Product Description
Over the last two decades, a rich, diverse, yet sometimes contradictory body of research has been gathered under the general rubric of "psychology of women." This burgeoning literature represents several disciplines, among them psychology, psychiatry, sociology, political science, and women's studies. To bring sense to this agglomeration of views, both for the layperson and the student, the author looks at research in this area as a social process and refutes the notion that science can be objective about its search for universal truths. She asks us to reflect on how we choose among explanations of behavior, calling the need to examine the psychology of women in a social and historical context. Throughout the book, Riger reveals how interpretive frameworks shape how we perceive research findings. Her central theme suggests that social factors shape the meaning and experience of biological femaleness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Fresh Look at Gender and Psychology
"Transforming Pyschology" is an appropriate title, because the project of the book is to rethink the received wisdom in a variety of areas related to gender in both the theory and practice of psychology.The insights are startling in their lack of cant and in their unpredictability and originality.On the one hand, the author argues that gender bias can in fact impact traditional and psychological methodology.On the other hand, she vindicates the possibility of an objective psychological methodology, though, of course, one freed of this bias.In doing so, she leaves more conventional schools of feminist thought behind, or, more accurately, advances their case by bringing new insights to bear.The one theme that recurs is Riger's emphasis on the social context rather than the isolated individual as the best way of understanding psychological issues.If emphasizing the wider context makes Riger a feminist in her approach, then she no doubt would welcome that characterization.She draws on a very wide variety of sources, from organizational studies on familiar topics such as the "glass ceiling" to works on the criminal justice system.One particularly original chapter deals with the issues of methodology in the context of research projects on violence against women, concluding that the collaborative nature of studies in this important and disturbing area has brought about new methodological problems, problems resulting from the very nature of the well-intentioned collaboration.In this chapter, as throughout the book, the thinking is original and the insights are disturbing.This book sets a high standard for not allowing prevailing ideas in gender and psychology blind us to what we can learn if we bring the insights of many fields to bear on highly-charged questions. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is dedicated to new research which is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labour by gender. It is a focus of analysis in the social sciences and humanities. Gender is one component of the gender/sex system, which refers to 'the set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed needs are satisfied'. Almost all societies, to a certain effect, have a gender/sex system, although the components and workings of this system vary markedly from society to society. Gender refers to an individual's 'psychological type', it is acquired through experience. An individual can be viewed as either masculine or feminine. Gender role refers to the attitudes and behaviours that class a person's stereotypical identity, e.g. women cook and clean, men fix cars. To associate oneself as either masculine or feminine is identifying with gender.Researchers recognise that the concrete behaviour of individuals is a consequence of both socially enforced rules and values, and individual disposition, whether genetic, unconscious, or conscious. Some researchers emphasise the objective social system and others emphasise subjective orientations and dispositions. Creativity may cause the rules and values to change over time. Cultures and societies are dynamic and ever changing, but there has been extensive debate as to how, and how fast, they may change. Such debates are especially contentious when they involve the gender/sex system, as people have widely differing views about how much gender depends on biological sex. ... Read more

Product Description
Complete coverage of The Handbook of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders provides authoritative coverage of the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of three major DSM-IV-TR classifications of sexual disorders and gender identity disorders: sexual dysfunctions, gender identity disorders, and paraphilias/atypical sexual behaviors.

The first internationally contributed handbook of its kind, this practical guide provides mental health professionals as well as medical professionals with the latest information in the understanding and treatment of sexual problems and gender identity related disorders. Covering both the medical and mental health related aspects of sexual dysfunctions and gender identity disorders, topics covered include:
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Male sexual arousal disorder
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Female desire disorder
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Female genital pain and its treatment
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Aging and sexuality
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Disease and sexuality
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Gender identity disorders in adults
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Cross-cultural issues in gender identity disorders
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Paraphilic sexual disorders
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Sexual addiction
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Legal and privacy issues surrounding paraphilias

An insightful and unique resource, the Handbook of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders prepares mental health and medical professionals to more skillfully and compassionately recognize and address the sexual issues of those who seek their help. ... Read more

Product Description
Gender as Soft Assembly weaves together insights from different disciplinary domains to open up new vistas of clinical understanding of what it means to inhabit, to perform, and to be, gendered.  Opposing the traditional notion of development as the linear unfolding of predictable stages, Adrienne Harris argues that children become gendered in multiply configured contexts.  And she proffers new developmental models to capture the fluid, constructed, and creative experiences of becoming and being gendered.  According to Harris, these models, and the images to which they give rise, articulate not only with contemporary relational psychoanalysis but also with recent research into the origins of mentalization and symbolization.

