Becoming a Visible Man
Best Book in Transgender Studies, 2005\ Winner, Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies (CLAGS), NY\ 2005 Lambda Literary Award Finalist\ 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...
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A California transsexual activist offers insights into the challenges of gender dysphoria. Born with a female body, and in a lesbian parent relationship prior to sex reassignment surgery, Jamieson begins his frank personal and analytic account by asking how we know our sex. He discusses the complexities of the answer for those whose sex and gender are mismatched; medical options; psychosocial and legal implications; and media representations of "transpeople." A sociologist introduces Jamieson's identity quest as a core human struggle. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Library Journal A leading advocate for transsexuality and the author of the "Visible Man" column on the web (www.planetout.com/people/columns/ green), Green argues that the transsexuality movement is a struggle for fundamental human rights. The author is a female-to-male transsexual who deploys his autobiography to illustrate political points about gender and sex diversity. He asserts that transsexuals seek to balance their gender identity (an abiding sense of oneself as a man or woman) with their physical bodies. Like recent literature on the history of the body, this text differentiates biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Green's call for tolerance is important, but he fails to answer the concerns of sympathetic gender theorists. For example, Green asserts illogically that gender identity is both a naturally occurring "essence" and a mutable social construction. And despite Green's repeated denials, his arguments inadvertently reify sexual stereotypes. The result is less scholarly than Joanne Meyerowitz's How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States yet less scandalous than Edward Ball's Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love. Recommended with reservation for public libraries and undergraduate libraries. Katherine C. Adams, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick, ME Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
1How do you know?12Initiation273A vision of community534Body of knowledge895Transparent feelings1236Consummate presence1477Visibility1718Willful destiny199
\ From the Publisher\ Jamison Green tells, with integrity, and in a moving and thoughtful way, his story. \ --Dallas Denny, Editor, Transgender Tapestry Journal\ An intelligent and engaging book. Jamison Green, an extraordinary activist and advocate for FTM transsexuals, demonstrates that he is also an extraordinary writer. Green artfully blends the personal, the informative, and the political, and grounds it all in a generous vision of inclusive communities. He makes a thoughtful and persuasive case for making gender visible.\ --Joanne Meyerowitz, author of How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States\ When the premier trans-activist of a generation decides to write a memoir, we should be grateful. When Jamison Green weaves his personal and political experiences into a magnificent story it is all the more reason to celebrate. Becoming a Visible Man shows why he is a leading voice to a generation of transmen and transwomen and why this issue should be on the top of the agenda for all of us in the 21st century.\ --Henry Rubin, author of Self-Made Men\ Jamison Green has given a great gift--based on experience born of a great personal journey, he demystifies gender in a way that transfixes the reader. The biological journey from zygote to adulthood unfolds to challenge the neat little boxes into which our culture drives gender each day. This is an essential contribution to the growing body of literature on gender identity and expression.\ --Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director, Human Rights Campaign\ \ \ \ \ \ Library JournalA leading advocate for transsexuality and the author of the "Visible Man" column on the web (www.planetout.com/people/columns/ green), Green argues that the transsexuality movement is a struggle for fundamental human rights. The author is a female-to-male transsexual who deploys his autobiography to illustrate political points about gender and sex diversity. He asserts that transsexuals seek to balance their gender identity (an abiding sense of oneself as a man or woman) with their physical bodies. Like recent literature on the history of the body, this text differentiates biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Green's call for tolerance is important, but he fails to answer the concerns of sympathetic gender theorists. For example, Green asserts illogically that gender identity is both a naturally occurring "essence" and a mutable social construction. And despite Green's repeated denials, his arguments inadvertently reify sexual stereotypes. The result is less scholarly than Joanne Meyerowitz's How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States yet less scandalous than Edward Ball's Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love. Recommended with reservation for public libraries and undergraduate libraries. Katherine C. Adams, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick, ME Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
