From James

Joanne Meyerowitz traces the emergence of trans-sexuality in the United States as a category of identity distinct from homosexuality and transvestism. She does a great job at showing how the phenomenon of trans-sexuality transformed understandings of the relationship among sex, gender and sexuality, not only in the medical and legal professions but also in the popular consciousness. Sex was no longer seen as the biological foundation of gender and sexuality but was thought to exist independently of them. Like gender and sexuality, Meyerowitz was able to show that sex has a history and her study complicates that understanding in important ways. Sex of object choice began to displace gender as the organizing principle of sexuality and sexual practice. She makes very clear that the reorganization of sexuality occurred unevenly and over a long period of time than we thought, and that it was mediated by a number of factors including race, class and as a nation. Meyerowitz also allows us to see that the construction of trans-sexuality as a distinct category of identity has played a critical role in the early understandings of sex. She raises many good points but also raises some questions. For example, it attributes to Jorgensen’s sex change to a larger role in transforming gender and sexual norms than warranted. Jorgensen reinforced the idea that femininity was expressed most “naturally” by female heterosexual bodies. However, it is a great additional to sex/gender history considering its views and rare study on the history of sex and its transformation.