In urging us to think of gender as co-constructed in a variety of relational contexts, Harris enlarges her psychoanalytic sensibility with the insights of attachment theory, linguistics, queer theory, and feminist criticism.  Nor is she inattentive to the impact of history and culture on gender meanings.  Special consideration is given to chaos theory, which Harris positions at the cutting edge of developmental psychology and uses to generate new perspectives and new images for comprehending and working clinically with gender.   ... Read more

Product Description
From cross-dressing to altering one's sex by undergoing hormone therapy and radical surgery, 'gender blending' has reached new levels of popularity. "Gender Blending" is an up-to-date account of this compelling trend that is rapidly altering the frontiers of human sexuality. The changes occurring in this area of lifestyle research are vast and rapid. This book looks at biological, sociological, psychological, historical, anthropological, religious, and other aspects of gender blending to find common ground among researchers in all areas. By representing a unique collaboration of experts and those involved in gender blending, this groundbreaking work could spell the beginning of a sexual renaissance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great for educating the masses.
I read this book, but as a cross dresser, I did not find answers for me in this book. I found it informative about the many diverse classifications of transgenderism. I would not suggest this for a transgendered person to find help, but I would suggest it for a person trying to learn about transgenderism and it's many facits. I found many of the statements in the book to come from the psychiatric community, not from transgenderd people themselves. It is a book looking in, not a book from within. ... Read more

Product Description
Drawing from the fields of ethnographic and sociological studies, cultural activism, public health and film studies, this volume poses new and exciting challenges to queer studies and demonstrates the study of Chinese sexuality as an emergent field currently emanating from multiple disciplines.--Issues related to sexuality have acquired a new visibility in China in the past several years. The growth of religious fundamentalists and global gay discourses, heightened media attention and even more intense censorship, LBGTIQ activist movements, struggles of sex workers, have all contributed to this visibility. There is an urgent need for intellectual work to articulate and analyze the complexity of issues of sexuality, and the ways in which different norms line up and become synonymous with one another, in order to build situated knowledge in strengthening the discursive power of non-normative sexual-subjects-in-alliance. This book showcases the work of emerging and established scholars working mostly outside Euro-America and focuses on cities including Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. It is one of the first sustained collections on Chinese non-normative sexual subjectivities and contemporary sexual politics published in English. It highlights the various ways in which different individuals and communities--including male sex workers, transsexual subjects, lesbians and Indonesian migrants--negotiate with notions of normativity and modernity, fine-tuned according to the different power structures of each context, and making new and different meanings.--This is a key text for students, scholars and cultural workers interested in issues of gender and sexuality, queer studies, Chinese cultures and societies, migration studies, cultural sociology, film and cinema studies, performance studies and pornography. --Yau Ching teaches in the Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University, Hong Kong.- ... Read more

Product Description
In Gendering Bodies, Crawley, Foley and Shehan demonstrate how gendered messages about bodies and the social world shape our physical bodies and social selves. At work, in sports and during sex, gendered messages constantly organize our common, everyday settings through a feedback loop of confirmations and disruptions in everyday talk and interaction. This book is an accessible, yet comprehensive, theory of a sociology of the gendered body. ... Read more

Product Description
Writing as an insider and an anthropologist, Jason Cromwell presents the first in-depth examination of what it means to be a female-bodied trans person. Through extensive participant observation and open-ended interviews, "Transmen and FTMs" allows female-to-male transsexuals to speak for themselves and reveal aspects of female gender diversity that do not fit into the ready-made categories of male and female.In clarifying how trans men and FTMs define and validate their lives, as opposed to how society attempts to pigeonhole and belittle them, Cromwell shows how female-to-male trans people have been made virtually invisible by male-dominated discourses. He considers cross-cultural data on female gender diversity, historical evidence of female-bodied people who have lived as men, and contemporary trans men and FTMs. He also addresses how FTMs and trans men are working to challenge the mental illness model of transness as well as other misconceptions. "Transmen and FTMs" seeks to reframe the dialogue about gender identity and move away from regarding fixed gender categories as normative.By redefining gender diversity from a manifestation of pathology to a human condition, "Transmen and FTMs" promotes a fuller understanding of these individuals as persons in their own right. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

