Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Two for the Reference Library
Zoe Brain
http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2009/02/two-for-reference-library.htmlThe first is the seminal work on Transsexuality, Harry Benjamin's The Transsexual Phenomenon.
Although published in 1966, 43 years ago, much of what it says is true even today. From Chapter 5:
The possible origin of transsexualism is not discussed in the medical literature very often or in very much detail. Most frequently, there is the simple statement that the cause is unknown.
...
The two principal theories are concerned either with possible organic, that is, biological (inborn) causes not necessarily inherited, or - much more often - with purely psychological ones.
Biologically minded authors are likely to consider TVism and TSism as "intersexual" phenomena but those are almost exclusively European scientists.
...
In this country, psychology and psychoanalysis still dominate the field of sexual deviations. Many psychologists, particularly analysts, have little biological background and training. Some seem actually contemptuous of biological facts and persistently overstate psychological data, so much so that a distorted, one-sided picture of the problem under consideration results.
Psychiatrists with biological orientation strongly disagree and even decry the exclusive psychoanalytic interpretations. But their voice is heard too rarely.
*SIGH* It's still true today. Maybe even more so, as the issue has become to some degree politicised, with the Religious Right in the US having far more say than they did in 1966.
