Selected and reviewed by James Park.

Red comments are the evaluations and opinions of this reviewer.

1. John Money 

The Adam Principle:
Genes, Genitals, Hormones, & Gender:
Selected Readings in Sexology

(Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993)       364 pages

     This is a collection of scientific papers
discussing many variations of sex and gender.

(The Roman numerals beginning each paragraph indicate the variations
discussed in each of the related bibliographies listed at the end of this file.)

     (I) ambiguity of biological sex caused by unusual chromosomes
and various syndromes caused by
unusual hormone-mixes and insensitivities
that lead to unusual sexual morphology and perhaps psychology.
Some children born intersexed were raised as girls, others as boys,
demonstrating the power of sex-assignment and rearing.
These individuals who were born between the sexes
were followed with respect to the following behaviors: fantasy, dating,
sexual behavior, marriage, & reproduction or parenthood by adoption.

     (II) transsexualism, the impact of sexual birth defects
on the male/female self-designation of the individuals
and their later requests for sex-changes.

     (V) sexual orientation: Is adult heterosexuality,
homosexuality, or bisexuality affected by the following factors:
sexual birth-defects; a period of uncertainty about one's sex;
pre-natal hormones; being the sex-partner of a pedophile;
situational homosexuality in prison?

     (VI) Transvestism is discussed mainly
in the chapter on gynemimesis—men imitating women.

     John Money has laid the groundwork
for at least the next generation of sexology.

2. Robert J. Stoller, MD 

Sex and Gender:
On the Development of Masculinity and Femininity

(New York: Science House, 1968)       383 pages

     A Freudian psychoanalyst looks at several variations
from standard sex and gender: transsexuals, cross-dressers,
people with unusual sex-scripts, homosexuals, bisexuals,
people assigned to the wrong sex at birth, & intersex individuals.

     Some of the Freudian presuppositions mar the book:
Most variations should be traced to the mother.
Women suffer from "penis envy".
People who are interested in art and music are "feminine".
Stoller suffers from several common confusions of sex and gender
in this book, but he changed his mind in later books.
Thus this book now stands as part of the history of attempting
to understand variations of sex and gender.

3. Robert J. Stoller, MD

Perversion:
The Erotic Form of Hatred

(New York: Pantheon, 1975)
(reprint: London, UK: Karnac Books, 1986)       240 pages

     Stoller takes another look at several unusual sexual behaviors
(homosexuality, cross-dressing, transsexualism, pornography),
but he does not successfully formulate a comprehensive theory.
Childhood trauma, resulting in hostility and hatred, probably explains
only some of the unusual sex-scripts explored in this book.
Historical beginnings of exploration into imprinted sex-scripts.

4. Robert J. Stoller, MD 

Presentations of Gender

(New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1985)       219 pages

     Continuing the observations contained in his earlier books,
Stoller draws on further years of experience with clients
who came to him with "gender disorders", an expression
that seems to cover any variation from standard sex or gender:
boys who were 'feminine', transsexuals, cross-dressers,
homosexuals, & people with sexual 'fetishes'.

    Stoller believes that the close-binding mother is going to make
her sons 'feminine', especially if the father is absent or weak.
Perhaps these beliefs originated with Freud,
but they still have a strong hold on the popular mind.
Stoller seems to put the variations (for boys) on a single continuum:
(1) becoming 'feminine',
(2) cross-dressing,
(3) becoming homosexual,
(4) becoming a male-to-female transsexual.

    But these phenomena are probably independent of one another,
arising from different sources:
(1) Femininity is enculturated over years of socialization.
(2) Cross-dressing occurs for several different reasons.
(3) Homosexual sex-scripts (as well as hetero) are imprinted.
(4) And male/female self-designation ("I am a boy." or "I am a girl.")
is imprinted before age 18 months.
If Stoller had lived long enough to use these new hypotheses,
he might have made much better sense
of what his clients were experiencing.

5. Felicity Haynes & Tarquam KcKenna, editors

Unseen Genders:
Beyond the Binaries

(New York: Peter Lang: www.peterlang.com, 2001)
(ISBN: 0-8204-5024-3; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ1075.U65 2001)       239 pages

    Some of the chapters were created for
the Third International Congress on Sex and Gender, 1998.
The basic purpose of this anthology
is to make the world safer for all variations of sex and gender.
And the basic attempt is to show
that all binaries related to human beings are false:
There is no definitive way to separate male & female,
masculine & feminine, straight & gay,  etc.

    Almost all of the contributors to this volume
have some variation of sex and/or gender.
And their purpose is as much political as scientific.
They want to make their own variations more acceptable.
And they do not add to our scientific understanding of any variations.

    This reviewer has no objections
to persons with unusual sex and/or gender
trying to make their variations better known and more accepted.
But it seems to me that they go too far when they expect
everyone to give up the basic categories male and female, etc.
and regard every person as having only socially-provided identity.

