In this ground-breaking study, Aaron Devor provides a compassionate, intimate, and incisive look at the life experiences of forty-five trans men. Emerging into 21st-century political and social conversations, questions persist. Who are they? How do they come to know themselves as men? What do they do about it? How do their families respond? Who are their lovers? What does it mean for everyone else? To answer these and other questions, Devor spent years compiling in-depth interviews and researching the lives of transsexual and transgender people. Here, he traces the everyday and significant events that coalesce into trans identities, culminating in gender and sex transformations. Using trans men's own words as illustrations, Devor looks at how childhood, adolescence, and adult experiences with family members, peers, and lovers work to shape and clarify their images of themselves as men. With a new introduction, Devor positions the volume in twenty-first century debates of identity politics and community-building and provides a window into his own self-exploration as a result of his research.

About the Author

Aaron Devor, PhD, FSSSS, FSTLHE, is the Founder and Academic Director of the world's largest Transgender Archives, the world's first Research Chair in Transgender Studies, a former Dean of Graduate Studies (2002-2012), and a professor of Sociology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

Reviews

This is the most comprehensive, professional book to date on FTM transsexualism and the many aspects of their life journeys. For its volume, this book is clearly understandable and reads without excessive use of scientific and academic rhetoric, thus making the book available to a broad audience. It is nonjudgmental, nonsensational, and provocative in its honesty, interpretation, and challenge to the future of societal opinion regarding FTM gender identity. (Reviewing a previous edition)

-- Journal of Sex Research

Devor's exploration of the life experiences and transformations of female-to-male transsexuals richly describes a heretofore neglected topic. Devor's compelling description provides readers with insights that both contrast with and complement the existing literature on male-to-female transsexuals and other transgendered individuals. (Reviewing a previous edition)

* Contemporary Sociology *

A landmark in the documentation of the personal lives of transsexual men. (Reviewing a previous edition)

* The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality *

The book alternates specialized academic analysis with the individual studies, and should be of interest to both professionals who work with transsexuals and scholars interested in gender theory. (Reviewing a previous edition)

-- Choice

Writing with an intelligent and accessible style, Dr. Devor balances exposition, analysis, and excerpts from her subjects' interviews to present a coherent picture of what social life is like for FTMs as they find their identity and learn about themselves. (Reviewing a previous edition)

-- Jamison "James" Green

This is the most comprehensive, professional book to date on FTM transsexualism and the many aspects of their life journeys. For its volume, this book is clearly understandable and reads without excessive use of scientific and academic rhetoric, thus making the book available to a broad audience. It is nonjudgmental, nonsensational, and provocative in its honesty, interpretation, and challenge to the future of societal opinion regarding FTM gender identity. (Reviewing a previous edition)

-- Journal of Sex Research

Devor's exploration of the life experiences and transformations of female-to-male transsexuals richly describes a heretofore neglected topic. Devor's compelling description provides readers with insights that both contrast with and complement the existing literature on male-to-female transsexuals and other transgendered individuals. (Reviewing a previous edition)

* Contemporary Sociology *

A landmark in the documentation of the personal lives of transsexual men. (Reviewing a previous edition)

* The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality *

The book alternates specialized academic analysis with the individual studies, and should be of interest to both professionals who work with transsexuals and scholars interested in gender theory. (Reviewing a previous edition)

-- Choice

Writing with an intelligent and accessible style, Dr. Devor balances exposition, analysis, and excerpts from her subjects' interviews to present a coherent picture of what social life is like for FTMs as they find their identity and learn about themselves. (Reviewing a previous edition)

-- Jamison "James" Green



Book Information
ISBN 9780253022868
Author Aaron Devor
Format Paperback
Page Count 740
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 1002g