Sally Hines

I read this book because I am interested in human diversity. Plus I got into a Facebook debate (at least I was trying to debate), with a person who simply could not understand how someone born with a penis would want to have it made into a vagina and was told quite categorically, "if you are born male, you are male" and then they quoted the dictionary at me, half quoted really, the bit that backed them up. I was banging my head against a brick wall and you can't debate with a person who won't even consider there may be more than one way of seeing something...so I ran to the refreshing hills of academia.

This book is nearly ten years old, but it does a decent job of discussing societal and personal aspects of gender identity despite being hung on a theoretical framework. I particularly enjoyed the personal acccounts, some of which made me stop and think about my own preconceived notions (we all have them no matter how open minded or enlightened we think we are). The research was based on UK participants and their experiences. There was brief mention of cultural differences for broad contrast but not between the participants. They may well have been culturally diverse, but that was not disclosed. So despite being an in-depth study of gender identity, I felt it did not fully represent society. Perhaps I need to find a book on gender identity in culturally diverse societies. All in all, however, a good read...and i suggest the person with whom I 'debated', reads it!… (more)