Customer Reviews
inpiring and thought provoking - By: , 01 Nov 1999 
also concerning other historical persons. The analysis of opression of minorities & gender based discrimination as a completely economical one, is a point which might be debatted - other sociological factors like goup size & the advantages of a separation of male-female space for a significant fraction of women without such arrangements wouldn't be stable are neglected. Still highly to be recomended fo people with an interestin history, queer studdies & of course people which are trannsgender, be they gay, lesbian, transseaual, straight crossdressers or interesexed. I think this book deserves a wider audience, also extending traditional leftist or gay subcircles.
More myths.... - By: , 24 Jul 1999 
While Dennis Rodman certainly qualifies as "transgendered", Joan of Arc certainly does not: her own statements (as listedin the record of the trialin 1431 & as quoted by several witnesses at the retrial from 1455-1456) make it clear that she only wore her boyish costume because she was being subjected to attempted rapes & other abuse whilein prison, & was constantlyin danger of the same while travelling through enemy territory. She wore a dress during the entire rest of her life, & at the trial she begged her judges to allow her to be buriedin a dressin the event that she should die from illness whilein prison, since she was afraid that they might decide to bury herin her male attire instead (hardly the position that would be taken by a transvestite). Similarly, her armor was not "masculine"in any sense (there's a surviving image of it at St. Denis, & it's quite femininein appearance, as was the case with the many other suits of armor worn by women during this period: armor was never considered to be a purely masculine form of dress, no more than a bullet-proof vest is today, & noble women wore armor whenever circumstances forced them to take nominal command of their families' armies). None of this isin dispute, & it seems that the author needs to learn a bit more about the 15th century.
Panoramic Sweep on Transgender Issues - By: , 03 Apr 1999 As a committed dialogue-oriented queer theorist & socialist, I value any contributions from new voicesin social theory. Leslie Feinberg's book is an exemplary workin this regard, & as a pakeha academicin a postcolonial country myself, I am especially impressed by hir respect for indigenous cultures, sovereignty issues, & gender variation as part of that. I recommend this as an important introductory resource that should be in all queer studies curricula.
Trans* people have a history too... - By: , 08 Oct 1997 I'm a 20-year-old female-to-male transsexual. Five years ago, I didn't even know other people like me existed. Now, thanks to this book, I know people like me have been around as long as human beings from the more ordinary walks of life.
You might think that being transsexual, I'd be pretty open-minded, but I must confess that this book really got me thinking about my own chosen gender & what exactly I want do with my transsexuality. Do I want to blendin with all the genetic XY guys after all, leaving no trace of my 'abnormal' gender? Do I really care if people know I don't have a penis? Must I be 100% male 100% of the time? And what is 'male' anyway?
Leslie presents a very personal history of transgenderism. Hir short autobiography echoes that of the many people who don't fit into the male OR female ONLY roles society has pushed us into over the centuries. Being transgendered, I could really emphasise with hir life story, & that of all the other trans* people who have a partin this book.
I'd recommend this book not only to other trans* people, but anyone who is interestedin something else other than the traditional gender roles we are given. This is such a different prism to look at history & gender through. I want to majorin History now. ::grin::
