Transsexuals` Embodiment of Womanhood - My FSU

Transsexuals' Embodiment of Womanhood
Author(s): Douglas Schrock, Lori Reid, Emily M. Boyd
Source: Gender and Society, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Jun., 2005), pp. 317-335
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
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TRANSSEXUALS'EMBODIMENT
OF WOMANHOOD
DOUGLAS SCHROCK
LORI REID
EMILY M. BOYD
Florida State University
Thisarticle draws on in-depthinterviewswithnine white,middle-class,male-to-femaletranssexualsto
examine how they produce and experience bodily transformation.Interviewees'bodyworkentailed
retraining,redecorating,and reshapingthephysical body,whichshapedtheirfeelings, role-taking,and
self-monitoring.These analyses make three contributions:They offer supportfor a perspective that
embodiesgender,further transsexualscholarship,and contributetofeminist debateover the sex/gender
distinction.Theauthorsconclude by exploringhow viewinggenderas embodiedcould influencemedical discourse on transsexualismand have personal and political consequencesfor transsexuals.
Keywords: embodyinggender; transsexuals;sex/genderdistinction
Bodies maybe ourfriendsor enemies, a sourceof painorpleasure,a place of liberation or domination,but they are also the materialwith which we experienceand
create gender. During the past decade, feminist sociologists have increasingly exploredthe relationbetweenbodies, culture,andsubjectivity(Dellingerand
Williams 1997; Gagnd and McGaughey 2002; Lorber and Martin 1998;
McCaughey 1998). Sociologists appearto be coming to terms with how people
"embodygender,"which refersnot only to how people use or mold the body to signify gender but also to how such bodywork is intertwinedwith subjectivity(i.e.,
cognition and feelings). In this article,we offer additionalsupportfor an embodying genderperspectiveby analyzinghow self-definedmale-to-femaletranssexuals
embody womanhood. Our analysis furthersour understandingof transsexuals'
embodiedexperiencesandhas implicationsfor feministdebateoverthe sex/gender
distinction.
AUTHORS'NOTE:WethankDaphneHolden,Patricia YanceyMartin,IrenePadavic,BarbaraRisman,
Michael Schwalbe,RobinSimon, ChristineWilliams,Florida State UniversitySociologistsfor Women
in Society, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback.
REPRINTREQUESTS:Douglas Schrock,Departmentof Sociology, Florida State University,Tallahassee FL 32306-2270; e-mail: [email protected].
GENDER & SOCIETY,Vol. 19 No. 3, June 2005 317-335
DOI: 10.1177/0891243204273496
© 2005 Sociologists for Womenin Society
317
318
GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
Sociological researchon transsexualsusually minimizes the importanceof the
body-subjectivitynexus. Studies thattouch on how the body is used in doing and
attributinggender(Bolin 1988;Ekins 1997; Garfinkel1967; KesslerandMcKenna
1978), managing stigma and passing (Heller Feinbloom 1976; Kando 1973), or
how the physical body is surgically altered(Billings and Urban 1982; Hausman
1995; Raymond1979) tell us little abouthow transsexualsexperiencebodily transformation.Studies that apply the labeling theory (Risman 1982), examine narrative construction(Mason-Schrock1996), analyzecoming out (Gagnd,Tewksbury,
and McGaughey 1997), or describe transsexuals'use of ideologies (Gagn6 and
Tewksbury 1999) neglect the body while emphasizing the process of selfdefinition.
Recentresearchby Rubin(2003) andNamaste(2000) moves transgenderscholarshiptowardunderstandingthe link between bodies and subjectivities.Namaste
analyzedhow transsexualscope with violations of and threatsto theirbodies from
police and discriminatoryhealth care providers.Rubin examinedfemale-to-male
transsexuals'experiencesof feeling betrayedby theirbirthedbodies and growing
into their desired bodies. For example, Rubin's interviewees said that using hormone therapyand mastectomiesto masculinizetheirbodies affirmedtheir identities as men, which evoked feelings of authenticity.'Our researchlikewise shows
how transsexuals'bodyworkshapes feelings of authenticity,but our interviewees
expressed more contradictoryfeelings and also indicated that their bodywork
shapedrole-taking,self-monitoring,and practicalconsciousness (which refers to
taken-for-grantedknowledge abouthow to do things; Giddens 1984, 41-45).
Research on how women embody gender focuses on how they experience
changing demeanor, fashioning appearance, or modifying the physical body.
McCaughey(1998) showed how women who learnto subvertfeminine demeanor
in self-defense classes redefinewomanhoodand feel more assertiveand confident
in their everyday lives. Dellinger and Williams (1997) showed that makeupprovides women opportunitiesfor bondingandthatwomen can experiencemakeupas
both empoweringand constraining.Gagndand McGaughey(2002) showed how
women who undergocosmetic surgeryview themselvesthroughthe male gaze and
feel more confident and liberatedas their bodies become more palatableto the
patriarchalimagination.Our analysis supportsthese studies' findings that bodyworkshapessubjectivityandthatwomen areagentsactingwithinculturalandinstitutionalconstraints.Ratherthanfocusing on women's experienceof changingthe
body's demeanor,appearance,or physical shape, we examine how born males do
these forms of bodyworkin theirquest to assume womanhood.
Contemporarytheory and research on embodying gender echo Beauvoir's
(1961) classic notionthatthe body is a situation.Beauvoir'sposition is thatsubjectivity is always embodied, the body is always partof one's lived experience, and
personal experience is shaped not only by biographical,historical, cultural,and
interactionalcontexts but also by how one uses his or her freedom or agency.
Writing before the invention of the sex/gender distinction, Beauvoir critiqued
both biological determinismand the scientisticview of the body as detachedfrom
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
319
subjectivity.Moi (1999) arguedthatBeauvoir'sview of genderas embodiedavoids
problems that arise from conceptualizinggender as distinct from sex as well as
postmodernistattemptsto collapse the sex/genderdistinction.
Psychiatrist Robert Stoller (1968, 9) invented the sex/gender distinction to
understandpatientswho desiredto transformtheirbodily signs of gender:He concludedthatsex was "biological"andgenderwas "psychologicalor cultural."Gayle
Rubin (1975) brought the distinction into feminist discourse in her critique of
women's oppressionand biological determinism.Sociologists often maintainthe
idea thatsex is a biological objectdistinctfrom subjectivityandculturein key theoretical treatises on gender-whether viewing gender as an institution (Lorber
1994), a structure(Risman 1998), or a situated activity (West and Zimmerman
1987)-and continue to wield the distinction against biological determinists
(Kennelly,Merz, and Lorber2001; Risman 2001).