WOMEN WHO DECIDE TO LIVE AS MEN
Jason Cromwell
Transmen and FTMs:
Identities, Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities

(Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999) 201 pages
(ISBN: 0-252-02439-7; hardcover)
(ISBN: 0-252-06825-4; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ77.9.C76 1999)

This book describes the lives and problems
of women who have decided to live as men.
It is based on the author's own experience
and her extensive contacts with a few hundred
other FTM (female-to-male) transsexuals
--in FTM support groups beginning in 1983,
informal surveys, formal surveys, conferences for FTMs,
e-mail communications, phone conversations, etc.
The most concentrated work took place
in San Francisco in 1995-1998.

This book was originally a PhD thesis,
so it contains comprehensive research into the history
of women who decided to pass as men for at least parts of their lives.
However, most of these women would not be considered transsexuals
by any of our modern conceptions.

Cromwell strongly advocates the right to change sex
in whatever degree suits the individual.
And this book will be useful mainly to
other women who are thinking about living as men.
It is more advocacy and support than science.
In fact, Cromwell sees the clinicians who control the sex-change gate
mostly as opponents and oppressors of her subjects.
She affirms again and again that 'pathology', 'disease', & 'disorder'
are not the correct approach to transsexualism.
But she does not offer any alternative scientific explanations.

However, some scientific professionals are not hostile
toward people with variations of sex and/or gender.
It would be good if authors such as Cromwell
would make this distinction
--and tell us which scientific theories they like best,
rather than rejecting all scientific approaches
and affirming whatever mythologies the variant individuals
embrace at any given time and place.

Usually these born-females now living as men
made this decision long before they started
any exploration of the scientific literature.
Thus, they often had firmly-established mythologies
of their own making, which explained (to their own satisfaction)
why they needed to live as men.
And often they cling to their beliefs as if they were religious dogmas.

In contrast to earlier generations of transsexuals,
most of the subjects of this book did not want to fade into
the general population as ordinary, everyday, unremarkable men.
Most had only a few surgeries to become more like men,
such as having their breasts removed.
They often enjoyed their freedom to be either sex
as suited the situation or that particular phase of their lives.
For example, some were known as men on the job
but as butch lesbians in their social relationships.
Others wanted to be known in public as transsexuals
or some form of 'transgender' individuals.
And some even wished to be created intersexual individuals,
people who were born as normal biological females
but who later decided to modify their bodies
to some degree in the male direction.

Their self-concepts were largely shaped
within the FTM community of their time and place
--late 1990s San Francisco.
Ten or twenty years later,
they might have different explanations of who they are
and new names and labels for themselves.

Transmen and FTMs definitely arises from
the grass-roots experience of hundreds of born-women
who for a variety of reasons decided
somewhere along the line they wanted to live as men.
This book is recommended both for people struggling
with such questions of sexual identity
and for professionals who are called upon to help them.
This book does not settle any questions of transsexualism,
but it is definitely an important part
of the literature about born-women who want to live as men.

If you would like to discover other books on the same theme,
search the Internet for "BOOKS ON TRANSSEXUALISM".

Ethnography of Female Men
Cromwell provides an interesting ethnography of female men from a FTM perspective in a time when the transgender community is calling for scholarship about transpeople by transcholars. He gives an insider's perspective of a fairly homogenous type of group of transmen that capably provides a few new glimpses into female men's stories.

It's a much understudied population, no matter which discipline is framing the work. Also interesting to consider is how US anthropology is more well versed in gender studies of other cultures, so this ethnography provides stories from home that resist being ethnocentric. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the text is that it is not theoretically framed by the toxic God-like oppression of the psycho-medicalizing discourse that makes everyday transgender experiences fit into a disease model of gender identity disorder, body dysphoria, social deviancy, and personal deficiency. ... Read more

Product Description

2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Winner of the Passing the Torch Award from the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies

It has been called sperm, semen, seed, cum, jizz, spunk, gentlemen's relish, and splooge. But however the "tacky, opaque liquid that comes out of the penis" is described, the very act of defining "sperm" and "semen" depends on your point of view. For Lisa Jean Moore, how sperm comes to be known is based on who defines it (a scientist vs. a defense witness, for example), under what social circumstances it is found (a doctor's office vs. a crime scene), and for what purposes it will be used (in vitro fertilization vs. DNA analysis). Examining semen historically, medically, and culturally, Sperm Counts is a penetrating exploration of its meaning and power.

