TRANSVESTITES AND TRANSSEXUALS: Mixed Views

by Deborah H. Feinbloom ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1976

The author, a sociology graduate student, gained her entry into the curious world of transvestites in 1968 on the strength of her friendship with a teaching colleague, Phil, recently dismissed after being discovered in flagrante cross-dressed as Helen. For eight months, Feinbloom did fieldwork at the weekly gatherings of a strictly heterosexual organization established for the relief of anxiety over ""dressing""--meetings which sometimes included wives and girl friends trying to adjust to behavior their men consider ""normal"" if compulsive. Later she established a Gender Identity Service in the Boston area and widened her horizons to include transsexuals who were no longer satisfied by merely appearing in public in female attire, but were determined to ""pass,"" even marry, as full members of the sex they biologically ain't. Feinbloom is pleading for tolerance for this stigmatized minority who contend they are neither ""deviant"" nor ""perverted""--who are in fact in all other ways unusually conservative in opinions and lifestyles. Her book is evidently a commercialization of thesis research--often repetitive, slow in its development--but it has the virtue of presenting an honest picture of the view from the other side in all its prickliness. Their plight is especially well articulated by Phil, who--with Feinbloom's support--is now thoroughly Helenized.

Pub Date: March 1, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION