Gender Hurts ─ A feminist analysis of the politics of transgenderism

Transgender describes those who seek recognition as the opposite sex or gender on a long-term basis. The idea and practice of transgenderism now affects legal systems, schoolteachers, parents, wives and partners, and the politics of gender in profound ways.

Gender Hurts examines the wider social and political context and implications of the phenomenon of transgenderism. Jeffreys and Gottschalk propose that gender in western culture is socially constructed as the basis of male domination and that the concept of gender has the potential to hurt many. They argue that in transgenderism the hurt can take several forms; psychologically, physically and socially. This book explore how the phenomenon is affecting people 's lives from exploring the implications for the children and adults who are diagnosed as having gender identity disorder, to the survivors movement who claim to have been misdiagnosed, and the impact on the partners of transgenders.

This controversial book is a must read for all students and scholars of the politics of sexuality, women 's studies, gender studies, queer studies, transgender studies and cultural studies courses.

Sheila Jeffreys is Professor of feminist politics in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She teaches courses in feminist theory, on the politics of sexuality and lesbian and gay politics, and international gender politics.

She has a considerable reputation both in the academic world and in the world of feminist and lesbian and gay politics for my work on sexuality, including 7 single authored books, with my eighth book, Man’s Dominion, to be published by Routledge in October, 2011. My work is heavily referenced in academic journals and books, with 53 citations in international refereed journals in 2009 according to the Web of Science citations index, and 47 for 2010 to date.