In contrastto these "distinctionists,"manypostmodernfeminists (most notably
Butler1990) arguethatthe conceptof genderoverwritessex. Postmodernistsclaim
thattransgenderedpeople areproofthatsex is malleable,which supportstheirmore
generalargumentthatbiological sex is a sociopoliticalconstruction.And if " 'sex'
is as culturallyconstructedas gender,"Butler(1990, 7) argued,then"perhapsit was
always alreadygender,with the consequencethatthe distinctionbetween sex and
genderturnsout to be no distinctionat all."Drawingon the poststructuralistconcept of the "materialityof the signifier,"Butler(1993) arguedthatthe body is materialbecauselanguage,which constitutesthe body,is material.Butlerthuscollapsed
the sex/gender distinction by claiming that bodies themselves are cultural byproducts.AlthoughButlerusefully linkedhomophobicandsexist discourseto gender,viewed genderas a performanceratherthanas a staticcharacteristic,and suggested how discoursestructuresthe definitionof sex, she failedto acknowledgethat
bodies arealso physical. As Moi (1999, 74) pointedout, Butlerconceived of "gender as a categorythat does not include the body."
Beauvoir's (1961) perspective on the body counters distinctionists' objectification of the body and postmodernists'denial of biological facts, both of which
tend to disembody gender. In contrastto distinctionistassumptionsthat suggest
the body is separatefrom subjectivity,Beauvoirunderstandssubjectivityas always
embodied. This contradiction leads Moi (1999, 72) to suggest that within
Beauvoir'sframework,"thesex/genderdistinctionsimply does not apply."In contrastto postmodernists,Beauvoir understandsthat bodies are physically material
and enable and limit one's behavior and experience. Our analysis of the process
throughwhich some male-to-femaletranssexualsembodywomanhoodshows how
the body and subjectivityinteractand how biological facts cannotsimply be overwrittenby culturaldiscourse. We thus provide some supportfor Moi's argument
that an embodying gender perspective-grounded in Beauvoir's view of the
body-is a useful alternativeto distinctionistand postmodernistframeworks.
Ouranalysishas threeintertwinedobjectives.First,we provideadditionalsupportfor a perspectivethatembodies genderby showing how transsexuals'subjectivity is linked to their bodywork. In addition,whereas related empirical studies
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GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
focus on how people assumedto be women accomplishgenderedbodily transformation (Davis 1995; Gagn6 and McGaughey 2002), decoration (Dellinger and
Williams 1997), or demeanor(McCaughey1998), we show how bornmales work
on all threetypes of bodyworkwith the aim of assumingwomanhood.Second, we
build on Rubin's (2003) researchon transsexualembodimentby examining how
bodyworkshapesnot only authenticitybut also self-monitoring,role-taking,practical consciousness, andotheremotions such as pride,shame,confidence,andfear.
And third,we explorehow ouranalysisand,moregenerally,anembodiedapproach
to gender contributesto feminist debateconcerningthe sex/genderdistinction.In
conclusion, we considerhow viewing gender as embodied may shape how transsexuals define themselves and how they relateto the medical community.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Data derive from in-depth interviews with nine white, middle-class, male-tofemale transsexualswho were between 31 and 47 years of age. The senior author
met interviewees while doing fieldwork at a supportgroup for transsexualsand
cross-dressersas partof a largerstudy(see Schrock,Holden,andReid 2004). Interviewees, who identified themselves as transsexualsat the beginning of support
group meetings and interviews, usually said that transsexualitymeant that they
were "bornin the wrongbody"andthatit was a liminalstage on the pathto womanhood. Interviewees'paths were emotionally rocky and demandingof bodywork.
All saidthey desiredgenitalreconstruction;six had startedhormonetherapy;seven
had begun electrolysis; seven had systematicallyworkedon alteringtheir voices;
eight had laboredto feminize theirdeportment,clothing,andmakeup;andtwo had
begun living full-time as women.
The senior author-who held no institutionalauthorityover interviewees (cf
Garfinkel 1967)-conducted the two-to-three-hour-longinterviews in his or the
interviewees' homes. He asked guiding and clarifying questions (Lofland and
Lofland 1984) about"comingto terms,"how they carriedout andexperiencedtheir
bodily transformation,and coming out to others.
Intervieweesfrequentlysaid they had been depressedand sometimes suicidal
before adoptingand acceptingthe transsexualidentity,harassedwhen presenting
themselves publicly as women, shunned by some friends and family members,
shamed or ignored by unsympathetictherapists,and sometimes excluded from
women's groups. As their transformationprogressed and their bodies came to
affirmtheir self-definitions,intervieweesharvestedemotional rewards,although
transembodimentwas not a panacea.
Interviewswere recorded,transcribed,and analyzedinductively.We first read
the transcriptsand wrote summariesof each interview,which led us to focus on
transsexuals'bodywork.We then used a qualitativeanalysis program,Atlis ti, to
code and sortthe interviewdatainto 56 topicalfiles titled,for example,electrolysis
or voice alteration.By comparing and contrastingthe sorted data, three basic
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
321
practices of embodying gender emerged:retraining,redecorating,and remaking
the body. After writing a draftof the analysis, it became clear that interviewees
were changing not only their bodies but also their subjectivities.Exploring the
implications of this insight helped us situate the analysis within research on
embodying gender and transsexualsas well as the sex/genderdebate.
FINDINGS
Intervieweeshad to overcome many materialobstacles as they workedon their
bodies. If theirphysicalbodies or comportmentbetrayedthemwhen theypresented
themselvesas women, they riskedembarrassment,fear,and assault.Researchsuggests thattrans-embodimentis more work intensivefor male-to-femaletranssexuals thanit is for female-to-maletranssexuals(Rubin2003)-largely because gender normssurroundingappearance,demeanor,andthe body aremore stringentfor
women. Below, we analyzehow intervieweesretrained,redecorated,andreshaped
their bodies and how this project shaped their subjectivities in expected and
unexpectedways.
