Ftm: Female-To-Male Transsexuals in Society [Hardcover]

Holly Devor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997 | ISBN-10: 0253336317 | ISBN-13: 978-0253336316

Very little is known about female-to-male transsexuals. Who are they? How do they come to know themselves as transsexual? What do they do about it? How do their families cope? Who loves them? What does it mean for the rest of us? "FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society" answers these questions and more. It provides a detailed, compassionate, intimate and incisive portrait of the life experiences of 45 female-to-male transsexuals. Based on a series of in-depth interviews and years of field work and friendships with transsexual and transgendered people, Devor traces the everyday events and significant moments which coalesce in transsexual identities and culminate in gender and sex transformations. After an introduction which grounds the discussion in historical and theoretical contexts, the author takes a life course approach to understanding female-to-male transsexualism. Liberally using their own words as illustrations, Devor looks at how childhood, adolescent, and adult experiences with family members, peers, and lovers work to shape and clarify female-to-male transsexuals' images of themselves as people who should be men and males. With passion and pathos transsexual men tell their stories about how they decided to, and proceed to, alter their lives and their bodies so that they could live fully as men. With humour and determination they disclose how they, and the people around them, adjusted to their radical transformations and the many lessons which they learned along the way about the mysteries of life on both sides of the great gender divide. Throughout and in conclusion, Devor's perceptive, erudite, and insightful analysis shows that, in the end, the biggest differences between female-to-male transsexuals and other members of society probably lie not so much in the nature of the identity-supporting processes through which they must pass, but in the anguish and consciousness with which they must negotiate them. "FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society" is highly readable, emotionally engaging, intellectually rigorous, comprehensive, sharply analytic, and theoretically wide-ranging. It will be an invaluable resource for transsexual people and their loved ones. It will be a key reference work for professionals and for students. Anyone who has ever wondered about gender, sex, and sexuality or who simply enjoys reading absorbing real-life drama will find "FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society" to be both fascinating and challenging.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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 non-judgmental, non-sensational, and provocative in its honesty, interpretation, and challenge to the future of societal opinion regarding FTM gender identity." -- Journal of Sex Research "Holly Devor's exploration of the life experiences and transformations of female-to-male transsexuals richly describes a heretofore neglected topic. Her compelling description provides readers with insights that both contrast with and complement the existing literature on male-to-female transsexuals and other transgendered individuals." -- Contemporary Sociology " ... a landmark in the documentation of the personal lives of transsexual men." -- The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality "The book alternates specialised academic analysis with the individual studies, and should be of interest to both professionals who work with transsexuals and scholars interested in gender theory." -- 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." Jamison 'James' Green

About the Author

Holly Devor, Professor of Sociology at the University of Victoria, is recognized as an international expert on female gender dysphoria, female transgenderism, and female-to-male transsexuals. Dr. Devor, a member of the International Academy of Sex Research, is also author of the award-winning book Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality. In recognition of her scholarship, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality has honored her with the Hugo Biegel Research Award.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 695 pages
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253336317
• ISBN-13: 978-0253336316
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,802,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Statistic-laden study on FtMs; 1st one of its kind., July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ftm: Female-To-Male Transsexuals in Society (Hardcover)

It's a pretty good book if you're looking for a definitive volume which focuses mainly on female-to-male transsexuals. Though it's laborious reading at times with its mounds and mounds of technical statistics on Devor's research, it's still a must-own for any FtM or anyone who wants to know about FtMs. It's also very good reading for those who need to know the facts, e.g. family members who are dealing with a family member who is FtM.

All in all, it's a very good (and long) read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Devor's Epic, February 4, 2003

By 

"md_2003" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society (Paperback)

While Devor masterfully strives to be an ally to female men in the text, the disciplinary allegiances seem to encumber her work in ways that perhaps limit its value for transpeople. Released during a time when transgender people became ever the more critical and suspicious of psycho-medical non-transgender writings about them, the text was met with both ridicule from with the movement of transcholars and acclaim by sociological and psycho-medical academics.

She makes a marvelous research contribution to studies of female men that is still a needful field of research. It is a marvelous resource text. That has likely been greatly underestimated due to political controversies that surround transgender studies. Key transgender scholars and activists who have been leaders in the female man transgender community are subjects of the research. In this regard, it can function as a historical text.

It is scientific, statistical, theoretical, interesting, well done, and an amazing achievement. Female men could find educational support within. Scholars a rich resource for critical analysis.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A History of female transgenders, April 28, 2009

By 

Bennie Cole - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society (Paperback)

Am a transgender who purchased this book thinking it was about modern day female transexuals only. Little did I know the vastness this materal covers. I have learned the rich history of transgenders which I never gave any thought to. This indepth history is important to me.

Dr Devor's observations and data analysis of her transexual voluntees are in detail and revealing. I appreciate her work.