Using a "follow that sperm" approach, Moore shows how representations of sperm and semen are always in flux, tracing their twisting journeys from male reproductive glands to headline news stories and presidential impeachment trials. Much like the fluid of semen itself can leak onto fabrics and into bodies, its meanings seep into our consciousness over time. Moore's analytic lens yields intriguing observations of how sperm is "spent" and "reabsorbed" as it spurts, swims, and careens through penises, vaginas, test tubes, labs, families, cultures, and politics.

Drawn from fifteen years of research, Sperm Counts examines historical and scientific documents, children's "facts of life" books, pornography, the Internet, forensic transcripts and sex worker narratives to explain how semen got so complicated. Among other things, understanding how we produce, represent, deploy and institutionalize semen-biomedically, socially and culturally-provides valuable new perspectives on the changing social position of men and the evolving meanings of masculinity. Ultimately, as Moore reveals, sperm is intimately involved in not only the physical reproduction of males and females, but in how we come to understand ourselves as men and women.

Customer Reviews (6)

Interesting, rare, and revealing examination
Do NOT listen to the reviewer below me. The author interviewed countless individuals, and looks at a background that revolves arond sperm. She addresses how sperm has been used, how sperm has shaped male self-identity, and how the use of sperm without a man (either in-vitro, or among lesbians) is shaping new identitys of families. The man below clearly has a scewed perspective, and a biased agenda to push, as the book in no way reflected what he wrote. Did he even read the book? I highly doubt it, and if he did, his biases stood in the way of him understanding it.
The book would not be difficult to understand to the majority of "lay" people, and that is what the author intended. Revealing and informational.

Groundbreaking
Sperm Counts offers a wide variety of data on how social policy and pop culture view "man's most precious fluid."Lisa Jean Moore's education and job experience makes her an expert on this subject matter.

This book should serve as a required text for any 101 gender study course in academia. There is a lot of valuable information to digest but Moore's writing style allows the book to flow very easily.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Skewed
The author, while dubbing sperm man's most precious fluid, seems to have little use for men themselves. In fact, she seems to look forward to the day when there will be no further use for them. I suspect she would be quite content were gallons of semen put into storage, thereby assuring future generations while dispensing with the need for men completely.Her experience working at sperm banks seems to have skewed her point of view so totally that she exaggerates the importance of such services in the grand scheme of things. In addition, she seems convinced that the risks of HIV infection have made semen a toxic fluid for most people despite the evidence that tens of millions of couples somehow don't share this view and continue to reproduce the old fashioned way.Perhaps if she had spent less time interviewing prostitutes, porn stars, and fellow academics in the "gender studies" community and had spent even a little time speaking with ordinary men instead, she would have come away with a different perspective.

Racing Tadpoles
My most memorable conception of sperm comes from "Look who's talking" where the opening scene shows the sperm competing with each other to push their way into the egg.Apparently, there are many more meanings of sperm, and this book goes beyond the single minded understanding of man's most precious fluid.

"Sperm Counts" delves into every conceivable crevice to describe the ways in which sperm has been used to validate patriarchy and conversely how it can be an enemy to the very thing it legitimizes (by proving identity in crime scenes).American culture rooted in Puritanical values views sperm as a strictly biological substance, while Moore looks at it through a sociological and feminist lens: What do children's books about reproduction teach?What norms, values and prescriptions are passed on and learned through the ways sperm are introduced to young ones?How has the commodification of sperm separated men from the embodiment of masculinity in sperm? How has reproductive technology changed the way we view fatherhood?