Retrainingthe Body
A key partof interviewees'projectsinvolvedretrainingtheirbodies. Because all
but one said thatthey had not been effeminateboys or men, they had to overcome
habitsof moving and speakinglike men, which simultaneouslyreconditionedtheir
subjectivities.In contrastto the female-to-maletranssexualswhom Rubin (2003)
interviewed(who hadmasculinedemeanorsto startwith), most of ourinterviewees
created detailed curriculaand spent much time practicing and monitoringtheir
bodily movementsand speech. Transsexuals'retrainingof the body was linked to
changes in role-taking, self-monitoring,practicalconsciousness, and emotions,
suggestinglimits of the distinctionistassumptionthatthe body is not an object separatefrom subjectivity.Intervieweesworked diligently to condition the physical
body to move andspeakdifferently,which suggeststhatthe postmodernistassumption thatbodies are mainly constitutedthroughdiscourseis also limited.
Learninghow to change theirdemeanorshapedinterviewees'role-taking.Like
Garfinkel's(1967, 146) Agnes, ourintervieweesactedas "secretapprentices"who
created a curriculumthat would help them transform.By studying women they
knew-lovers, coworkers, and friends-interviewees learned how to not only
retraintheirdemeanorand voice (somethingthatAgnes apparentlydid not have to
work on) but also takewomen's perspectives.Because intervieweeswere raisedas
boys andtriedto conformto hegemonicmasculinity,takingwomen's perspectives,
even in limited ways, subvertedmen's usual cognitive habit of seeing women as
mere objects. For example, Kris,2 a Vietnam veteran who occasionally crossdressedin front of two formerwives, said,
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GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
Withthe threewives I had, I studiedthem.I meanI studiedthem.It wasn'tjust obser-
vation.I watchedhowtheydidthings.Howtheyhelda cigarette,howtheysat,how
theywalked,howtheygestured... pickingupa fork,thewaya womandrivesa car.
Mendon'trealizeit,buteverything
is so different.
... A womanholdsa cigaretteout
towardtheendof herfingers,anda maleholdsa cigarettedownhere[neartheknuckles]..... Whena womandrivesa car,bothhandsarenotonthesides;they'reatthetop
[and]thethumbsarealwaysabovethesteeringwheel.... If youstartlistening,when
[women]end a sentence,theygo up. Thevoice inflectionwill alwaysgo up. And
whenyoudo that,it softensyourvoice.
Similarto young girls tryingto learnhow to be women, intervieweesalso analyzed
media representationsfor clues on how to embody womanhood.Karen,who kept
her transsexualitysecretfromherwife andteenagedaughter,clandestinelylearned
aboutfeminine demeanorwhile watchingtelevision with her family:"Iwatcha lot
of women on TV. Women touch more. They are more intimatewith each other.
They are not afraidof showing emotion. They smile more. They are not afraidto
expressvulnerability.... Basically,learninghow to sit, gestures,the tilt of the head,
smile, touchingyou. Those areall mostly female things I've pickedup throughthe
process of watchingTV."
Overall,whetheranalyzingrealor fictionalwomen, intervieweesused cognitive
role-takingto breakdown the task of embodying womanhoodinto small units of
behavior,such as how to pick up a fork, display emotion, or speakthe languageof
subordinatedpeople. Some addedthatretrainingtheirbodies helped them venture
beyond cognitive role-takinginto empathicrole-taking.Kris said that observing
her wife's demeanorled her to imagine what embodying womanhood felt like,
which facilitatedletting go of some masculineelements of her personality."[My
thirdex-wife] was an ultrafemininewoman:actions,speech,behavior.I enviedher.
I wouldjust sit and watch her and watch her.And it was almost like I could physically feel myself growinginto her.Thatwas the feeling. It was like all of a sudden,I
was her. I startedto lose more and more control over the masculine partof me."
Envisioningoneself encased in a woman's body enabled Kris to transcendmaleness, an escape thatevoked a sense of comfortandjoy. Such empathicrole-taking
subvertedthe usual workingof masculinistselves, which are conditionedto avoid
feeling what women feel (Schwalbe 1992).
Although researchershave noted that male-to-femaletranssexualsoften diligently practicechangingtheir"bodymovementandvoice" with the aim of passing
(Bolin 1988, 134), it is less clearhow this workshapessubjectivity.Similarto newcomers in women's self-defense classes (McCaughey1998), our intervieweessaid
thatthe initialretrainingof theirbodies intensifiedself-monitoringand feelings of
inauthenticity.As Shelly, who as a manhad sufferedstress-relatedseizures,put it,
"I was raisedin a man's world, so I'm tryingto relearnthe way I was supposedto
be. ... Like, walkinglike a lady or gettingout of a carlike a woman,thingslike that.
Now I have to consciously think aboutit; it's not just somethingthat comes automatically."Similarly,Kris said, in tryingto change her voice, "I had to just really
concentrateand say to myself, 'I have to always rememberto always make my
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
323
voice go up.' " The increasedself-monitoringand policing ironically made enacting theirself-definitionsfeel inauthentic,at least initially.Developing "avoice you
can live with,"as one intervieweeput it, also taxed authenticity-especially when
using her femininevoice aroundpeople who had, untilrecently,thoughtof her as a
man. As Taylor,who had come out only a few months earlier,explained, "Itjust
feels so false to changemy voice aroundpeople who knew me in a differentway."
Like with women in self-defense classes (McCaughey 1998, 290), repetitive
practiceof interviewees'feminized bodily movements and voices installed them
into "bodily memory."As interviewees practicedat home, in the car, at support
groupmeetings, and at public outings, theirnewly adoptedvoices andbody movementsbecame a taken-for-grantedaspectof theirpracticalconsciousness. Kris,for
example, said that intensive practicemade holding her car's steering wheel with
handsat the top andthumbsup "feel natural"andthatalthoughshe had previously
needed to "reallyconcentrateand say to myself, 'I have to always rememberto
make my voice go up,' now it's just natural."Jenny,who hadjust come out to her
dissertationchair,said thatbesides her voice, which she was still workingon, gesturing in a feminine manner"to a great extent now comes naturally."As bodily
memorykicked in, what felt authenticchangedto matchwhat was culturallyprescribed for the bodies they chose to create. "Feeling the part" is how Karen
describedit.
Before interviewees began systematic retraining,they had adopted the label
"woman"as their core self-definition.Hoping to maximize the chances that this
self-definitionwould be affirmedin their everydaylives, interviewees workedto
reconditiontheirbody movementsand vocalizations-which alteredsubjectivity.
Creating a curriculumof behavior modification helped feminize interviewees'
role-taking.Althoughtheirinitialpracticingof gendereddemeanorincreasedselfmonitoringandfeelings of inauthenticity,consistentpracticeenabledinterviewees
to installfeminizedbody movementsandspeakingpatternsinto theirpracticalconsciousness, which fosteredfeelings of authenticity.Transsexuals'retrainingof the
body thus suggests thatthe subjectivityand the body are not easily separatedand
that the body is physically materialand conditioned,which problematizessome
key distinctionistandpostmodernistassumptionsand offers additionalsupportfor
viewing gender as embodied.
