Exquisite Gender Author: Gender DyanmiX, Support Initiative for People with atypical sex Development Uganda(S.I.P.D.) Publisher: Gender DyanmiX, Support Initiative for People with atypical sex Development Uganda(S.I.P.D.) ISBN:NA Format: DVD Publication Date: 2010
Running Time: +- 85 Minutes
Exquisite Gender is a DVD collection of personal stories that offers viewers a glimpse into the lives of those who are outside the male-female binary. Sixteen transgender and intersex persons tell their own stories about their experiences of being different, mainly through photographs from their past. Often hard-hitting and sometimes funny, all the stories express the desire to be treated as equals, to be given the freedom to choose one's gender rather than to be forced into the traditional male-female duality. Leigh-Ann’s story especially addresses many of the myths surrounding transgender. And her story, as with the others, emphasises that transgender people are perfectly normal human beings with very human experiences.
A friend of mine who had never knowingly had any exposure to transgender people attended the launch of the collection. He was not given any information prior to the showing and so didn't know what to expect. Afterwards, I asked him what struck him most about Exquisite Gender. His reply was, “I was struck by the honesty and the willingness to share their experiences, both good and bad. That they had the freedom to do this in spite of what they have been through.”
The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals Author:Stephanie A. Brill, Rachel Pepper Publisher: Cleis Press ISBN: 978-1573443180 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 2008 Pages: 200
This comprehensive first of its kind guidebook explores the unique challenges that thousands of families face every day raising their children in every city and state. Through extensive research and interviews, as well as years of experience working in the field, the authors cover gender variance from birth through college. What do you do when your toddler daughter’s first sentence is that she’s a boy? What will happen when your preschool son insists on wearing a dress to school? Is this ever just a phase? How can you explain this to your neighbors and family? How can parents advocate for their children in elementary schools? What are the current laws on the rights of transgender children? What do doctors specializing in gender variant children recommend? What do the therapists say? What advice do other families who have trans kids have? What about hormone blockers and surgery? What issues should your college-bound trans child be thinking about when selecting a school? How can I best raise my gender variant or transgender child with love and compassion, even when I barely understand the issues ahead of us? And what is gender, anyway? These questions and more are answered in this book offering a deeper understanding of gender variant and transgender children and teens.
A NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION! "Pearl s Christmas Present" is an illustrated Christmas story about a little boy who wants to be a little girl. In this not-so-common tale, Pearl reveals the holiday traditions of his naughty siblings and joyless parents. You will laugh out loud at the astute observations of a serene little boy who has a firm sense of self and good survival instincts! "Pearl's Christmas Present" has been nominated for a LAMBDA Literature Award in both the Children / Young Adult and Transgender categories.
Whipping Girl: A transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity Author:Julia Serano Publisher: Seal Press ISBN: 978-1580051545 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 2007 Pages: 280
A provocative manifesto, Whipping Girl tells the powerful story of Julia Serano, a transsexual woman whose supremely intelligent writing reflects her diverse background as a lesbian transgender activist and professional biologist. Serano shares her experiences and observations — both pre- and post-transition — to reveal the ways in which fear, suspicion, and dismissiveness toward femininity shape our societal attitudes toward trans women, as well as gender and sexuality as a whole.
Serano's well-honed arguments stem from her ability to bridge the gap between the often-disparate biological and social perspectives on gender. She exposes how deep-rooted the cultural belief is that femininity is frivolous, weak, and passive, and how this “feminine” weakness exists only to attract and appease male desire.
In addition to debunking popular misconceptions about Transsexuality, Serano makes the case that today's feminists and transgender activist must work to embrace and empower femininity — in all of its wondrous forms.
Exile and Pride Author:Eli Clare Publisher: South End Press ISBN: 978-0896086050 Format: Paperback Publication Date: 1999 Pages: 160
At long last, an essay on the politics and poetics of queer disability. Eli Clare, a poet with cerebral palsy, movingly describes her attempt to climb Mount Adams--not, she points out, as a "supercrip," like the boy without hands who bats .486 on his Little League team, but just as an impaired person who loves to hike: a story about ableism rather than disability. Avoiding easy answers and journalistic sunshine, she recounts the story of the fight for disabled access, touching on the history of the freak show. She tracks the origins of her own tenacity and self-knowledge to her rural Oregon upbringing and the conflicting personality of her father--who sexually abused her, but also taught her how to frame a house, how to use a chainsaw. "I think of the words crip, queer, freak, redneck," Clare remarks. "None of these are easy words. They mark the jagged edge between self-hatred and pride, the chasm between how the dominant culture views marginalized peoples and how we view ourselves, the razor between finding home, finding our bodies, and living in exile, living on the metaphoric mountain." --Regina Marler