Disorders of Desire tells the story of U.S. sexology over the forty-year period from the late 1940s to the late 1980s. The first edition, published in 1990, centered on the researchers, professional debates, social changes, and political movements that shaped the field. It underscores the high stakes in the ongoing contests of authority over sexuality and gender. From the exposure of individual...

In reports of scientific investigations the terms “sex” and “gender” are frequently used interchangeably in spite of longstanding acceptance that each refers to different qualities of an individual’s sexuality [20]. While sex is generally acknowledged as determined by biological characteristics that, in most cases, reasonably clearly define an individual as “female” or “male” in terms of their ...

“Gender blending” is found on every continent; the Hijras in India, the female husbands in Navajo society, and the travestis in Brazil exemplify so-called “third genders.” The American version of a third gender may be drag queen performers, who confound, confuse, and directly challenge commonly held notions about the stability and concrete nature of both gender and sexuality. Drag queens sugges...

Sex differences in human brain lateralization are documented by studies on normal subjects, patients with the unilateral brain damage, and individuals with atypical level of hormones. However, there is no agreement as to the specific role of gender in the development of hemispheric asymmetry. This experiment was designed to examine whether gender identity plays an important role in the formatio...

Gender identity-one's sense of being a man or a woman-is a fundamental perception experienced by all individuals that extends beyond biological sex. Yet, what contributes to our sense of gender remains uncertain. Since individuals who identify as transsexual report strong feelings of being the opposite sex and a belief that their sexual characteristics do not reflect their true gender, they con...

(Dis)ordered body management practices such as transgenderism and anorexia are largely conceptualized within psychology as the pathological manifestation of individual distress. It is argued that the way they are talked about, treated and ultimately understood as matters of and for health, serves the regulatory (socio-cultural and political) function of targeting more visible embodiments as pro...

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: The experiences of transgender people are becoming increasingly more visible in popular culture, biographical literature and the media. The topic has received little attention within the psychiatric and mental health nursing literature. There is a paucity of literature exploring the impact on relationships following a disclosure of transgenderism. WHAT DOES THIS P...

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently updating the tenth version of their diagnostic tool, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD, WHO, 1992). Changes have been proposed for the diagnosis of Transsexualism (ICD-10) with regard to terminology, placement and content. The aim of this study was to gather the opinions of transgender individuals (and their relatives/partners) an...