Redecorating the Body
If interviewees had successfully retrainedtheir bodies but continued to ornament themselves in a typically masculine fashion, audiences would have likely
definedthemas femininemen or gay-especially if they did not changetheirmaterialbodies. Clothingand makeupnot only help transsexualspass as women (Bolin
1988;HellerFeinbloom 1976; Kando1973) butalso shapehow they embodywomanhood.In contrastto distinctionistassumptionsthatthe body and subjectivityare
separate,our analysis shows how subjectiveexperience is shapedthroughbodily
decoration.In contrastto postmodernistassumptions,our findings illustratenot
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GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
only that decorationis a kind of culturaltext but that decorationalso accommodates, reshapes,and retrainsthe materialbody. Overall,our analysis of interviewees' redecorationsupports theory (Bartky 1990; Beauvoir 1961) and research
(DellingerandWilliams 1997) on embodyinggenderthatpointsout thatdecorative
work shapes women's subjectivitiesin contradictoryways.
Intervieweesindicatedthat feminine decorationdisciplinedthe body and subjective experience.Joyce said thatshe often hadto makea "consciouseffort"to not
"sit with [her] legs spread"but thatwearinglong skirts"reinforcesit a lot more."
Shelly said thatwalking like a woman was easier when she wore women's shoes.
Intervieweesalso learnedthat feminine decorationcould be accidentallybotched
by navigatingthe body in a masculinefashion, which intensifiedthe need to monitor body movements.For example, Kris said she discoveredthatthe reason many
women hold cigarettesnearthe tips of theirfingers "is thatyou don't smudgeyour
lipstick."
Intervieweesthussuggestedthatwearingwomen's clothingandmakeupshaped
their bodies into feminine conformity,which over time, helped feminine gestures
feel authentic.Clothingis morethana genderedtext;it helps transformthe physical
body into a genderedvessel. In furthercontrastto the postmodernistassumption
that the body is a culturalartifact,interviewees said their corporealbodies often
shapedhow they could or needed to decoratethemselves as women. Many interviewees said their foot size and height were impedimentsto finding fashionably
feminine accoutrements.In addition, interviewees viewed makeup as required
becauseof biology. Joyce, a Navy veteran,said, "There'sno way of going out without [makeup].A man trying to pass as a woman cannot, mostly because of the
beard,but also because skin color and textureare different.Makeupsoftens that."
The combinationof thick thighs and masculine genitals createdanotherproblem
for Joyce, who hadbeen a semiprofessionalbicyclist:"IfI'm going to avoidhaving
a bulge in the frontof my skirt,there'sonly one place to putit, andfor me thatspace
is alreadytaken-just with the leg muscles."Herinitialstrategywas to wearloosefitting pleated skirts.Joyce lateradopted"thetuck":She guided her testicles into
her abdominalcavitythroughthe holes fromwhich they originallyemerged,which
opened up some space between her thighs for her penis. Joyce wore tight-fitting
underpantsto keep this arrangementin place, which widened her fashion options.
Thus, while biological facts sometimes restrictedinterviewees'gendereddecoration, genderedattiresometimesmoldedthe physicalbody to bettermatchgendered
culturalmeanings.
Learning to redecoratetheir bodies to signify womanhood led interviewees
down an emotionally ambiguouspath that evoked shame and pride, authenticity
and inauthenticity,empowermentand disempowerment,and confidence and fear.
They often made mistakes,which provokedshame or embarrassmentabouttheir
appearance,especially when going out in public.
Joyce, who was morethansix feet tall andhadbeen experimentingwith makeup
for only a few months,said, "I'vemade some terriblemesses.... WhenI firstwent
out with makeup, I looked like a drag queen!" As Marzie, who learned about
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
325
crossing culturesin the Peace Corps,put it, "Mostof us end up wearingsomething
reallyhideouslyinappropriate.I have a pinkribbon,butI hadto have it, andI've got
a miniskirt,althoughI don't wearit in public."Defining such mistakesas partof an
adolescent-likephase of transition,or as "thesame ones thatlittle girls make when
they firststartplayingin mommy'smakeup,"as Erinputit, helpedmitigatefeelings
of shame.
Educationand practicewere also useful in mitigatingshame, and when done
collectively with other transsexuals,they also provided bonding opportunities.
Intervieweessaid they educatedthemselves by readingand sharingbooks such as
Blue EyeshadowShouldBe Illegal, invitingmakeupprofessionalsto supportgroup
meetingsfor discussionanddemonstration,participatingin MaryKay makeupparties for transwomen, systematicallyobservingwhatreal andfictionalwomen wear
in differentsocial situations,talkingwith supportivenontranswomen, exchanging
decorative information and techniques on transgendere-mail lists, asking for
advice at departmentstorecosmetic counters,discussing clothing and appearance
duringsupportgroup meetings, and in Joyce's case, having a consultationwith a
New York "transformationexpert" who specialized in refashioning men into
women. Similarto women who talkaboutmakeupat work(DellingerandWilliams
1997), these educationalexperiences provided opportunitiesfor interviewees to
bond with otherwomen.
Decorativeeducationwas both empoweringand disempoweringfor interviewees. On one hand,it providedpracticalknowledgethatenabledthemto pass, which
is to say thatit protectedthem from public harassmentand violence. For example,
Sue spent $250 on makeupat her first Mary Kay partyand said it was "one of the
reasons that I was able to get out and pass so soon." On the other hand, their
redecorativeeducation positioned them as submissive to profit-seekingcultural
"experts."Much of this expertknowledge was detailedand demanding,as Karen,
who preferredCaroleJackson'scolor analysis system, explained:"CaroleJackson
has coined the four seasons-winter, spring,summer,andfall-to coordinatewith
people's skin tones, eyes, hair... makeup,andclothing. My colors arebold bright
colors as comparedto Erin[who is] a mutedcolor.... So once I identifiedthe clothing I was supposedto wear-so I don't look washed out-and the right tints and
shades of eye color and [foundation],it really helped."Following decorativesystems requiredKarenandothersto workon decoratingtheirbodies in a mechanical,
"paintby numbers"approachratherthan a more creative,"workingwith a blank
canvas"approach.Such knowledge was experiencedas empoweringto interviewees, even though it limited their creativeexpression and conditionedthem to feel
good about supportingthe profiteersand promotersof genderdifferentiation.
