Gender Dysphoria

Description

Gender dysphoria is a 700+- page bibliography of the literature of transsexualism. I didn’t realize it as I was preparing the manuscript. It was only when I was listening to Phyllis Frye speak at her International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy in Texas that it came to me: I was the first transsexual to produce a book-length nonautobiographical contribution to the medical and psychological literature of transsexualism—the only out-of-the-closet transsexual, anyway. It astonished me. When I founded The American Educational Gender Information Service in 1990, I began compiling a bibliography of transsexualism, crossdressing, and intersexuality. After several years it had become voluminous. When I sent a copy to the late Dr. Vern Bullough he suggested I publish it. A week or so later I found a contract from Garland Publishers in the AEGIS mailbox. I signed and returned it and Gender Dysphoria: A Guide to Research was born. Published in 1994, Gender Dysphoria was printed on acid-free paper with acid-free covers that will make the work last centuries. It weighs in at 704 pages. Vern Bullough wrote the Foreword. Gender Dysphoria is a comprehensive bibliography. There are thousands of entries, with sections for books, book chapters and journal articles, legal cases, and material from the popular press. A 76-page Index cross-references the entries. It would be difficult if not impossible for a single person to attempt such a task today—there’s simply too much material. Books, mostly self-published autobiographies, appear weekly, and as many and sometimes more than 100 articles a day are published. Most are in the popular press. In 1992, however, compiling a comprehensive bibliography of transsexualism was a manageable task—just. Pretty much every book and article in the scientific literature through 1992 can be found in the pages of Gender Dysphoria. Richard Green once told me he kept a copy on his desk. I was flattered. By the time Gender Dysphoria appeared, I regretted the title. I had long since stopped using the term to refer to transsexual and transgendered people. – Dallas Denny

Excerpt

Lay people often think that scientists have vast secret sources of wisdom. The truth of the matter is that while the things that science has accomplished are astonishing and perhaps even miraculous, the accumulated knowledge of science does not at first glance seem impressive. It lies, for the most part, in articles which appear in professional journals. There are other methods of communicating science, of course. Important or significant journal articles are often expanded into chapters in edited books and eventually find their way into textbooks or are listed in bibliographies like this one.

First Sentence

Lay people often think that scientists have vast secret sources of wisdom.

Subjects

Series Statement

• Garland reference library of social science, v. 832, v. 10, vol. 832, vol. 10