GENDER HURTS
It is only recently that transgenderism has been accepted as a disorder for
which treatment is available. In the 1990s, a political movement of transgender
activism coalesced to campaign for transgender rights. Considerable social,
political and legal changes are occurring in response and there is increasing
acceptance by governments and many other organisations and actors of the
legitimacy of these rights.
This provocative and controversial book explores the consequences
of these changes and off ers a feminist perspective on the ideology and
practice of transgenderism, which the author sees as harmful. It explores the
eff ects of transgenderism on the lesbian and gay community, the partners
of people who transgender, children who are identifi ed as transgender and
the people who transgender themselves, and argues that these are negative.
In doing so the book contends that the phenomenon is based upon sex
stereotyping, referred to as ‘gender’ – a conservative ideology that forms the
foundation for women’s subordination. Gender Hurts argues for the abolition
of ‘gender’, which would remove the rationale for transgenderism.
This book will be of interest to scholars and students of political science,
feminism and feminist theory and gender studies.
Sheila Jeffreys is Professor of feminist politics in the School of Social and
Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