Makeupapplicationevoked both authenticityand inauthenticityin many interviewees. Shelly echoed other transsexuals when she said, "Applying makeup
sometimesfeels like I am puttingon some kind of mask.But what it amountsto is,
you know,the kindsof thingsthathavegone on subliminallyfor grownwomen. But
I haven't had the chance to practice."As Shelly's words suggest, althoughinterviewees' bodywork was designed to maximize authenticity,decoratingthe body
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GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
could sometimesfeel more like impersonationthanembodyingwomanhood.Continualpractice,however,led most intervieweesto feel authenticaboutthe practice.
Forexample,Joyce said thatapplyingmakeupevery evening before she logged on
to chat with other transsexuals,"even though nobody saw me, except the cats,"
eventually made face painting feel "natural."Similar to our analysis of bodily
retraining,the mundanerepetitionof suchdecorativeworkled most intervieweesto
feel authenticwhen making themselves into ornamentalobjects, which is to say
that it became part of their practicalconsciousness. Fashioning the body as an
object cannotbe separatedfrom subjectiveexperience.
Wearingwomen's clothing did not evoke as much ambivalenceas makeupfor
most interviewees,perhapsbecause, as Marzie, a Ph.D. studentin the social sciences, putit, "clothingis the most significantmarkerof gender."WhenShelly wore
women's clothes, she felt "freerto be me,""moreconfident,""morespontaneous,"
and "likemy innerstrengthis coming out."Erinfelt "comfortin termsof fulfilling
my innersense of identity,of expressingon some level who I really am."Joyce felt
less angry and less like a "misfit."Jenny lost her "nervoushabits"when dressing
like a woman:"I'mmuchmorealigned.Actually,I like myself; which is something
that I never thought would be true. For 30 years, I tried to train myself to like
myself; all of a sudden,I look in the mirrorand go 'Yeah!'" Borrowingfrom culturalnotions thatpregnantwomen glow, Karensaid thatredecoratingherself triggered a "glow stage":"Ata point in this transitionperiod ... maybe eitherlooking
good in the mirroror it maybe after2 hoursor it maybe a 10-hourprocessof getting
to a positive high. At this point, it's what's called the glow stage, andthis is my terminology. When I startto glow, it's a continuoustime until... I have to transition
back. [Question:When you get to the glow stage, does it meanthatyou feel totally
good about yourself?] Totally female."In short, the more intervieweespracticed
and became competentdecoratingthemselves as women, the morethey felt confident, free, and "totally female." Like nontrans adolescent girls (Bartky 1990;
Beauvoir 1961), most interviewees thus subjectively conditioned themselves to
enjoy decoratingthemselves as ornaments.
Threeintervieweeswho definedthemselvesas feminists,however,hadreservations aboutmakeupandtraditionallygenderedclothing.Forexample,Marziesaid,
"I've always identifiedwith women coming from a feminist perspective.And so
I've alwayskind of rejectedthingsthatoppresswomen;you know,the way women
aretraditionallytreatedin society. A lot of this clothingandmakeuparethingsthat
I've always thought were ridiculous. ... I think [clothing and makeup]become
harmfulwhen they are something that you are forced to do or you have to do in
orderto be accepted,to fit into what society expects of you."The pressureto conform to the genderbinary,however,sometimes led feminist transsexualsto question or compromise their politics. After delivering the above critique, Marzie
added,"I'mhoping thatI don't have to do that.But I'm not certain,you know.I'm
wonderingif I do have to startwearinga lot of makeupanddressingin more traditionallyfeminineways andtryto get people to thinkof me as female."The desireto
be affirmedas women and "conformitypressures"(Gagn6and Tewksbury1998)
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
327
thus motivated some feminists to question their political values, which further
strainedfeelings of authenticity(see Erickson 1995).
Transsexuals'stories suggest thatdecorativepracticesnot only aid transsexuals
in passing (Bolin 1988; Heller Feinbloom 1976; Kando 1973) but also shape how
gender is subjectively experienced. Interviewees' bodily redecorationinvolved
much more study and experimentationthan what female-to-male transsexuals
report(Rubin2003), reflectingthe fact thatwomen do morethantheirfair shareof
bodyworkaimedat symbolizinggenderdifference.In supportof otherresearchon
embodying gender (Dellinger and Williams 1997), interviewees' accounts illustratehow redecoratingthe body can evoke contradictoryfeelings: authenticityand
inauthenticity,empowermentand disempowerment,pride and shame, confidence
and fear. In contrastto distinctionistassumptions,our analysis thus suggests that
the body is not an object distinctfrom subjectivity.Furthermore,in contrastto the
postmodernistassumptionthatbiology is a culturalartifact,our analysis suggests
thatthe culturalrenderingof the genderedbody via decorationmustaccommodate,
reshape,and retrainthe materialbody.
Remaking the Body
As interviewees made progressretrainingand redecoratingtheir bodies, their
corporealbodies continuedto projectdiscrepantsigns of gender.They could not
just use discourse to overwritetheir physical bodies; they needed to remaketheir
physical bodies to fit culturaldiscourse (cf Butler 1990, 1993). Calling into question distinctionistassumptions,interviewees' remakingof their physical bodies
was intimately tied to their self-perception as objects, feelings of authenticity,
acceptanceof pain for bodily conformity,and for some, stereotypicalemotional
orientations.Transsexualsbeganalteringtheirbodies by firstfocusing on relatively
minor changes that did not foreclose manhood and then proceeded to more
permanentlychange theirphysiques.
Interviewees'accountsof bodily transformationimplied a change in takingthe
perspectiveof a generalized other (Mead 1934). More specifically, interviewees
were similar to women who undergo cosmetic surgery(Gagndand McGaughey
2002, 834) in thatthe cognitive process of bodily evaluationwas filteredthrough
"thehegemonic male gaze."Taylor,who as a man had enjoyed weight lifting, was
currently"letting[her]armsatrophy."Shelly said, "I'mtryingto save up money for
the HairClubfor Men becauseI have a recedinghairline."AlthoughKarensaid she
prettymuch "fitthe mold of the averagewoman,"she thoughtshe needed to "lose
about 15 to 20 pounds."Like many women, they became the objects of their own
objectification(Beauvoir 1961).
