great book. A great resource for anyone with questions about gender identity - their own or someone else's - and a great opportunity for providers with limited familiarity in gender practice to perform a provocative and yet enjoyable self-assessment.
Look out for Kate's update due later this spring called My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity (Routledge).
Look out for Kate's update due later this spring called My New Gender Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Achieving World Peace Through Gender Anarchy and Sex Positivity (Routledge).
Canadian academic Krista Scott-Dixon pulled together what is, in my opinion, a foundational work in trans-feminist writing. Clearly and thoughtfully explored, with a range of trans and cisgender voices. I'm particularly fond of the late Kyle Scanlon's chapter (quoted in my book) that reminds us that being trans is far less about esoteric political debate and more about life, job, family and putting food on the table if the home you live in.
Love this book half as much as I do and you'll be glad you bought it. Smart, cogent analysis presented in a really interesting and accessible style. Susan has written a lot; this is a great start for trans people wanting to know wherefore they came, and for providers interested in community social context.
Other Popular Books on the topic of Trans Men
According to the book jacket: "In 1967, after a baby boy -- one of a set of identical twins -- suffered a botched circumcision, a radical treatment option was agreed to by his desperate and grieving family. Encouraged by renowned medical psychologist Dr. John Money, an expert in the field of gender identity and sexual reassignment, the anonymous child was surgically altered to live life as a girl. The case would prove to be precedent-setting, becoming "proof" for the feminist movement that gender gap was purely a result of cultural conditioning."
While an interesting story in terms of natal sex, I'm curious about how this plays out in terms of gender identity and the trans experience. It's certainly a compelling narrative, and the botched circumcision really highlights the power of hand of the medical doctor at birth in terms of sex assignment.
While an interesting story in terms of natal sex, I'm curious about how this plays out in terms of gender identity and the trans experience. It's certainly a compelling narrative, and the botched circumcision really highlights the power of hand of the medical doctor at birth in terms of sex assignment.
Written by a leading activist in the transgender movement, Becoming a Visible Man is an artful and compelling inquiry into the politics of gender. Jamison Green combines candid autobiography with informed analysis to offer unique insight into the multiple challenges of the female-to-male transsexual experience, ranging from encounters with prejudice and strained relationships with family to the development of an FTM community and the realities of surgical sex reassignment.
