Blending genders social aspects of cross-dressing and sex-changing PDF
Preview Blending genders social aspects of cross-dressing and sex-changing
BLENDING GENDERS Gender blending, or transgenderism, is at the cutting edge of contemporary debates about sex, sexuality and gender. The term ‘transgender’ includes transvestites, transsexuals, drag queens, gender benders and all gender blenders, whether straight or gay, who in their cross-dressing and sex- changing ‘transgress’ the binary divide between the sexes. Blending Genders is concerned with those who attempt to blend various aspects of genders, either in respect of themselves or others. The book describes the personal experiences of those who cross-dress and sex-change, and details how they organise themselves socially—in both ‘outsider’ and ‘respectable’ communities. The authors consider the dominant medical framework through which cross-dressing and sex-changing are predominantly viewed. A comprehensive treatment is afforded to gender blending in literature, the press and the recently emerged telephone sex lines. The book concludes with a discussion of the lively debates that have taken place concerning the politics of transgenderism in recent years, and examines its prominence in recent contributions to contemporary cultural and queer theory. Blending Genders is the first comprehensive treatment of the social aspects of cross- dressing and sex-changing and, as such, can rightly lay first claim to an emerging field of transgender studies. Contributors: Dwight B.Billings, Neil Buhrich, Peter Farrer, Phaedra Kelly, Roberta Perkins, Janice Raymond, Mark Rees, Carol Riddell, Thomas Urban, Terri Webb and Stephen Whittle. Richard Ekins is Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology and Psychoanalysis at the University of Ulster. Dave King is Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Studies at the University of Liverpool. BLENDING GENDERS Social Aspects of Cross-Dressing and Sex-Changing Edited by Richard Ekins and Dave King London and New York First published 1996 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1996 Selection and Editorial matter, Richard Ekins and Dave King. Individual chapters, the Contributors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-415-11551-5 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-11552-3 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-20144-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20147-7 (Glassbook Format) CONTENTS List of plates ix List of contributors xi Foreword by Ken Plummer xiii Acknowledgements xix BLENDING GENDERS—AN INTRODUCTION 1 Richard Ekins and Dave King Part I Experiencing gender blending INTRODUCTION 5 1 IN FEMALE ATTIRE: MALE EXPERIENCES OF CROSS-DRESSING—SOME HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS 9 Peter Farrer 2 BECOMING A MAN: THE PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF A FEMALE-TO-MALE TRANSSEXUAL 27 Mark Rees 3 THE CAREER PATH OF THE MALE FEMALER 39 Richard Ekins Part II The social organisation of gender blending INTRODUCTION 49 4 THE ‘DRAG QUEEN SCENE’: TRANSSEXUALS IN KINGS CROSS 53 Roberta Perkins 5 A HETEROSEXUAL TRANSVESTITE CLUB 63 Neil Buhrich v CONTENTS 6 LONDON GRANDEUR: THE PORCHESTER BALL 70 Phaedra Kelly Part III The medicalisation of gender blending INTRODUCTION 75 7 GENDER BLENDING: MEDICAL PERSPECTIVES AND TECHNOLOGY 79 Dave King 8 THE SOCIO-MEDICAL CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSSEXUALISM: AN INTERPRETATION AND CRITIQUE 99 Dwight B.Billings and Thomas Urban Part IV Gender blending and the media INTRODUCTION 119 9 120 YEARS OF MALE CROSS-DRESSING AND SEX-CHANGING IN ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE 123 Peter Farrer 10 CROSS-DRESSING, SEX-CHANGING AND THE PRESS 133 Dave King 11 MALE FEMALING, TELEPHONE SEX AND THE CASE OF INTIMACY SCRIPTS 151 Richard Ekins Part V Gender blending and gender politics INTRODUCTION 167 12 DIVIDED SISTERHOOD: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF JANICE RAYMOND’S THE TRANSSEXUAL EMPIRE 171 Carol Riddell 13 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENTS FROM A TRANSSEXUAL ACTIVIST 190 Terri Webb vi CONTENTS 14 GENDER FUCKING OR FUCKING GENDER? CURRENT CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THEORIES OF GENDER BLENDING 196 Stephen Whittle 15 THE POLITICS OF TRANSGENDERISM 215 Janice Raymond APPENDIX I 225 A chronological listing of English and American short stories and novels featuring cross-dressing and sex-changing APPENDIX II 227 A guide to resources Bibliography 229 Index 244 vii PLATES Ziggie Cartier, centre between pages 72–3 Rital, a look-alike for Sophia Loren Rebel Rebel, à la Bowie Amber, in leather and nipple rings Lynda Gold, in competition Martine Rose, in a smashing red leather mini Anne Downes, blonde on the left ‘Pure Corn’, gender bending at its best Another cabaret troupe like ‘Rebel, Rebel’ A Halloween Medusa Loren Cameron’s self-portrait 213 ix
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