TRANSGENDERED

Brown, M.L and C.A. Rounsley (2003)  True Selves  SanFrancisco: Jossey Bass

You are introduced to three young attractive women wearing a skirt, blouse, and heels. They are Courtney, Allison, and Jordan.

All are talented and  they all share something very unique. They  have penises.

This book is about transsexuals a very small part of the population. Many times they are collapsed into the Gay, Bi, Transgender alliance. However, there are vast difference even though they share outward behavior.

Courtney is bisexual and she is a prostitute. She wants to look female to attract straight "John's" and sell oral sex. She makes sure that the customer does not touch her penis. With gay males who know her, she sells oral, anal, and fisting. That means she knows how to invert her penis into a vaginal pocket so the "trick" can fist her. Or they can fist or copulate through the rectum.

The outward appearance is to increase her appeal to a larger population and the motivation is profit.

Allison is married and she likes to dress like a female for arousal.  Then her wife and she both go to the next town over from home and spend the night at a bar. When he is dressed as male they live as a straight couple. Then she becomes a transvestite

to feed her desire and to compliment her wife.  The motive is

arousal and release of tension. It does border a bit on the side of addiction. She buys clothes on the internet or at a second hand store. Her wife also helps her find the right clothes. So the arousal is still the supreme motive.

Jordan has felt like a female since early childhood and by puberty she was really depressed. She would hide her femininity

in her room and cross dress when her parents were gone. She worked very hard at masculinity and joined the Army requesting really hard duty to prove herself that she was a

man. It did not work. Finally, she made an announcement first to close friends, a support group and finally her parents. In many ways, her brain structure mimics that of a biological female. She feels burdened by the penis and may use strapping to hide it except to go the bathroom which she does sitting down. She dresses the way that she does because she wants to be complete. If she had the money she would have the surgery. She is in counseling and has taken hormones so that  she has breasts , she wants the feeling of closure which

may happen someday if she can get the surgery.

True Selves is a vast exploration and handbook to help transgendered, relatives and  friends. It is the inside story of

changing and passing as the other sex. She wants to come to a point where her outward body is connected to her core identity. She wants closure and that is her motivation.

The early portions of the book describe the psychic struggle and humiliation that appears to come with the territory of the transgendered. The three young ladies described above all dress for very different reasons. Jordan feels like a female and wants to be like a female.

She goes through therapy, nutrition, hormone, and social skills to be a female. She learns how to pass. In support group she

finds help. She is also assisted by those females who want to be male. The complete story is that both sexes who want the change have similar desires to be a complete person. Courtney and Allison are alien to them.

The authors also describe how to journal, apply for a job, adjust a vita, visit other trans. They are shown  how to relate to very, very straight people who are totally unaware of what has been described above. Some may want trans to be  hurt or converted or other untoward activity, but they will also find many supportive folks as gays have discovered recently.

The rest of the book deals with adapting  to the wider world. There are many  practical illustrations and specific notes attached with that particular situation.

This a very good book and a very helpful one. Even though it is a bit  dated, it is still selling in large franchise book stores and online. Both the general public and academia will appreciate this book. Transgendered and related folks will treasure it.

Prof. Joel C. Snell

Kirkwood College