    The authors have experienced problems and rejection
because of their variations from standard sex and gender.
Some write bitterly about their rejection by their 'oppressors'.
They see themselves as "unseen", non-existent, marginalized, etc.
And they hope that their thinking and writing
will reverse some of these negative responses.

    This collection lacks any scientific attempt
to understand the variations of sex and/or gender.
The only variations that have a physical basis
are the biological birth-defects,
which most of these writers do not regard as 'defects' at all.
They mostly follow the party line of organized intersexuals
that babies born different from male and female babies
should not be 'corrected' surgically to be closer to one sex or the other.

    The contributors cite the same authors over and over again.
But no alternative voices are heard.

    Gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and other variations of sex and gender
are welcomed by enlightened cultures world-wide.
And when deeper understanding of such variations is achieved,
the acceptance will be even more universal.

    A complete table of contents can be discovered
by searching the Internet for "Unseen Genders".

(San Francisco, CA: Cleis Press, 1994)       264 pages
(ISBN: 0-939416-88-3; hardcover)
(ISBN: 0-939416-89-1; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ76.4.U5354 1994)

    This is a collection of journalistic pieces created for the gay press,
discussing the cutting edge of sexual behavior, 1977-1994:
pornography (gay, lesbian, & straight); lesbian sexuality;
right-wing feminists against pornography; censorship laws;
age of consent for sex; men having sex with boys;
sadomasochism; sale of all forms of sexual services;
gender-bending; multiple sexual partners; & more.

    In every case, Califia argues for more freedom, not less.
People should be allowed to be sexual in any ways they please.
But they do need to consider the rights of others.

7. Brett Beemyn & Mickey Eliason, editors

Queer Studies:
A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Anthology

(New York: New York University Press, 1996)       318 pages
(ISBN: 0-8147-1257-6; hardcover)
(ISBN: 0-8147-1258-4; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ76.25.Q385 1996)

    Twenty academics with some variation of sex and/or gender
explore the many dimensions of these variations.
They are all sympathetic to GBLTs.
But none of these essays attempts to explain the phenomena.
Rather, the book is more political, attempting to deal with
social oppression based on variations of sex and gender.

    There is deep concern about the best concepts for each variation,
for example how different racial and ethnic groups deal with lesbianism.

    There is no discussion of the sexuality
of people who have variations of sex and gender.
That is all left implicit and understood
—perhaps because the authors assume that the only readers
will be people who already understand everything
about their variant sexual feelings and behavior.
If all the readers are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender,
they need no exploration of these phenomena.
Rather, they need to work on their common oppression.

    There is some discussion of the disputes
within the collection of all people
who have some variation of sex and/or gender,
for example conflicts between lesbian and bisexual women.
Each sub-group claims to be
more marginalized and erased than the others.

    This anthology gives a few glimpses into the minds of
college professors who participate in the various communities
of people who have some variation of sex and/or gender.
But it adds little to the understanding of the phenomena.

8. Gordene Olga MacKenzie 

Transgender Nation

(Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1994)       190 pages
(ISBN: 0-87972-596-6; hardcover)
(ISBN: 0-87927-597-4; paperback)
(Library of Congress call number: HQ77.M54 1994)

     This book supports all variations of sex and gender.
It is written from within the emerging sub-culture itself.
The author has had considerable contact with individuals in New Mexico
who vary from standard patterns of sex and gender in several ways.

     As of the early 1990s, there was already a movement
within the 'transgender nation' away from conceptions
imposed by the scientific and medical establishments.
People were beginning to claim the right to live as any sex or gender
—with or without the approval and/or help of the medical profession.
Increasingly, these individuals were merely living as the other sex
if that seemed right to them.

     This is another addition to the literature of transsexualism
from the perspective of the transsexuals themselves.
Each person with some variation of sex and/or gender
usually develops some personal explanation
before he or she begins any scientific reading
or begins to consult any professionals.
The author favors transsexual persons remaining active
in the 'gender' community
rather than fading into the general population
as unremarkable males and females.

[last]. James Park

Variations of Sex & Gender:
Six Phenomena Frequently Confused

    Most of us have standard patterns of sex and gender,
but human persons come in infinite variety.
This book explores six areas of variation:

(1) biological sex—female, male, or in-between;

(2) male/female self-designation—women, men, & transsexuals;

(3) sex-roles—everyday behavior assigned on the basis of sex;

(4) gender-personalities—different ways of being 'masculine' or 'feminine';

(5) sexual orientation—heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual;

    This bibliography is related to several others in sexology.
Here is the complete list:

Sexology                                      B-SEXOLO

Sex-Script Hypothesis                 B-SEX-SC

Variations of Sex and Gender      B-V-SG

I. Intersex                                     B-CRIT

II. Transsexualism                        B-TS

Transsexual Autobiographies      B-TS-AB

III. Sex-Roles                                B-ROLE

IV. Gender-Personality                 B-GEND

V. Sexual Orientation                   B-ORNT

VI. Cross-Dressing                       B-TV