Another subjective consequence of transformingthe materialbody involved
conditioning themselves to accept the pain and financial cost of feminizing the
body. Electrolysis provides an example. The "worstpart"aboutelectrolysis, said
Marzie, "is that it's so expensive. But the pain is almost as bad."Taylor,echoing
others, said, "my skin reacts very badly; I get swelling and breakingout."Marzie
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GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
and a few other interviewees went to an electrolysist who charged $50 an hour, and
they could expect to endure about 200 hours' treatment (Bolin 1988). The interviewees could not ignore the existence of biological facts, and changing their corporeal selves was clearly intertwined with subjectivity.
As interviewees approached their real-life test-the period in which they had to
live full-time as women for at least a year before they could have sex-reassignment
surgery-they began taking synthetic hormones. Hormone therapy was emotionally intense for interviewees in part because it made impotent culturally defined
embodiments of manhood while instigating the development of corporeal signs of
womanhood. As Erin, who was planning to begin taking hormones soon after the
interview, put it,
Startingthe hormones ... of course has the physical side effects, which are kind of
trivial comparedto what it does to you emotionally. [Question:What does it do?]
There's two aspects to the emotional impact.Partof it is just the knowledge of what
you are doing to yourself. The knowledge thatif you do this long enough thatyou're
going to become sterile, probablypermanently;you're going to become impotent;
you're going to lose interest in sex; knowing before you grow breaststhat you are
going to growbreasts;knowingbeforeyourhips andthighsfill out thatthey aregoing
to; and then dealing with all of those things emotionally as they happen.
Similar to female-to-male transsexuals (Rubin 2003), interviewees' transformation
of secondary sex characteristics increased feelings of authenticity. As Kris put it,
"One morning I was standing [in front of the mirror] and I turned sideways and I
went, 'Damn, there's a little something there [i.e., breast development].' [Q: How
did that make you feel?] I was in the best mood. I was like, 'I don't believe this; look
at this!' I can see the woman. She's there. It's not pretend. It's not padded bras and
tons of padding and taping and everything else. Now it's real." Interviewees did not
want breast implants or padded bras; they wanted the most natural-like development possible, given the state of medical technology. Growing breasts brought
forth unprecedented feelings of authenticity as women. Although interviewees
believed they had always been women on the inside, changes to the physical body
shaped how they experienced womanhood. As Beauvoir (1961) pointed out,
womanhood is an ever-changing becoming.
A few interviewees believed that hormones changed their emotions and interests
in stereotypical ways. Marzie said, after she began taking hormone pills,
I felt a lot more emotional, a lot more in touch with my feelings. And I was able to
express my feelings a lot better.... It seems like I get more depressed,more easily,
more often than I did before. . . . My interestshave changed a lot. It used to be that
when I go into a bookstore,I'd go to the science and computersection or whatever,
and-in the last couple years I've been getting a lot more into nature,like growing
plants and things-and so no matterwhen I go to the book store,first I go and check
out the gardeningbooks .... I'm definitely very much more into relationships.You
know, I mean connecting with people and being in nature, and not at all into
technology.
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
329
As some interviewees'bodies began growing into culturaldefinitions of womanhood, theirsubjectiveembodimentof those definitionsthus also intensified.It was
as if the changesin theirphysicalbodies gave thempermissionandopportunitiesto
furtherfeminize their subjectivities.
As transsexualsrid themselves of facial hair and developed breasts, the most
culturallycherishedsign of manhood-the penis-became a source of increased
inauthenticity.As Jenny said, hormones "makeyour testicles shrink.You hardly
get an erectionanymore.If you do cum, nothingcomes out."Havinglost its virility,
the penis became merely an uncomfortablereminderof their gender-discrepant
bodies. Krissummedit up by saying, "Everythingfromthe waist down, that'sgot to
go."Erinsaid, "Somepeople, includingmyself, have a greatloathingfor theirgenitals. I find my genitals repulsive.... I will be glad when they are gone; an eagerly
anticipateddeparture."Althoughintervieweesbelieved thatremakingtheirgenitalia would mitigateinauthenticity,they did not believe thatsurgeryitself was the key
to womanhood.Jennyexpressedthis view bluntly:"If you're not a woman before
you go to Montreal[for surgery],you won't be one afterthey hack it off andturnit
inside out."
As dieting,electrolysis, andhormonesalteredinterviewees'bodies and surgery
promisedto change the genital fabricof the self, threadsof subjectivitywere also
woven to embody womanhood.As we have shown,basic body modificationswere
intertwinedwith a shift in takingthe perspectiveof the generalizedother,developing breasts increased feelings of authenticity,and the penis became a source of
increasedinauthenticity.Interviewees'accountsthusoppose distinctionistassumptions and supportresearchon cosmetic surgery(GagndandMcGaughey2002) that
indicates that the body and subjectivity are intertwined.Our analysis thus also
countersthe tendencyof researchon transsexuals'body modificationto downplay
subjectiveexperience(Billings andUrban 1982; Hausman1995; Raymond 1979).
Furthermore,in contrastto Butler(1990, 1993), transsexuals'changingof biological facts suggests thatbiological facts cannotbe reducedto language.
DISCUSSION
Interviewees'trans-embodimentof womanhood was an arduousprocess that
involvednot only retraining,redecorating,andremakingthe physicalbody butalso
reconditioning subjectivity. As trans women investigated how to retrain their
demeanor and voices, they practiced taking women's perspectives, both cognitivelyandempathically,which subvertedthe usualworkingsof masculineselves.
Learningto gesture and talk differentlyand to apply makeupinitially led to selfmonitoringand inauthenticity.But their repetitionof the bodywork instilled the
practicesinto theirpracticalconsciousness, which fosteredauthenticity.For many
interviewees,redecoratingthe body evoked manyconflictingemotions:empowerment and dependency, pride and shame, and confidence and fear. In addition,
remakingthe physicalbody evokedin intervieweesfeelings of authenticityandjoy,
330
GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
conditionedthem to reluctantlyaccept the emotional and financial costs of body
conformity,shapedhow they took the role of the generalizedother,andled some to
adopt stereotypicalemotionalorientations.
Ourresearchoffers supportfor viewing genderas embodied,whichhas implications for debate over the sex/gender distinction.Interviewees'self-definitions as
women with male bodies suggest on the surfacethatsex andgenderaredistinct,as
Stoller (1968) argued.But this rhetoricof selfhood should not be equated with
proof of the sex/genderdistinction.Transsexuals'distresswith andalienationfrom
the bodies they were born into-which motivatedthem to risk their relationships
and often their economic and physical securityto embody womanhood-suggest
thatthe body is not clearly separatefrom subjectivity.Ourfindings call into question the distinctionistcompartmentalization
of subjectivityand the body by showing how transsexuals'bodyworkis linked to role-taking,self-monitoring,feelings
of authenticityand pride, and practicalconsciousness. Our data thus offer some
supportfor Moi's (1999) claim that the distinctionistframeworkis limited in its
ability to shed light on embodiedexperience.