Moore discusses all of these questions without bashing men or masculinity- she brings to light certain issues that threaten and hopefully change our understanding of men and their sperm.It seems that Moore's goal in writing this book is not female domination but men's liberation from the strict ideal identity of what it means to be a man.And while some may view her theories as brash or radical, after looking at her education, job experience, and methodology (often over-looked, but provides proof of her research and validity) her theories follow through and hold their own weight.

sperm counts: a unique, thought provoking, & fresh perspective
How many ways to talk about and discover SPERM?

I really didn't anticipate too many, but Moore does an incredibly thorough investigation on not only the depictions of sperm, but also reproduction, masculinity, sexuality, and gender.

This text appears radical in its content while simultaneously remaining impressive in its inquiry of the many biological and social realities surrounding sperm; Sperm Counts is not only about sperm, but how sperm functions as the vehicle for many other discourses relevent to American gender and social issues. It is at once ambitious and sucessfully critical as it provides a cohesive analysis of what I always just thought of as a disposable product-- perhaps even more important, Moore offers us PERSPECTIVE in this work, as we are introduced to a variety of diverse and important ideas that appear non-judgemental; this isn't just feminist spew which may sometimes unintentionally alienate.

Highly reccommended. ... Read more

Product Description
"The Uninvited Dilemma" is different from the autobiographiesand clinical studies on transsexuality.It represents two years ofresearch involving carefully structured, in-depth personal interviewswith seventy-five transsexuals, consultations with members of themedical and mental health communities, and conversations with lovedones of transsexuals.This book will give you an understanding of thetrue nature of transsexuality.It is a remarkable reading experiencefor all who are interested in the human condition and and explorationof the most fundamental aspect of our humanity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Excellent Overview
The 'Uninvited Dilemma, A Question of Gender' is a compilation of responses to questionnaires filled out by transgender individuals.As such it is not the best book for those trying to find their way if they are transgender or for finding advice or guidance.However, it does give a lot of insight into those who are transgender and how some have felt about their transgenderism or their transsexuality.In this regard it can be helpful to compare one's own feelings and experiences with those interviewed for the book.

Not everything in this book pertains to anyone who is transgender and it tends to reflect those with the most serious internal feelings, but overall it is an excellent glimpse into what others have experienced or feel about their transgenderism.

The Uninvited Dilemma - A Review
Right up front the author says,"This book is about transsexuals."She then goes on to state, "The subject has received widespread publicity; but despite the headlines, little is known about the condition by the general public..."

Starting off with a set of definitions and descriptions she painstakingly stakes out her grounds for discussion and then carefully and methodically attempts to correct the misconceptions and to debunk the myths surrounding transsexualism.The early chapters of the book deal with the problems and experiences of transsexuals from the early years to adulthood.The final chapters deal primarily with the conclusions reached as a result ofher research and the many interviews she conducted.Although the period covered by her work is now almost twenty years old, some of her comments are timeless, being equally relevant to today's world as it was in the 1990's.For example, in Chapter 4 she states in part, "Certainly a society which can find its way to the moon and back has the ability to find fair, discrete, and equitable ways of helping a very small percentage of individuals cope with personal dilemmas without destroying their careers and human dignity.We have become such a wasteful, throwaway society, it comes as a shock to learn the price we pay when we squander our natural resources.Although we are sometimes our own worst enemy, human beings - men and women - are our most precious natural resource.Just as we exact a toll on the quality of our life when we carelessly trash our environment, society pays dearly when we heedlessly toss about human lives as if they were empty, used up cans and bottle."

Despite the fact that the book claims to be about transsexuals, a careful reading of the author's definitions, so important to an understanding of this work, it is equally about transgender persons, a term in use today which was not used when the book was written.

This book is a fascinating read which challenges us all to reevaluate our thoughts on gender.I recommended it highly to all who seek answers to problems associated with trans phenomena; transsexuals, transgenders, their families, their friends, service professionals, and the public in general.

The uninvited dilemma is a breath of fresh air.
I found the book to be thoroughly thought out and genuine. It truly answered many of my question where other books on the subject failed to answer.
I feel this book is a must for anyone who questions there gender and is looking for direct and to the point answers.

The writer took great pains to retain the authenticity of the interviews she held.

A Rational Outlook on an Irrational Subject
Transsexualism is a subject area where much of the literature is either very clinical, or very anecdotal.A topic where the only common theme among the books is how incredibly difficult it is to study a condition that is deeply internal and subjective to those who live with it.

