Joanne Meyerowitz’s book is surprisingly accessible for a work that tackles the complex world of medicine (and its jargon), the abstract realm of sex/gender debates and theories, and the contentious social atmosphere that issues of transsexuality has and continues to bring to light. Having had little experience with this particular historical narrative, I was surprised to learn about Christine Jorgenson—particularly the year of her procedure. This was the most important aspect of the book for me. I never realized the debate around transsexuality had such a long and twisted history.
I found the chapter “From Sex to Gender” particularly useful. It helps to explain how various people came to define transsexualism differently, but also provides solid historical context for the shifting of American ideas of sex and gender. As Meyerowitz outlines how scientists “distinguished biological sex from the sense of a sexed self, which they labeled ‘psychological sex’ and later ‘gender’” one can’t help but become a little caught up in semantics; however Meyerowitz handles these difficulties well.
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