The Look of a Woman : Facial Feminization Surgery and the Aims of Trans- Medicine

Developed In The United States In The 1980s, Facial Feminization Surgery (ffs) Is A Set Of Bone And Soft Tissue Reconstructive Surgical Procedures Intended To Feminize The Faces Of Trans- Women. While Facial Surgery Was Once Considered Auxiliary To Genital Surgery, Many People Now Find That These Procedures Confer Distinct Benefits According To The Different Models Of Sex And Gender In Which They Intervene. Surgeons Advertise That Ffs Not Only Improves A Trans- Woman's Appearance; It Allows Her To Be Recognized As A Woman By Those Who See Her. In The Look Of A Woman Eric Plemons Foregrounds The Narratives Of Ffs Patients And Their Surgeons As They Move From Consultation And The Operating Room To Postsurgery Recovery. He Shows How The Increasing Popularity Of Ffs Represents A Shift Away From Genital-based Conceptions Of Trans- Selfhood In Ways That Mirror The Evolving Views Of What Is Considered To Be Good Trans- Medicine. Outlining How Conflicting Models Of Trans- Therapeutics Play Out In Practice, Plemons Demonstrates How Ffs Is Changing The Project Of Surgical Sex Reassignment By Reconfiguring The Kind Of Sex That Surgery Aims To Change. -- From The Cover. On Origins -- Interlude: The Procedures -- Femininity In The Clinic -- Interlude: Celebrate! -- Cutting As Caring -- Recognition And Refusal -- Interlude: My Adam's Apple -- The Operating Room -- And After. Eric Plemons. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 169-183) And Index. "Developed in the United States in the 1980s, facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of bone and soft tissue reconstructive surgical procedures intended to feminize the faces of trans- women. While facial surgery was once considered auxiliary to genital surgery, many people now find that these procedures confer distinct benefits according to the different models of sex and gender in which they intervene. Surgeons advertise that FFS not only improves a trans- woman's appearance; it allows her to be recognized as a woman by those who see her. In The Look of a Woman Eric Plemons foregrounds the narratives of FFS patients and their surgeons as they move from consultation and the operating room to postsurgery recovery. He shows how the increasing popularity of FFS represents a shift away from genital-based conceptions of trans- selfhood in ways that mirror the evolving views of what is considered to be good trans- medicine. Outlining how conflicting models of trans- therapeutics play out in practice, Plemons demonstrates how FFS is changing the project of surgical sex reassignment by reconfiguring the kind of sex that surgery aims to change."--The cover. Provided by the publisher Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 14 1. On Origins 34 Interlude: The Procedures 52 2. Femininity in the Clinic 56 Interlude: Celebrate! 80 3. Cutting as Caring 84 4. Recognition and Refusal 102 Interlude: My Adam’s Apple 122 5. The Operating Room 126 6. And After 148 Conclusion 164 Notes 170 References 182 Index 198 A 198 B 198 C 199 D 199 E 199 F 200 G 200 H 201 I 201 J 201 K 201 L 201 M 201 N 202 O 202 P 202 Q 203 R 203 S 203 T 204 U 204 V 205 W 205 Y 205 Z 205 Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. On Origins 21 Interlude. The Procedures 39 2. Femininity in the Clinic 43 Interlude. Celebrate! 67 3. Cutting as Caring 71 4. Recognition and Refusal 89 Interlude. My Adam's Apple 109 5. The Operating Room 113 6. And After 135 Conclusion 151 Notes 157 References 169 Index 185 Eric Plemons explores the ways in which facial feminization surgery is changing the ways in which trans- women are not only perceived of as women, but in the ways it is altering the project of surgical sex reassignment and the understandings of what sex means.