Transgender History covers American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today. From the transsexual and transvestite communities ...
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reviews
Dec 08, 2008
Sara Jaye
rated it: 
This book is not exactly what I was expecting, which was both a good and a bad thing. I went into it thinking it would be a fairly general overview of trans history in the united states; what it is, is actually a somewhat more idiosyncratic history of trans social justice activism in the united states. on the plus side: i thought such a brief book would cover mostly basic info that was already familiar to me, but instead i got a wealth of fascinating info that isn't really very widely available.
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Mar 19, 2011
Vicky
rated it:
Notes
- didn't mention that "transvestite" is considered derogatory in the terms listed
- seems to spend more time on MTF than FTM
- being transgendered & the digital age: some kind of link, challenging assumptions
- "homosexual" coined by karl maria kertbeny in 1869
- the state regulating bodies; norms and expectations that "determine what kinds of lives are deemed livable or useful and by shutting down the spaces of possibility and imagin More...
- didn't mention that "transvestite" is considered derogatory in the terms listed
- seems to spend more time on MTF than FTM
- being transgendered & the digital age: some kind of link, challenging assumptions
- "homosexual" coined by karl maria kertbeny in 1869
- the state regulating bodies; norms and expectations that "determine what kinds of lives are deemed livable or useful and by shutting down the spaces of possibility and imagin More...
Apr 04, 2011
Jacoby
rated it: 
As someone very new to transgender issues I found this to be a very informative and well written history. It was quite short though, and it focused primarily on MTF (male-to-female) transgender people and less on FTM (female-to-male). Hopefully if there are future editions more FTM history could be expanded upon. I have read other critiques that the book should have referenced in the title that this will mostly be about the US transgender experience. As an introduction and a condensed history, I
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May 19, 2009
Amy
rated it: 
An excellent book if you're looking for an overview of transgender history (obviously), especially as it relates to various other social justice movements, such as feminism and queerness. Although it is functionally a textbook, the author does a good job keeping it interesting by adding biographical materials and excerpts from relevant documents. Because the book is trying to cover more than one hundred years of history on a global scale (although the focus is mainly on U.S. transgenderism), i
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Jan 06, 2011
Travis
rated it:
A better title for the book would be Transgender History in the US, as there's barely any acknowledgement that other countries exist, much less that there might be trans people living there. It's also really short. The last forty pages are notes and such, and the first thirty are defining terms, so only 120 pages are actually devoted to the topic at hand. But for what it is, it's a pretty good read. While focusing primarily on white trans people, it does include PoC fairly often and acknowledges
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Jan 01, 2012
Zigforas
rated it:
First book finished in 2012! (Granted, I started it in September 2011.)
Easy to read--my first historical overview of the trans movement as situated in the context of LGB and queer activism. I also thought it had a nice balance of MTF and FTM perspectives.
I thought the chapter "The Difficult Decades" was excellent and informative. And "Current Wave" caught me up. At least to 2008.
"As significant as participation in queer and LGBT politics h More...
Easy to read--my first historical overview of the trans movement as situated in the context of LGB and queer activism. I also thought it had a nice balance of MTF and FTM perspectives.
I thought the chapter "The Difficult Decades" was excellent and informative. And "Current Wave" caught me up. At least to 2008.
"As significant as participation in queer and LGBT politics h More...
Apr 08, 2010
Genderqueer
rated it:
This is the first (and I still think only) history that focuses entirely on trans people's role in history which makes it awesome. It is a great overview regardless of your level of background. Accessibly written and rather short, this is a great primer for anyone wanting to know a little about how our community has gotten where it is today.
Aug 18, 2010
Mollygf
rated it:
A succinct, well written history of the transgender political movement in the 20th and 21st centuries, although in the brevity I feel like this book didn't always cover the nuances involved in all the topics covered; forgivable, considering the dearth of information available. But it gives a good overview of events, social and political factions, and historical viewpoints critical to understanding where we are today.
Nov 06, 2010
Johanna
rated it:
This book was fascinating. I had little knowledge of the History of Transgender and this book was perfect for a novice like myself. Terms were defined, main events in history were related, and implications were nicely spelled out. Very informative.
Jun 05, 2008
shay
rated it:
this is a decent, if cursory introduction to the trans movement in the US. there were a lot of little facts that i was unaware of, and much that i was appalled by (specifically the shunning of trans folks throughout the feminist and early gay rights movement. and interesting to hear how HRC has worked against trans people from the beginning.
there should have been more discussion towards the end about the conflation of transgender and transsexual and the difference between them, but th More...
there should have been more discussion towards the end about the conflation of transgender and transsexual and the difference between them, but th More...
Feb 28, 2009
AJ
rated it:
This book is a really great, introductory history to transgender issues and activism in the US. As with most of the Seal Studies books, it is probably not meant for people who are looking for a very detailed, nuanced look at transgender history, but it provides a stepping stone for the novice.
Sep 08, 2009
Casey
rated it:
The discussion of race could be a bit more extensive, but I appreciate the cultural context that Stryker provides.
Jan 18, 2010
Ryan
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A pretty great primer for catching up on the last half century or so of trans movements/history.
Feb 17, 2009
Abbey
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very thorough and pretty interesting. learned sooo much about trans history and terminology.
Nov 03, 2011
Sara
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Very good history of not only trans people and movements, but good refresher on the queer history as well and how they intersected. Only complaint would be the organization along a chronological path. Sometimes the topics/issues overlap so much that remembering related things alongside would be helpful.
Nov 05, 2011
Laura
rated it:
A great, brief primer into the history of the trans identity and trans activism. If you're new to the topic, this would be a fantastic start. If you're already pretty familiar with the topic, you might find it to be a bit basic, but there's still good history.
Oct 10, 2008
Jovan
rated it:
Great overview of transgender history. This book takes us before and beyond Stonewall to show a movement that I only guessed at. Easy to grasp and understand and now I have more books to hunt down and info to dig deeper into.
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