Where this book stands out is the author's ability to provide a blend of researched, clinical information _and_ 'personal stories' together.This book provides an enormous amount of valuable information that goes beyond the individual stories of transsexuals, and picks out the common themes and presents them clearly and concisely for the reader.

If you want to read a transsexual's story, this is the wrong book.If, on the other hand, you wish to understand transsexualism and what it is, this book is unusually accessible.

Others have commented that this book is perhaps a bit dated - although its calendar age is fairly old, this is a topic area where truly good research is rare, and Ms. Stuart has done a superlative job of both research and writing.

Good basics, but slightly out of date
I was at first disappointed to discover that the book I had just purchased was 12 years old. So some of the terminology no longer is in use and some theories have been either refuted or more warmly embraced by the TG community in the years since this book was published. New theories have emerged that were not even discussed in this book, understandably.
However, her methodology and findings appear to be quite sound and have stood the test of time. Some ideas she proposes, which may have been unique or relatively fresh at the time, have now come to be common knowledge or understanding.
However, so much of what is in this book exists in greater detail in other, more updated books. I would recommend this for those wanting a comparative look back in time, but I believe more current publications would be much more beneficial to most readers. ... Read more

Product Description
Based on life narratives that describe first-hand experiences of migration, this book focuses on the impact of migration on women's sexuality and gender roles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Women's Experiences and the Control of Space
This book offers a thorough review of the literature on women's migration, environmental connections,and identity development.The author makes a paralel between immigration and other life transitions, in that it triggers anxieties and social disruptions that create unique psychological distress. She emphasizes the need to consider the "context of exit" as well as the "context of reception" when dealing with immigration issues, since both are "significant determinants of the success of immigrants' adaptation to their new life." ... Read more

Product Description
Well-organized and highly readable Sex and Gender: The Human Experience provides a current, multicultural analysis of gender-related issues, theories, and research.The authors' clear presentation of the perspectives and issues related to sex and gender studies enables students to easily comprehend the material.Further, a highlypractical approach prompts students to examine theirself-awareness and social tolerance. Sex and Gender: The Human Experienceis appropriate as a primary or supplementary text in Psychology, Family Studies, or Women's Studies curricula. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

For all to read.
Every person should read this book. It covers all the gender bases. Men and how they think about women. All the different type of men and their upbringing as it effects their sociological views and cheracteristics and the same things apply to women. A great read for new moms as it will teach you how you can change the role of gender through interaction with your kids. ... Read more

Product Description
Questions of Gender introduces students to critical questions in the psychology of gender through the use of primary scholarship in the discipline. The book exposes students to both classical and contemporary cutting-edge research and theory while providing sufficient scaffolding so that students can understand the issues at hand. Each chapter topic begins with a comprehensive and integrative essay outlining the key issues in that area; the essays also connect issues between chapters so that students can see many of the overarching themes of the field. The essays and readings thus provide a springboard for instructors and students to engage in conversation about the readings and issues as they relate to the psychology of gender.

The new edition:

*includes 36 new pieces, of which 32 have been published since the year 2000

*draws together seminal works by psychologists, biologists, anthropologists, sociologists and other researchers

*stresses the importance of understanding sex and gender as part of the larger intersection of questions about race, ethnicity class and sexual orientation

*features in each chapter several “checkpoints,” questions that are designed to help readers evaluate their comprehension and to anticipate the issues of the next reading ... Read more

Product Description
This text on the development of sex roles in childhood focuses on the processes by which children learn to be boys and girls and the effects of differential socialization on their behavior. Unlike competing texts on sex roles, the book has a clear developmental emphasis. It also stresses the use of psychological theories and methods to separate popular notions regarding sex roles from current research findings. BOYS AND GIRLS is designed for use as a primary or supplementary text for a course on sex roles, a supplementary text in an introductory child development course, and as a resource for parents, teachers, and others who work with children. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fascinating read
The book looks really dated and the material is about 10 years old, but the information is terrific. Well-written and easy to read, thorough. Great text for educational and personal interests.

Answers primitive questions about our gender
This book is truly amazing because it answers so many questions we have always been asking through life... questions like why men are more aggressive, why some people change sex, and why some girls behave like boys and vice-versa.

