The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male

254 Pages·1994·6.601 MB·English

by  Janice G. Raymond

ATHENE Series
General Editors
Gloria Bowles
Renate Klein
Janice Raymond
Consulting Editor
Dale Spender
The Athene Series assumes that all those who are concerned with
formulating explanations of the way the world works need to know and
appreciate the significance of basic feminist principles.
The growth of feminist research internationally has called into
question almost all aspects of social organization in our culture. The
Athene Series focuses on the construction of knowledge and the
exclusion of women from the process—both as theorists and subjects
of study—and offers innovative studies that challenge established
theories and research.
ATHENE, the Olympian goddess of wisdom, was honored by the
ancient Greeks as the patron of arts and sciences and guardian of
cities. She represented both peace and the intellectual aspect of war.
Her mother, Metis, was a Titan and presided over all knowledge. While
pregnant with Athene, Metis was swallowed whole by Zeus. Some say
this was his attempt to embody her supreme wisdom. The original
Athene is thus twice bom: once of her strong mother, Metis, and once
more out of the head of Zeus. According to feminist myth, there is a
“third birth” of Athene when she stops being an agent and mouthpiece
of Zeus and male dominance, and returns to her original source: the
wisdom of womankind.
THE
TRANSSEXUAL
The Making of the She-Male
EMPIRE
Reissued with a New Introduction on Transgender
JANICE G. RAYMOND
Teachers College Press
Teachers College, Columbia University
New York and London
Reprinted in 1994 by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
Originally published in 1979 by Beacon Press
Copyright © 1994 by Janice G. Raymond
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans­
mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho­
tocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
from the publisher.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Little, Brown and Company for permis­
sion to reprint material from the following: Sexual Signatures: On Being a
Man or a Woman
by John Money and Patricia Tucker. Copyright © 1975 by
John Money and Patricia Tucker. By permission of Little, Brown and Com­
pany.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Raymond, Janice G.
The transsexual empire: the making of the she-male / Janice G.
Raymond.
p. cm. ---(Athene series - 39)
Reissue, with a new introduction, of the 1979 ed., published by Beacon
Press, Boston.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8077-6272-5
1. Sex change--Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Transsexuals. 3. Lesbi­
ans. 4. Sex role. I. Title. II. Series.
RC560.C4R38 1994
305.3---dc20 93-46771
ISBN 0-8077-6272-5
Printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
98 97 96 95 94 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Introduction to the 1994 Edition xiii
Introduction: Some Comments on Method (for
the Methodical) 1
I. “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about
Transsexualism” 19
II. Are Transsexuals Bom or Made—or Both? 43
II. “Mother’s Feminized Phallus” or Father’s
Castrated Femme? 69
IV. Sappho by Surgery: The Transsexually
Constructed Lesbian-Feminist 99
V. Therapy as a Way of Life: Medical Values versus
Social Change 120
VI. Toward the Development of an Ethic of Integrity
154
Appendix: Suggestions for Change 178
Notes 187
Index 213
For Mary Daly
Who has moved me
to the Moors of the Mind...
Who has taught me
to feel with all my intellect
and think with all my heart...
With Gratitude, Awe, and Love
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book has been long in process. It began as a confer­
ence paper delivered at the New England Regional Ameri­
can Academy of Religion Meeting in 1972. Much of it had
another life as my doctoral dissertation, which was fin­
ished at Boston College in 1977. Finally, it metamor­
phosed into a book. There are many people to thank for
all of this.
My parents’ love, trust, and support have been an im­
portant source of encouragement. Many of my students
offered creative insights and critical commentary as the
work was in progress. I would like to thank Jan Stiefel
who, in proofreading with me, read the entire manuscript
aloud. Amy Hines and Judy Gold were valuable search
assistants who found material for me often at short notice.
Chris Decker applied her creative and prestidigitatory tal­
ents to the index of this book, as well as to the proof­
reading of the galleys. Anne Dellenbaugh snooped out
many difficult-to-find sources, read over many of these
herself, offered original comments, and taught me how to
sail.
vii
viii Acknowledgments
Some people read selected parts of my work, either in
chapter or in article form, and made helpful suggestions.
Among these are Jackie Pritzen, Fern Johnson, and Lisa
Buck. Eileen van Tassell was particularly helpful in reading
over Chapter II. Julia Stanley assisted in clarifying several
of my linguistic applications. Andrea Dworkin commented
on Chapter IV.
Mary Howell and Max Stackhouse served on my disser­
tation committee and read this manuscript in another one
of its lives. Mary Howell helped me to explain the medical
aspects of the issue and to integrate certain ethical aspects
with issues current in the women’s health movement. Max
Stackhouse assisted me in organizing the methodological
aspects of my work. Michael Gross has been both a suppor­
tive colleague and critic. In reading the manuscript early
on, he gave me invaluable suggestions on the sex difference
literature, Chapter II, and the history of medicine and
science.
For their friendship and support, I would like to thank
Kate Lehmann, Linda Scaparotti, Karin Krut, Kath Wetzel,
and Marcia Liebermann. For many years, Wilma Miley has
been a very special friend and supporter. Michelle Cliff gave
me many insights into the publishing world and encouraged,
in many ways, the publication of this book. I have known
Emily Culpepper since I first began work on this topic. She
has provided me with many resources and insights, and she
invented the key phrase that I use throughout this book
(male-to-constructed-female). Conversations with Linda
Barufaldi were always fun, and her friendship and creativ­
ity have been important in the process of this book. Nelle
Morton’s work, example, and friendship have profoundly
affected my life and work. Robin Morgan has encouraged
my work in this area for many years. Her writing, insight,
and counsel have been vital to me.
Nancy Sunflower gave an intelligent and careful typing
of the manuscript. Mary Ann Lash made editorial sugges­
tions which helped to clarify the content and structure of
my book.
Adrienne Rich has been a very special friend and critic.
ix Acknowledgments
She has read the manuscript through all of its stages and
provided resources, creative criticism, and constant en­
couragement. Her work, and her recognition of my work,
have meant a great deal to me in the process of this writ­
ing.
I hope the dedication of this book adequately expresses
the gratitude I owe to Mary Daly. Her friendship, wisdom,
and creativity are enspiriting and, more than anyone, she
has sparked my creativity. It is difficult for me to separate
my words and ideas from her own.
Pat Hynes has been with this book in the deepest way.
She has read the manuscript and made detailed, discerning,
and perceptive observations throughout. To her, I say that
“Friendship is a divine affection. ” Be-ing with her, in all
ways, is a life-giving experience.
INTRODUCTION TO THE
1994 EDITION
This year, 1994, is the fifteenth anniversary of the publica­
tion of The Transsexual Empire. Shortly after the book was
published in 1979, Johns Hopkins, which was the first U. S.
medical institution to perform transsexual surgery, phased
out the procedure and dismantled its Gender Identity Com­
mittee. Although some of my friends credited The Transsex­
ual Empire as an important influence on the termination of
the surgery, I think the closing of Johns Hopkins’s doors had
much more to do with several other factors, some announced
and some not publicized.
The publicized reason was a study by Jon Meyer, psychia­
trist and director of the Johns Hopkins sexual consultation
program, which found that there was no difference in long-
term adjustment for individuals who undergo the surgery
and those who do not. Meyer, after keeping follow-up records
on his patients’ postoperative acceptance of their new gen­
der—using such indicators as employment status, marital
and cohabitation success, psychological and legal problems—
concluded that the surgery served “as a palliative measure
[but] it does not cure what is essentially a psychiatric distur­
bance. "1 This was the public reason for discontinuing the sur-