Ftm : Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society

"In this ground-breaking study, Aaron Devor provides a compassionate, intimate, and incisive look at the life experiences of forty-five trans men. Emerging into 21st-century political and social conversations, questions persist. Who are they? How do they come to know themselves as men? What do they do about it? How do their families respond? Who are their lovers? What does it mean for everyone else? To answer these and other questions, Devor spent years compiling in-depth interviews and researching the lives of transsexual and transgender people. Here, he traces the everyday and significant events that coalesce into trans identities, culminating in gender and sex transformations. Using trans men's own words as illustrations, Devor looks at how childhood, adolescence, and adult experiences with family members, peers, and lovers work to shape and clarify their images of themselves as men. With a new introduction, Devor positions the volume in twenty-first century debates of identity politics and community-building and provides a window into his own self-exploration as a result of his research."--Publisher description Cover......Page 1 FTM......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 New Foreword......Page 10 Original Foreword......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 18 New Introduction......Page 20 Original Introduction......Page 32 PART I: FIRST QUESTIONS......Page 46 1 Have Female-to-Male Transsexuals Always Existed?......Page 48 2 Theories about Transsexualism......Page 82 PART II: CHILDHOOD YEARS......Page 114 3 Finding Out about Gender: Theories of Childhood Gender Acquisition......Page 116 4 Family Scenes......Page 134 5 Who Would Want to Be a Girl?: The Women (and Girls) in Participants’ Families......Page 138 6 Men Rule: The Men (and Boys) in Participants’ Families......Page 169 7 Lessons Learned at Home: Summary of Family Relationships......Page 203 8 Childhood Friends and Foes: Relationships with Non-Family Members......Page 206 PART III: ADOLESCENCE......Page 222 9 Adolescence Is about Change......Page 224 10 Crises at Puberty......Page 235 11 Adolescent Friendships......Page 248 12 Women Are Different: Relationships with Female Relatives......Page 260 13 Access Denied, Restrictions Apply: Relationship with Male Relatives......Page 283 14 Looking for Love, Groping for Identity: Adolescent Sexuality......Page 305 15 Concluding Adolescence......Page 348 PART IV: PRE-TRANSITION YEARS......Page 354 16 Finding Identities......Page 356 PART V: CHANGING OVER......Page 392 17 A Long Road......Page 394 18 Making the Decision......Page 398 19 Making the Changes......Page 428 20 Coming Out Stories......Page 466 21 Are We There Yet?......Page 492 PART VI: LIFE AFTER TRANSITION......Page 510 22 Nature Calls: Toilet Traumas and Medical Necessities......Page 512 23 The Naked Truth about Sexuality......Page 520 24 Visions of Genders......Page 558 25 Lessons from the Journey......Page 599 PART: VII: CONCLUDING......Page 628 26 Conclusions and Questions......Page 630 Appendix......Page 656 Notes......Page 672 Bibliography......Page 714 Subject Index......Page 730 Participant Index......Page 738