In a sense, this book is like a college reference book (after all, I picked it up at my college library) but it reads like a bestseller! I couldn't stop reading after starting on it. It has a great chronological order of how boys and girls develop into their roles, and it touches on the biological side as well.

One thing I greatly admire about this book is that you don't need to have a major in Biology to understand what it is about. There are many techinal aspects of course, but the author made it easy to understand. In addition, her views are often supported by evidence and she also counteract her views with other arguments. In the end, the product is a well-balanced book, with unbiased views and sometimes, even more unanswered questions that will always be in our minds....trying to understand why boys grow up to be boys and why girls grow up to be girls.

One word for you, Carole R. Beal -Excellent! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (11)

Perfect condition
Very interesting book on how Brazilian Travestis' construct their gender due to their sexuality. The book arrived promptly.

A insiders view...
Travesti is not a book for those looking for a cheap trill.Nor is it a book for the faint hearted.It is a study about a fringe element and that is rarely pretty.Violence, sex, robbery, death, drugs and unhappy relationships fill this book from front to back.The only reason I took away a point was the feeling that the author did get a tad too close to the subjects he was studying.I think he was trying too hard.Yet his results, the information and view points he was able to record, was amazing and really forced me to look at life and gender in a whole new fashion.

one of my favorite ethnographies
This is an extremely useful and popular text in anthropology of gender, sexuality and/or body classes. Although Kulick could have done even more to situate the travestis in broader Brazilian contexts (of race, class, gender, etc.), his detailed, rich accounts of the intimate lives and experiences of the travestis he grew to know are extremely engrossing and illuminating. The book offers a wealth of original, provocative data that students can use well to examine and challenge their own understandings of gender and sexuality categories. Gender, sexuality and transgender are simply very differently imagined and constructed in Brazil (at least among travestis) than in the US. Students report that this is one of their favorite ethnographies, and especially because of the wealth of original data, riveting informant narratives, and novel perspectives portrayed, it is one of my favorites, too.

excellent work
I was actually in the field in Salvador Bahia at the same time as Don Kulick was doing his fieldwork for this book, and I also read the manuscript before it was published.He and I have discussed at length various theoretical aspects of the book (I have a different interpretation of how gender works in Brazil).Knowing the accuracy of his ethnography as I do, I think this is one of the important books to have been published in anthropology and gender in recent years.It is also an engaging, insightful and fascinating read.

I write this review to counter some insinuating remarks I have just read here about Dr. Kulick and the nature of his fieldwork.Dr. Kuluck is a linguist; he studied Portuguese intensively when he arrived in Brazil and was very soon completely fluent.His understanding of Bahia slang--very much needed for any work on the streets--is superb.In order to get the in-depth ethnography that he did, he had to stay in the horrific tenement conditions in which many of the transvestites with whom he worked live in Salvador, he also stayed with them on the streets until late, recording conversations.As with most field situations, Dr. Kulick was quite fond of some of his informants, less so of others (as would be expected); as a gay man, he was neither a potential client nor boyfriend (since these are people who consider themselves 'straight'), a situation that, I believe, aided him in gaining the trust and acceptance of his informants.My impression was that, although he empathized with his informants in many ways, he certainly did not 'identify' with them.

The controversy this book has sparked speaks more to its breaking new ground than anything else.I highly recommend it.

Margaret Willson (author of "Dance Lest We All Fall Down: A Journey of Friendship, Poverty, Power and Peace")

very graphic
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up Travesti. All I knew was that I would be in for a treat just by looking at the cover.Kulick who is an anthropologist who studied the lives transvestites in Brazil as he became friends with them he got all of the inside scoop and included it in his book.He talks about the travestis that come from Italy to do business in Brazil where these things are more acceptable.Some of the people he interviews talk about how they started in the business, they talk about the ups and downs of their jobs. I found some of the stories to be very graphic.The lives of these men are sometimes beyond their choice of living. Some of them believe they were born into it.The stories are very realistic and in some cases tragic.I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone whose clsed minded.However if you find it initeresting to read about the harsh realities of the world then this is the book for you. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

HOMOSEXUALITY DISCOVERED IN LESSER-KNOWN CULTURES
Stephen O. Murray
Homosexualities

(Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000) 507 pages
(ISBN: 0-226-55194-6; hardcover)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ76.25.M89 2000)

A comprehensive survey of all forms of homosexuality
in every place on Earth and in all periods of history.
Homosexual relationships are organized into three categories:
1. Age-structured homosexualities
--in which the age-difference is an important element
in the sexual relationship, eg an older male with a younger male.
2. Gender-stratified homosexualities
--in which one sex-partner takes on some aspects of the other sex,
such as a man being somewhat like a female in dress,
behavior, hair, language, occupation.
This status as a quasi-woman is part of the sexual relationship.
3. Egalitarian homosexualities
--in which both sexual partners have the same sexual status.

