Blending genders social aspects of cross-dressing and sex-changing

288 Pages·1996·2.805 MB·English

by  Ekins, Richard;King, Dave

BLENDING GENDERS

Gender blending, or transgenderism, is at the cutting edge of contemporary
debates about sex, sexuality and gender. The term ‘transgender’ includes
transvestites, transsexuals, drag queens, gender benders and all gender
blenders, whether straight or gay, who in their cross-dressing and sex-
changing ‘transgress’ the binary divide between the sexes. Blending Genders
is concerned with those who attempt to blend various aspects of genders,
either in respect of themselves or others. The book describes the personal
experiences of those who cross-dress and sex-change, and details how
they organise themselves socially—in both ‘outsider’ and ‘respectable’
communities. The authors consider the dominant medical framework through
which cross-dressing and sex-changing are predominantly viewed. A
comprehensive treatment is afforded to gender blending in literature, the
press and the recently emerged telephone sex lines. The book concludes
with a discussion of the lively debates that have taken place concerning
the politics of transgenderism in recent years, and examines its prominence
in recent contributions to contemporary cultural and queer theory. Blending
Genders is the first comprehensive treatment of the social aspects of cross-
dressing and sex-changing and, as such, can rightly lay first claim to an
emerging field of transgender studies.
Contributors: Dwight B.Billings, Neil Buhrich, Peter Farrer, Phaedra Kelly,
Roberta Perkins, Janice Raymond, Mark Rees, Carol Riddell, Thomas Urban,
Terri Webb and Stephen Whittle.
Richard Ekins is Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology and Psychoanalysis
at the University of Ulster. Dave King is Lecturer in the Department of
Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Studies at the University of
Liverpool.

BLENDING GENDERS

Social Aspects of Cross-Dressing
and Sex-Changing
Edited by
Richard Ekins and Dave King

London and New York
First published 1996
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

© 1996 Selection and Editorial matter, Richard Ekins and Dave King.
Individual chapters, the Contributors.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-415-11551-5 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-11552-3 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-20144-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-20147-7 (Glassbook Format)
CONTENTS
List of plates ix
List of contributors xi
Foreword by Ken Plummer xiii
Acknowledgements xix
BLENDING GENDERS—AN INTRODUCTION 1
Richard Ekins and Dave King
Part I Experiencing gender blending
INTRODUCTION 5
1 IN FEMALE ATTIRE: MALE EXPERIENCES
OF CROSS-DRESSING—SOME HISTORICAL
FRAGMENTS 9
Peter Farrer
2 BECOMING A MAN: THE PERSONAL ACCOUNT
OF A FEMALE-TO-MALE TRANSSEXUAL 27
Mark Rees
3 THE CAREER PATH OF THE MALE FEMALER 39
Richard Ekins
Part II The social organisation of gender blending
INTRODUCTION 49
4 THE ‘DRAG QUEEN SCENE’: TRANSSEXUALS IN
KINGS CROSS 53
Roberta Perkins
5 A HETEROSEXUAL TRANSVESTITE CLUB 63
Neil Buhrich
v
CONTENTS
6 LONDON GRANDEUR: THE PORCHESTER BALL 70
Phaedra Kelly
Part III The medicalisation of gender blending
INTRODUCTION 75
7 GENDER BLENDING: MEDICAL PERSPECTIVES
AND TECHNOLOGY 79
Dave King
8 THE SOCIO-MEDICAL CONSTRUCTION OF
TRANSSEXUALISM: AN INTERPRETATION
AND CRITIQUE 99
Dwight B.Billings and Thomas Urban
Part IV Gender blending and the media
INTRODUCTION 119
9 120 YEARS OF MALE CROSS-DRESSING AND
SEX-CHANGING IN ENGLISH AND AMERICAN
LITERATURE 123
Peter Farrer
10 CROSS-DRESSING, SEX-CHANGING AND THE
PRESS 133
Dave King
11 MALE FEMALING, TELEPHONE SEX AND THE
CASE OF INTIMACY SCRIPTS 151
Richard Ekins
Part V Gender blending and gender politics
INTRODUCTION 167
12 DIVIDED SISTERHOOD: A CRITICAL REVIEW
OF JANICE RAYMOND’S THE TRANSSEXUAL
EMPIRE 171
Carol Riddell
13 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENTS FROM A
TRANSSEXUAL ACTIVIST 190
Terri Webb
vi
CONTENTS
14 GENDER FUCKING OR FUCKING GENDER?
CURRENT CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO
THEORIES OF GENDER BLENDING 196
Stephen Whittle
15 THE POLITICS OF TRANSGENDERISM 215
Janice Raymond
APPENDIX I 225
A chronological listing of English and American short stories
and novels featuring cross-dressing and sex-changing
APPENDIX II 227
A guide to resources
Bibliography 229
Index 244
vii

PLATES

Ziggie Cartier, centre between pages 72–3
Rital, a look-alike for Sophia Loren
Rebel Rebel, à la Bowie
Amber, in leather and nipple rings
Lynda Gold, in competition
Martine Rose, in a smashing red leather mini
Anne Downes, blonde on the left
‘Pure Corn’, gender bending at its best
Another cabaret troupe like ‘Rebel, Rebel’
A Halloween Medusa
Loren Cameron’s self-portrait 213
ix