This book is the compilation and analysis of results from one of the most comprehensive studies of female-to-male transsexuals performed so far. Although the vocabulary quickly becomes fraught with confusion, it is fairly accurate to say that FTMs are people who were born and raised female (so that they lived as girls and women), but later decided that they would prefer to live their lives as men/males. They underwent a series of physical steps to transform their bodies into bodies that others would perceive as male, as well as learned to behave socially as males. Dr. Holly Devor is a professor of sociology at the University of Victoria who has done extensive research on gender dysphoria, female transgenderism, and FTMs.
Devor's study was a collection of cases-- 45 self-identified FTMs, 41 of which had undergone hormone therapy and were living as men. She interviewed them about their relationships with family and friends throughout childhood and adolescence, their sexual lives, their identity, the process of transformation, and their new lives as men. Their responses often pointed toward patterns that Devor identified and unified in "FTM." This book is a fascinating overview of the lives of a nearly invisible group in modern society. Even better, it makes many intriguing points about maleness and femaleness-- see below. I'll give it a "+."
This study brought out some mixed reactions in me, actually. On the one hand, it is fabulous to see this kind of research getting actual government support (of course it was the Canadian government. It's probably illegal to support this in the US). Serious scientific research on transsexualism is nearly absent; we are basically in the Stone Age in terms of understanding this phenomenon. It really reminds me of the state of homosexual research a century ago (see my review of "Departing from Deviance"). So it's nice to see some early efforts being made.
And yet, viewed in a broader context, this is a tiny study. With a sample size of just 45, the results are hardly statistical. That's why Devor presented the data as a series of cases. Essentially no fundamental conclusions can be drawn. You can just read the results and feel pleased that you've increased your knowledge. This is the pathetic state of transgender research today. We are supposed to fall over ourselves with gratitude that this little study was allowed to be performed. It's like the way women are supposed to be thankful that 0.5% of CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies now have two X chromosomes. Gee, thanks! How can I repay your generosity?
We need more transsexual research. And more precisely, we need more FTM research. Everyone just thinks of flamey, cross-dressing MTFs when they hear "transsexual," forgetting that that's only half the picture. Men get more attention even when they are actually transsexual women!
But anyway, Devor's comprehensive write-up (600 pages plus references) has some interesting things in it. Actually, the book gets better as it goes along. The early chapters are on participants' family lives as girls and teenagers, and these could really be skipped. They contain a lot of questionable relationship analysis that borders on the Freudian and is not properly compared to control cases.
For instance, Devor notes that many of the respondents came from families with "weak or dependent mothers" and "dominant or even abusive fathers." So she speculates that the FTMs may have learned to associate femininity with being dominated, thus preferring a more male path. This is probably baloney. How many "normal" families have this kind of pattern too? Quite a lot. And what aspect of society doesn't subtely imply that females are dependent and males are dominant/violent? Overall, I thought the relationship analysis was really weak.
Much more interesting were the middle and later chapters on participants' realizations that they were transsexual and their processes of transition. About half experimented with heterosexuality as women, but many also tried lesbian relationships. In the end, all of these explorations proved unsatisfactory. Combined with other issues in their lives, these sexual failings led the FTMs to realize that they would be better suited as men.
The transition process is painful, not just physically (as it involves remaking one's body through hormones and surgery) but also psychologically and socially. FTMs learned which friends could handle their new identity and which could not. Some family members disowned them. Some lost their jobs. There is a painful choice between transitioning "in public" and retaining continuity with one's past, and "starting fresh" by abandoning many prior aspects of one's life. The latter is particularly difficult in terms of a career, but the former can be quite psychologically stressful and usually results in more experiences of hostility from others.
By the way, transsexuals should not expect support from the homosexual community. Those FTMs who had established lives in the lesbian community were mostly ousted from this community as "traitors" when they transitioned. Many lesbians want little to do with men, thus viewing FTMs as "going to the dark side," or at least no longer an appropriate part of the community. This was especially painful since FTMs don't fit into "mainstream" gender and sexual categories either.
Three areas serve to remind transsexual men that they are not the same as men who were born as such: the public bathroom, the doctor's office, and the bedroom. Devor obtained some very personal accounts of experiences in these three places. Once again, there are opportunities for painful hostility, misunderstanding, and confusion.
The experiences documented in "FTM" are, frankly, amazing. These people have been on personal journeys far more demanding than those undertaken by most humans. The effort required to change one's gender is nearly insurmountable in our binary, patriarchal society-- but only nearly, not completely. These rare individuals prove that. And furthermore, they prove that transsexualism is a genuine phenomenon, not some kind of whim or capricious desire. The only way anyone would submit to the ordeal of transitioning is if they are truly unhappy with their assigned gender and the look of their body. No one could do this on a lark. (And remember that many do not survive transsexualism. This book documented the strong survivors; many others choose suicide).
The universal advice of FTMs to their yet-untransitioned sisters was, "Make absolutely certain this is what you want."
[In fact, there are coming to be ways that people can be certain. There is a set of protocols called the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association's Standards of Care. These standards lay out a process for medical and psychiatric professionals to use in diagnosing, treating, and following up with transsexual patients. On the one hand, you can criticize this as a "medicalization" of transsexuality-- placing a personal issue in the hands of the medical system. But the alternative is no standards of care-- no official guide for treating people ethically, with respect, and in a safe way. Standards of care exist for all branches of medicine. Since transsexuals need the medical system to obtain hormones, surgery, and in some cases counseling, it probably makes good sense to have official protocols in place. These standards also enhance the credibility of transsexuality, which has often been an issue.]
I was surprised by a few things I learned from these case studies. One FTM said that after being on testosterone, his views of women changed. He began to be interested in viewing exploitative pornography. As a woman, he had been outraged at such images as degrading to women. But as a man, he caught himself thinking, "Gee, it's so much fun, why don't they like it too?"
Also intriguing were the descriptions of how people treated the participants once they started looking like men. They immediately noticed that they were assumed to be competent in ways that they hadn't been as women. Furthermore, women deferred to them with astonishing ease. They soon got used to being placed in the top-dog position by women, even professional women, and even some self-professed feminists.
Of course, they also got caught up in the male hierarchy game. Since many trans men are smaller-than-average men, they tended to get pecked down in the male order. And they also found that they could no longer share small talk with women in the same way that they could when they looked more feminine. Suddenly male relationships were tinged with competition, and female ones with sexual overtones.
This is what they wanted, however! No FTM regretted his decision to change. Most felt far more comfortable in their skin now that they were living in harmony with their inner gender. They made it clear that maleness has problems, just as femaleness does, but being men really fit their identity best.
There aren't many transsexuals, but there are more out there than you think. Read this book to understand how it is for them. You might learn something about our society, or about yourself too.
Copyright © Kim Allen 2002
