The Man Who Invented Gender

A controversial figure, innovative scholar, and ardent advocate for sexual liberation, sexologist John Money opened a new field of research in sexual science and gave currency to medical ideas about human sexuality. This book offers, for the first time, a balanced and probing textual analysis of this pioneering scholar’s writing to assess Money’s profound impact on the debates and research on sexuality and gender that dominated the last half of the twentieth century. The author recovers Money’s brilliance and insight from simplistic dismissals of his work due to his involvement in the tragic David Reimer case, while never losing sight of his flaws.

Now with a new foreword by National Book Award Winner Kacen Callender, this fascinating book on a relevant subject illustrates the complexities of gender and sexuality through history, science, sociology, and the author's own story. Gender is an intensely personal, yet universal, facet of humanity. In this vibrant book, queer author and artist Iris Gottlieb visually explores gender in all of its complexities, answering questions and providing guidance while also mining history and pop culture for the stories and people who have shaped the conversation on gender. Informed by Gottlieb's personal experiences, this deeply researched and brilliantly rendered book demystifies this fluid topic at a critical time. For LGBTQIA+ people, Seeing Gender offers a space for self-exploration, giving comfort, advice, and reassurance in the sometimes confusing process of navigating one's identity. For allies, this book is an essential tool for understanding and thoughtfully participating in this necessary cultural conversation. Whatever one's position, Seeing Gender is a must-read people who are passionate about changing the way we see and talk about gender and sexuality in the twenty-first century. CULTURALLY RELEVANT AND IMPORTANT TOPIC: An inclusive, sensitive, and accessible book for those interested in learning more about gender identity and sexuality. HELPFUL: The perfect book for nonjudgmental exploration of gender for the queer, transgender, asexual, uncertain, and for people struggling with their gender identity. INVITATIONAL: A wonderful intro to thoughtfully participating in this important conversation. Perfect for: • Those exploring their gender identity and sexuality • Parents/friends/relatives of those exploring their gender identity and sexuality • LGBTQ+ people • Allies who want to understand, empathize, and participate in this movement

"This timely history tells the story of how 'gender' was invented in American medicine. The concept of gender shifted from a pragmatic tool in the sex assignment of children with intersex traits in the 1950s to an essential category in clinics for transgender patients in the 1960s, to a feature of feminist debates about the sex/gender binary in the 1970s, to the word we know today. Our current idea of gender might not map exactly onto these earlier formulations, but we still live with the legacy of this genealogy. Sandra Eder reveals that there was-without a doubt- something new, transformative, and enduring about the concept of gender that developed through clinical practices at pediatric endocrinology clinics. The history of gender laid out in this book shows that these ideas held no single, unified meaning-neither within the clinic nor outside it-and that 'gender' was shaped by the behaviors and needs of those who used and adapted it. This is not a neat and tidy story about the introduction of a liberating concept. Nor does this book simply focus on the development of a medical regime that subjected intersex infants to irreversible genital surgery. Rather, How the Clinic Made Gender explores the shifting landscapes of discussion about sex, gender, and sexuality in modern US history. The process by which ideas about gender became medicalized, enforced, and popularized was messy, and how gender came to be understood and applied through the treatment of patients with intersex traits was fraught and contested. This book is about the intricate ways in which the most intimate of ideas were put into practice in medicine and how those clinical practices, in turn, have informed our ideas about gender to this day"--

Ever wondered what nonbinary and gender nonconforming really mean? Or if it's grammatically correct to use they as a singular pronoun? In this charming and disarming guide, a real-life they-using genderqueer writer unpacks all your burning questions in a fun, visual way. No soapboxes or divisive comment-section wars here! Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, always human, this gender-friendly primer will get you up to speed. It's about more than just bathrooms and pronouns--this is about gender expression and the freedom to choose how to identify. While they might only be for some, that freedom is for everyone!

The author traces the misapplication of Western, body-oriented concepts of gender through the history of gender discourses in Yoruba studies. THE INVENTION OF WOMEN demonstrates that biology as a rationale for organizing the social world is a Western construction not applicable in Yoruban culture where social organization was determined by relative age.

Since its initial publication in 1990, this book has become a key work of contemporary feminist theory, and an essential work for anyone interested in the study of gender, queer theory, or the politics of sexuality in culture. This is the text where the author began to advance the ideas that would go on to take life as "performativity theory," as well as some of the first articulations of the possibility for subversive gender practices. Overall, this book offers a powerful critique of heteronormativity and of the function of gender in the modern world.

“Heterosexuality,” assumed to denote a universal sexual and cultural norm, has been largely exempt from critical scrutiny. In this boldly original work, Jonathan Ned Katz challenges the common notion that the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality has been a timeless one. Building on the history of medical terminology, he reveals that as late as 1923, the term “heterosexuality” referred to a "morbid sexual passion," and that its current usage emerged to legitimate men and women having sex for pleasure. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, and Michel Foucault, The Invention of Heterosexuality considers the effects of heterosexuality’s recently forged primacy on both scientific literature and popular culture. “Lively and provocative.”—Carol Tavris, New York Times Book Review “A valuable primer . . . misses no significant twists in sexual politics.”—Gary Indiana, Village Voice Literary Supplement “One of the most important—if not outright subversive—works to emerge from gay and lesbian studies in years.”—Mark Thompson, The Advocate

The classic manifesto of the liberated woman, this book explores every facet of a woman's life.