The author has done a wonderful job of collecting information
from obscure sub-cultures of the ancient and modern world
that most of us have never heard of.
This demonstrates that homosexual relationships
are found almost everywhere.
But because this is a work of anthropology and sociology,
rather than psychology or sexology,
the author does not attempt to explain homosexuality at all.
We get almost no account of the interior experience of being homosexual.

This book will stand for many years as the most comprehensive collection
of facts about homosexuality in every culture on earth.
Many quotations and a few pictures illustrate
how homosexual relationships were conducted and understood
in the various places where same-sex relationships are found.

If you would like to discover other approaches,
search the Internet for the following bibliography:
"Best Books on Sexual Orientation".

James Leonard Park, author of
Imprinted Sexual Fantasies: A New Key for Sexology.

Many details take us to three main ideas
The conclusion of this book synthesizes what the hundreds of details and citations have been about.Murray sees homosexuality around the world throughout recorded history asa being age-stratified, gender stratified and egalitarian.In addition, he wants to demonstrate that the social construction of these activities did not eliminate the desire of the pleasure of them, asa some researchers try to maintain.

The first two types of homosexualities predominate history.Some of these stratifications become sacralized in the society's religious foundations.The egalitarian type is more pertinent to the 20th century.

What Murray accomplishes in this book is a description of a wide variety of meaning in homosexual activity.There are different constructions throughout history and even within a particular society on the meaning, purpose and acceptance of certain acts.

This is a well-researched book.For the creative writer there is a mine of information from which to use the imagination.What is so important to understand is that 20th and 21st century criticism often assumes the terminologies more recently developed.Murray and others successfully demonstrate that one has to be more discrete in interpreting literature and art from ancient cultures.

What is fascinating is that throughout the world the same kind of age stratified or gender stratified acitivties have similar meanings. Each culture has particular meanings or levels of acceptance.But somehow humans have found meaning in what today many would call perversions or sickness.Who knows best?

very interesting book
This is a very recommendable and readable book, although it contains not so few mistakes, especially orthography/misspellings.

But, it sounds a little bit strange for us Japaneses the title "Homosexualities", since we didn't have such an odd term which meant both male/male love and female/female love,---- we had a different word which meant male/male love "nanshoku", and did male/female love "nyoshoku", and sapphic love "toichi-haichi"respectively. Of course we don't have religious or superstitional prejudice against both same-sex eroticism and different-sex one at all. ... Read more

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This innovative volume of original primary research integrates gender and sexuality into the main currents of historical interpretation concerning Latin America. The book argues that gender and sexuality--rather than simply supplementing existing explanations of political, social, cultural, and economic phenomena--are central to understanding these processes. Focusing on subjects as varied as murder, motherhood and the death penalty in early Republican Venezuela, dueling in Uruguay, midwifery in Brazil, youth culture in Mexico, and revolution in Nicaragua, contributors explore the many ways that gender and sexuality have been essential to the operation of power in Latin America over the last two hundred years. ... Read more

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Taking sexual violence in the form of rape and hetero-psychological/physical abuse, trafficking, and harassment as a point of departure, the authors of this volume explore questions about the relationship between sex, sexuality and violence in order to better understand the terms on which women's sexual suffering is perpetuated, thereby undermining their capacity for personhood and autonomy. This volume perceives that while sexual violence as a phenomenon is heavily researched, it remains under-theorized. With anti-essentialist views of gender identity, of subjectivity and agency, and of rationality and consent, the essays study both the dynamics and consequences of sexual violence. The contributing authors blend the insights of postmodern critique with the common goal of theorizing and acting effectively against the material and psychic suffering perpetuated by the rigid rituals of gendered and sexed life.