Stephen Whittle

50 academic essays about trans people, written from the Victorian period to the present day. This anthology includes extracts from early sexologists, like Krafft-Ebing and Hirschfeld – the first researchers to write about trans people in the modern era. There are essays by key writers such as Judith Butler, Kate Bornstein, Leslie Feinberg and more. Trans men, trans women, and non-binary people are all represented; there are some essays on race, some on robots, some on cinema and monsters, and even one by anti-trans feminist Raymond as an important (and unfortunate) part of trans history. In short, if you want to learn about ideas about trans people in academia from the Victorian period onwards – this has it all.

Librarian's Review:

I liked it. Don’t read it cover to cover like I did or you’ll go mad – just dip in and out of ones which interest you. Some of the essays were too hard or too theoretical for me. If you’ve never read any trans academia before, all the big names are represented in this book – it’s a good “starter” set. Most of the authors of essays are trans themselves, as well as being well-regarded professors, writers and academics.… (més)