Changing Sex and Bending Gender

Published by Berghahn Books 2005

Changing Sex and Bending Gender

Edited by: Alison Shaw and Shirley Ardener

Volume 1 in the series Social Identities

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857458858

Overview
Contents

About this book

Anthropologists and historians have shown us that 'male' and 'female' are variously defined historically and cross-culturally. The contributions to this volume focus on the voluntary and involuntary, temporary or permanent transformation of gender identity. Overall, this volume provides powerful and compelling illustrations of how, across a wide range of cultures, processes of gender transformation are shaped within, and ultimately constrained by, social and political context. From medical responses to biological ambiguity, legal responses to cases brought by transsexuals, the historical role of the eunuch in Byzantium, the social transformation of gender in Northern Albania and in the Southern Philippines, to North American 'drag' shows, English pantomime and Japanese kabuki theatre, this volume offers revealing insights into the ambiguities and limitations of gender transformation.

Author / Editor information

Alison Shaw is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, Department of Public Health. Her research interests include medical anthropology, ethnicity, kinship and social aspects of genetics. Her publications include Kinship and Continuity: Pakistani families in Britain (Harwood/Routledge 2000); A Pakistani Community in Britain (Oxford: Blackwell 1888) and Get by in Hindi and Urdu (1989 BBC Books).

Shirley Ardener is a Senior Associate of Queen Elizabeth House, the University of Oxford's International Development Centre. She was the Founding Director of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women, now known as the International Gender Studies Centre, whose programme was recognised by her OBE, and of which she is an active honorary member. She has edited and contributed to many books on gender and is the editor of Berghahn's series Cameroon Studies.

Alison Shaw is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, Department of Public Health. Her research interests include medical anthropology, ethnicity, kinship and social aspects of genetics. Her publications include Kinship and Continuity: Pakistani families in Britain (Harwood/Routledge 2000); A Pakistani Community in Britain (Oxford: Blackwell 1888) and Get by in Hindi and Urdu (1989 BBC Books).

Reviews

“Overall, the book is a marvellous example of cross-discipline contributions to one topical subject - sex and gender - and anyone curious, or concerned, about historical and cultural constructions of sex and gender should pick it up. As the first in the Social Identities Series, this reviewer will be interested in future volumes and contributions to the subject.” • Third Space: A Journal of Feminist & Film Culture

“…texts such as Changing Sex and Bending Gender are so necessary. An engaging and interesting text, this book should appeal to a wide audience – from those now to the topic to those who have explored this gendered path before.” • Anthropological Forum

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
PREFACE Shirley Ardener Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1 CHANGING SEX AND BENDING GENDER: AN INTRODUCTION Alison Shaw Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 IS IT A BOY, OR A GIRL? THE CHALLENGES OF GENITAL AMBIGUITY Alison Shaw Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
3 WHY SHOULD BIOLOGICAL SEX BE DECISIVE? TRANSSEXUALISM BEFORE THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS Marie-Bénédicte Dembour Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
4 TWO VIEWS ON THE GENDER IDENTITY OF BYZANTINE EUNUCHS Shaun Tougher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
5 THE THIRD SEX IN ALBANIA: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTE Roland Littlewood and Antonia Young Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
6 LIVING LIKE MEN, LOVING LIKE WOMEN: TOMBOI IN THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES Mark Johnson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
7 ONE OF THE GALS WHO’S ONE OF THE GUYS: MEN, MASCULINITY AND DRAG PERFORMANCE IN NORTH AMERICA Fiona Moore Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
8 MALE DAMES AND FEMALE BOYS: CROSS-DRESSING IN THE ENGLISH PANTOMIME Shirley Ardener Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
9 CROSS-DRESSING ON THE JAPANESE STAGE Brian Powell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 158
Keywords: Gender Studies and Sexuality; Theory and Methodology

eBook

Published: October 1, 2005
ISBN: 9780857458858