Trans*: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability

179 Pages·2018·0.768 MB·English

by  Jack Halberstam

Trans*
A Quick and Quirky Account
of Gender Variability
Jack Halberstam
university of california press
Trans*
american studies now:
critical histories of the present
Edited by Lisa Duggan and Curtis Marez
Much of the most exciting contemporary work in American Studies
refuses the distinction between politics and culture, focusing on his-
torical cultures of power and protest on the one hand, or the political
meanings and consequences of cultural practices, on the other. Ameri-
can Studies Now off ers concise, accessible, authoritative, e-fi rst books
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1. We Demand: The University and Student Protests,
by Roderick A. Ferguson
2. The Fifty-Year Rebellion: How the U.S. Political Crisis Began in Detroit,
by Scott Kurashige
3. Trans*: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability,
by Jack Halberstam
Trans*
A Quick and Quirky Account
of Gender Variability
Jack Halberstam
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most distin-
guished university presses in the United States, enriches
lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the
humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and
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University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2018 by Jack Halberstam
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Halberstam, Judith, 1961– author.
Title: Trans* : a quick and quirky account of gender
variability / Jack Halberstam.
Description: Oakland, California : University of
California Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifi ers: lccn 2017028209 (print) | lccn 2017030891
(ebook) | isbn 978-0-520-96610-9 (ebook) |
isbn 978-0-520-29268-0 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 978-0-520-29269-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Transgender people—Social conditions. |
Gender identity—Social aspects.
Classifi cation: lcc hq77.9 (ebook) | lcc hq77.9 .h35
2018 (print) | ddc 306.76/8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017028209
Manufactured in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Maca
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contents
Overview ix
Preface xi
1. Trans*: What’s in a Name?
1
2. Making Trans* Bodies
22
3. Becoming Trans*
45
4. Trans* Generations
63
5. Trans* Representations
84
6. Trans* Feminisms
107
Conclusions
129
Acknowledgments 137
Notes 139
On Pronouns 153
Works Cited 155
overview
1. trans*: what’s in a name?
Traces the historical legacies of categorization and
classifi cation as they pertain to the transgender body, with
a focus on the importance of naming and un-naming.
Classifi cation systems connect with colonial strategies for
knowing and governing.
Pathologization Legacies of Classifi cation Representation
• •
2. making trans* bodies
Surgeries both make and unmake trans* bodies. Not all
trans* people have surgeries; not all surgeries are successful;
some trans* people participate in the global market for
cosmetic surgical tourism.
Surgery Bodily Architectures Theories of Embodiment
• •
3. becoming trans*
Trans* children are the new frontier for rights, recognition,
and medical intervention. This has favorable and
unfavorable consequences for trans* activism.
Trans* Child Parenting Trans* Defi ned
• •
ix