Because our analysis shows how people can transformsome biological indicators of sex, it has affinitywith the postmodernistposition that sex is socially constructed (Butler 1990, 7). But our data indicate that theories of gender should
include the materialand experiencingbody. For example, our findings show that
transsexualsused the body as a resource for constructingthe gender category of
woman. Similarly,ourdatacall into questionButler's(1990) statementthatbodies
can be reducedto culturaldiscourse.We found that transsexuals'materialbodies
enable andlimit how they can be culturallyperceived.Ouranalysisalso shows that
transsexuals'bodywork is tied to cognition and feelings. Thus, while our findings supportthe postmodernistclaim that sex is socially constructedand that the
sex/gender distinction has shortcomings, gender should not be considered as
disembodied.
Our articleprovides additionalsupportfor a perspectivethatembodies gender
by makingan empiricalcontributionto researchon how gender,the body, and subjectivity interact.More specifically, our data corroboratestudies that show how
women's demeanor (McCaughey 1998), bodily transformation(Davis 1995;
Gagn6 and McGaughey 2002), and decoration (Dellinger and Williams 1997)
shape role-taking,emotions, and practicalconsciousness. Whereasthe aforementioned studies focus on one or anotherform of bodywork,we examined all three
and showed how they were sometimesintertwined.Ouranalysisalso suggests that
bodyworknot only helps one be a certainkind of womanbutenablesone to inhabit
andexperiencethe categoryof woman-even if transwomen's life experienceis in
manyways differentfromthatof nontranssexualwomen. Overall,ouranalysissupports an embodied approachto gender, which understandsthe body as socially
constructed,subjectivelyexperienced,and physically material.
How might viewing gender as embodied reshapesociological theories of gender?As Martin(2004) noted, incorporatingan embodiedperspectiveinto theories
that define gender as an institution (Lorber 1994; Martin 2004) or structure
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
331
(Risman 1998) drawsattentionnot only to how genderedbodies inhabitthe social
world but also to how the social institutionof gender inhabitsbodies and shapes
subjectivities.Recognizinggenderedinstitutionsas embodiedalso helps shed light
on how embodimentmaintainsor resistsinequality(DellingerandWilliams 1997).
In addition, combining an approachthat views gender as embodied with ethnomethodologicalor interactionistresearchdeepensourunderstandingof how doing
or constructinggenderlinks thebody,culture,andsubjectivity(McCaughey1998).
Viewing the body as a situation may also help ethnomethodological(West and
Fenstermaker1995) andinteractionistefforts (Schwalbeet al. 2000) to understand
how multipleformsof inequalityarereproducedandchallenged.The body is, after
all, a place where variousoppressionsmeet.3
What implications does our study have for transsexualscholarship?Whereas
previousresearchsuggeststhatthe body is used in doing gender(Bolin 1988;Ekins
1997; Garfinkel1967; KesslerandMcKenna1978), used in displayinggenderand
passing (Heller Feinbloom 1976; Kando 1973), or subjectedto medical interventions (Billings andUrban 1982; Hausman1995), we show how retraining,redecorating, and remaking the body interactwith subjectivity.Interviewees revealed
themselvesto be agentsactingwithinsocial constraintswho hadrichandoften contradictoryemotionallives. In addition,whereasmuchtranssexualresearchemphasizes self-definition and neglects the body (Gagndand Tewksbury1999; Gagnd,
Tewksbury,andMcGaughey1997; Mason-Schrock1996; Risman 1982), our data
support Rubin's (2003) findings that transsexuals'transformationof the body
is crucial to validating self-definitions and fostering authenticity.We build on
Rubin'sresearchby showing how retraining,redecorating,andremakingthe body
also shape habits of cognition, feeling, and practicalconsciousness.
How might viewing genderas embodied-which we have suggested is incompatiblewith key assumptionsof the sex/genderdistinction-shape how transsexuals define themselves? Rubin (2003, 19) arguedthat transcendingthe distinction
"would leave no room for individualswho experience an existentialrift between
gender (identityand role) and their sex (bodies)."It is truethat transsexualsoften
adoptdistinctionistrhetoricto make sense of theirdesire to embody womanhood:
"My gender identity is at odds with my sex."However,it does not follow that the
sex/genderdistinctionis the only discoursethroughwhich claiming a transsexual
identity is possible. Transsexualscould, for example, draw on Beauvoir's (1961)
notion of the body as a situationto asserttranssexuality:"Others'reactionsto my
body areinconsistentwith my sense of who I am andhow I wantto be treated,and
so I will exercise my freedomand choose to embody genderdifferentlyfrom what
others expect." Adopting discourse that embodies gender may also lead transembodiedpeople to developan alternativeto the medicalizedlabel "transsexual."
Partof the reasonthattransembodiedpeople often use a distinctionistdiscourse
to define themselves is because the American PsychiatricAssociation's (1994)
Diagnostic and StatisticalManualof MentalDisorders'definitionof genderidentity disorder(GID) is based on the sex/genderdistinction(Hausman1995). Transsexuals mustpersuadea psychiatristto label them with this mentaldisorderbefore
332
GENDER & SOCIETY / June 2005
endocrinologistsand surgeons will agree to help transformtheir bodies. In addition, the publichealthcare system of Canadaanda handfulof U.S. privateinsurers
thatcover medicalproceduresdesiredby some transsexualsrequirea diagnosis of
GID.
Critics arguethat GID legitimatesthe stigmatizationof transsexuals,which in
turnfostersdiscrimination,harassment,andviolence against,as well as suicideand
otherself-defeatingbehavioramong,transgenderedandgenderqueerpeople.4Critics also point out thathomophobicparentsandpsychiatristsuse GID as a resource
to force gender-variantchildrento undergotherapyin attemptto "straightenthem
out" (Burke 1996).
Often using rhetoricthathas affinity with a discourse that embodies gender,a
plethoraof proqueerorganizationshave urgedthe AmericanPsychiatricAssociation to reform the GID label in a way that protects gender-variantchildren,
depathologizes transsexuals,and encourages insurersto cover medical intervention.5More specifically, advocatesfor reformarguethat GID should be replaced
with an alternativelabel (such as "genderdysphoria")that (1) emphasizes a person's distress with the genderedbody or its expected display and behavior,(2) is
transferredfrom a list of mental disordersto a list of medical conditions, and (3)
makes clear that transsexualsoften benefit from medical intervention.Proqueer
psychiatristsand activists could use a discourse that embodies gender and transcends the sex/gender distinction as a resource to furtherpress for GID reform.
