Sissies and Tomboys: Gender Nonconformity and Homosexual Childhood
In 1973, homosexuality was officially depathologized with a revision in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatry. In 1980, a new diagnosis appeared: Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood (GID). The shift separated gender from sexuality, while it simultaneously reinforced traditional concepts of "male" and "female" and made it possible for cross-gendered behavior and/or identification to be deemed psychiatric illness.\ What is the difference then between a child being called a sissy...
Search in google:
In 1973, homosexuality was officially depathologized with a revision in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatry. In 1980, a new diagnosis appeared: Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood (GID). The shift separated gender from sexuality, while it simultaneously reinforced traditional concepts of "male" and "female" and made it possible for cross-gendered behavior and or identification to be deemed psychiatric illness. What is the difference then between a child being called a sissy on the playground and being labeled with a disorder in a psychiatric hospital? Combining theory and personal narrative, this volume interrogates the meaning of "the normal" that pervades the literature on GID and investigates the theoretical underpinnings of the diagnosis. Sissies and Tomboys considers how the stigma of illness influences a child's development and what homosexual childhood, freed from the constraints of conventionally acceptable gender expression, might look like.
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1Pt. IGender Identity Disorder (GID) and the Normal1Diagnosis and Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder in Children92Ethical Issues in Diagnosing and Treating Gender-Dysphoric Children and Adolescents343Is Gender Essential?524Queering the Center by Centering the Queer: Reflections on Transsexuals and Secular Jews58Pt. IITheorizing Gender Nonconformity5Homosexual Boyhood: Notes on Girlyboys1076Tomboys and Cowgirls: The Girl's Disidentification from the Mother1407Oh Bondage Up Yours! Female Masculinity and the Tomboy1538Sexing the Tomboy180Pt. IIISissies and Tomboys Speak9My Life as a Boy19910Butch in a Tutu20911Such a Polite Little Boy22612Las Nenas con las Nenas, Los Nenes con los Nenes23613Boys Don't Do That24514The Boy Who Grew Up to Be a Woman26315The Golden Book of the Civil War274Select Bibliography289Contributors295Index299
