Faces Transforming: research on female-to-male transsexuals
by Stenton Mackenzie.
Published 29 May 2012
http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/301923-faces_transforming_research_femaletomale_transsexualsAs I study the photographic images before me, the boy's face radiates innocence and boldness. He looks like a bit of an imp. I look at his adult face, and can still see the impishness in his expression. He is middle aged now, balding, with ruddy, coarse skin and beard shadow. This is rather astounding – because this person started out life as female.
He is one of a growing number of transsexuals in Scotland and, as such, is one of my research subjects. In the Centre for Anatomy & Human Identification (CAHId) at the University of Dundee, my PhD project is documenting for the first time the changes that take place in the faces of FTMs (female-to-male transsexuals) when they take testosterone.
I too, am a female-to-male transsexual - I am an 'embedded' researcher. A late starter, I began my transition at age 37 in Canada. My background is in social, and more recently, forensic anthropology.