Success, of course,ultimatelydependson negotiationsamongAmericanPsychiatric Association elites who may be reluctantto give up theirauthorityto police and
regulatehow childrenand adultsembody gender.6
Transgenderactivistshave also identifiedthe feministmovement'sdiscourseon
bodily self-determinationas key to trans liberation(Schrock, Holden, and Reid
2004). For example, the InternationalBill of TransgenderRights-created by a
group of trans lawyers and widely distributedthrough the Internet-asserts 10
basic rightsthatits authorssay every humanbeing shouldbe entitledto, including
the rightto freely expressgenderandsexuality,the rightto competentmedicalcare,
andthe rightto controlandchangeone's own body.As feministmovementsagainst
men's interpersonalviolence, warmongering,genital mutilation,and involuntary
servitudeandfor reproductiverights,sexual liberation,andprostitutes'rightssuggest, feministshave long understoodthatsecuringbodily sovereigntyis the basis of
freedom. Outside of academia,many feminists-especially thirdwavers but also
the National Organizationfor Women, for example-recognize the link between
transgenderedpeople's and women's liberationand supporttranssexuals'struggle
to own their own bodies.
Withoutassertingtranssexuals'rightto bodily sovereignty,inside of academia,
feminist sociologists usually emphasizethattranssexuals'bodyworkis a resultof
and helps reproduce overly restrictive gender norms (Gagn6, Tewksbury,and
McGaughey 1997; Heller Feinbloom 1976; Lorber 1994; Mason-Schrock1996;
Risman 1982). Working within the distinctionist framework,culture becomes
moreimportantto critiqueandtargetfor changethanbodily disfranchisement.And
Schrock et al. / TRANSSEXUALS' WOMANHOOD
333
while most transsexualsand nontranssexualsdiscipline theirbodies to conformto
gendered expectations, it does not follow that people should be denied the right to
control their own bodies. A perspective that embodies gender can resonate more
fully with a feminist politics of the body, reminding us that how people police bodies is at least as important as how individuals embody gender. As our study of transsexuals suggests, viewing gender as embodied can us help uncover how bodies and
subjectivitiesare implicatedin the patternsof activity that create, reproduce,and
challenge oppression.
NOTES
1. For Rubin (2003), feelings of authenticityarise when others affirm one's self-definition, and
for Mason-Schrock(1996), authenticityarises throughconstructingnarrativesthat bolster one's selfdefinition.The analysispresentedhere similarlysuggests thatconstructingbodies to confirmto an ideal
self evokes feelings of authenticity.We also draw on other social-psychological knowledge about
authenticity,namely,thatin contemporarysociety,people tendto feel moreauthenticthe less they scrutinize theirbehavior(Turner1976) andpeople feel more authenticwhen theiractionsreflect theirvalues
(Erickson 1995).
2. All names are pseudonyms.
3. We should note thattranscendingthe sex/genderdistinctiondoes not interferewith our abilityto
refutebiological determinism.As Beauvoir(1961) demonstrated,we just need to skillfully andconsistently deny thatbiological factsjustify or cause women's oppression.
4. The term "transgender"is currentlyused to describe not only transsexuals,but also part-time
cross-dressersanddragqueens/kings.People who definethemselvesandtryto live outsideor subvertthe
genderbinaryoften adoptthe term "genderqueer"
5. Groupsthathavecalled forgenderidentitydisorder(GID)reformincludeBiNet USA, the Gayand
LesbianMedical Association, the HumanRights Campaign,the InternationalGay andLesbianHuman
Rights Commission,GenderPAC,GID ReformAdvocates,the NationalCenterfor LesbianRights, the
NationalGay andLesbianTaskForce,the InternationalFoundationfor GenderEducation,the National
Organizationfor Women,the National YouthAdvocacy Coalition,and Parents,Family and Friendsof
Lesbians and Gays.
6. While queeractivistshaveprotestedGID inside andoutsideof the AmericanPsychiatricAssociation annualmeetingsat least since 1993 andhave some allies who aremembersof the AmericanPsychiatricAssociation(Schrock,Holden,andReid 2004), the AmericanPsychiatricAssociationis controlled
by institutionalelites who are often hesitantto declassify mental disorders,perhapsbecause doing so
delegitimatestheirlabelingindustry.Forexample,at the 2003 AmericanPsychiatricAssociation annual
meeting,therewas a special session on GID in which a founderof GID ReformAdvocatespresentedreasons for reformingGID. A prominentpsychiatrist-who headedthe groupthatfirstincludedGID in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (AmericanPsychiatricAssociation 1994)counteredby sayingthata discrepancybetweenone's genderidentityandsex "is a dysfunction,"while a
former AmericanPsychiatricAssociation presidentadded that a transsexual"is not a normal sexual
variant"(Hausman2003, 25).
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Douglas Schrockis an assistantprofessorof sociology at Florida State University.His research
primarilyfocuses on how identityworkand emotionmanagementare implicatedin the reproduction and challengingof inequalities.Recentpublicationsinclude "EmotionalStories:Narrative
Conflict in a Men's Anti-Battering Program" in Postmodern Existential Sociology, and
"Generic Processes in the Reproductionon Inequality: An InteractionistAnalysis," with
Michael Schwalbe,SandraGodwin,DaphneHolden,Shealy Thompson,and Michele Wolkomir,
in Social Forces.
Lori Reid is an assistantprofessorof sociology at Florida State University.Her researchexamines the impact of inequalityon groups, especially with regardto race, gender sexuality,and
child health. She is currentlyworkingon a series of papers that examinegender,sexuality,and
the body. Her recent publications include "EmploymentExits and the Race Gap in Young
Women'sEmployment,"withIrenePadavic,in Social Science Quarterly,and "Creatingthe Conditionsfor EmotionalResonance:InterpersonalEmotionWorkandMotivationalFramingin the
TransgenderCommunity,"
with Doug Schrockand Daphne Holden, in Social Problems.
EmilyM. Boyd is a Ph.D. candidatein the sociology departmentat Florida State University.Her
researchinterests include gender inequality,the sociology of the body, identity,consumption,
andmass media.She is currentlyinvestigatinghowpeople negotiatemeaningfrom mediaimages
of cosmetic surgery.