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Lesbian Studies Editor's Recommended Book
In Sex Changes sex radical activist Pat Califia puts contemporary transsexual politics into historical context. Starting with a compelling personal essay about her own perceptions of transgenderism, Califia goes on to examine narratives by early transgendered folk such as Christine Jorgensen, Jan Morris, and Mark Rees. She analyzes the role of "gender scientists" of the 1950s and '60s on perceptions of gender dysphoria, then brings the material up to date with references to modern activists, including Leslie Feinberg and Kate Bornstein.

Gay Studies Editor's Recommended Book
Common sense has dictated that there are two genders--female and male. But this perspective is becoming less accepted and making less sense for many people. Pat Califia's Sex Changes is a frank, forthright, and sometimes funny challenge to the traditional ideas about gender and sexuality. Transgenderism is the term used to describe people who feel they belong to both, or neither, traditional genders. Califia--a vocal sex radical as well as a therapist--explores the worlds of biology, sociology, psychology, and politics and comes to the conclusion that life and personal experience is far more complicated than most people believe and that the simple two-gender system most people accept is more harmful that helpful. Clear-headed writing and enormous empathy for everyone who exists outside of "the norm" make Sex Changes challenging and vital reading.

LIBRARY JOURNAL
"only Califia writes with such explicitness and honesty as to make gays and lesbians as well as straights squirm in their chairs. But while Califia can make you embarrassed, angry, indignant, afraid, or aroused, it is not without higher purpose Highly recommended."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Always intelligent, but never academic, Califia takes bold, unpopular stances on censorship and sexual freedom No aspect of sex is too forbidden or too undignified to merit Califia's critical attention..."

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From Kirkus Reviews , September 15, 1991
An elaborate theory by Garber (English/Harvard), insisting that the transvestite is at the elusive heart of Western culture. In a century-sweeping book, Garber applies current critical thought to the phenomenon of ``cross-dressing'' in fact and fiction, high culture and low. Arguing that gender is culturally constructed, she contends that cross-dressing challenges the binary categories of male and female as well as the concept of category itself. It signals ``cultural, social or aesthetic dissonances.'' Garber argues that critics have looked ``through,'' not ``at,'' the transvestite, failing to see what is a Freudian ``primal scene.'' Defined here again and again, the transvestite is ``the space of desire,'' ``a space of possibility,'' a ``third.'' Garber plays out her theory in detailed analyses of countless transvestite figures- -Shakespearean heroines, Tootsie, Lawrence of Arabia, M. Butterfly, Madonna, and Laurence Olivier (here portrayed at death as ``the triumphant transvestite''). There is no shortage of provocative speculation and information, some worth considering and some--like that about transvestite magazines and the politics of transsexual surgery--not. Unfortunately, the sub-flooring of French critical terms sets Garber's argument on a slippery slope ending up too often in a theoretical mire where ``the transvestite is both a signifier and that which signifies the undecidability of signification.'' A discussion of Elizabethan dress codes and costuming concludes with the typically reductive claim that ``there is no ground of Shakespeare that is not already cross-dressed.'' Also, when critical terms are rampantly applied--Elvis and Liberace, for instance, labeled, like Peter Pan, ``changeling boys''--they quickly lose impact. Bound for controversy, this study admirably attempts to cross from the academy to popular culture, but theory here acts less as a window onto cultural evolution than as a screen drawing attention its own overwrought, repetitive pattern. (Color and b&w illustrations--150--some seen.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Synopsis
A revolutionary and wide-ranging examination of transvestism ranging from Shakespeare and Mark Twain to Oscar Wilde and Peter Pan, from transsexual surgery and transvestite sororities to Madonna and Flip Wilson. The author examines the nature and importance of cross-dressing and society's recurring fascination with it. 40 pages of inserts, 8 in color.

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Joann Roberts, Coping With Crossdressing (Creative Design Services, 1991), $12.00 

Joann Roberts, Art and Illusion: A Guide to Crossdressing, Vol. 1, Face & Hair 

Joann Roberts, Art and Illusion: A Guide to Crossdressing, Vol. 2, Fashion & Style (1994) 

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Book Description
My Husband Wears My Clothes is the first book to be written by the wife of a crossdresser. "Clothes don't make the man" has a new meaning. Dr. Rudd addresses many of the questions frequently asked by the spouses, families, and friends of men who cross gender lines and candidly explores the related emotions that range from frustration to elation.

Dr. Rudd is a helping professional who reaches out empathetically to all crossdressers and their families. Through her example as the wife of a crossdresser, she demonstrates that total acceptance is both possible and rewarding.

From the Publisher
My Husband Wears My Clothes has become the number one book on the unique topic of crossdressing. The author, Dr. Peggy Rudd, describes both the positives and many of the problems faced by wives and partners of crossdressers and suggests solutions. This book is a "must read" for anyone in a transgendered relationship or anyone interested in the phenomenon of men who cross gender lines. This book is frequently the first book to be read by a spouse or partner when she discovers that her husband/partner is a crossdresser.

From the Author
Today the expression, "Clothes don't make the man," has a new meaning for me. My husband is as loveable in my clothes as in his. He is a more complete person when the feminine side of his personality is openly expressed by wearing feminine clothing. For me acceptance and understanding have been accomplished by reading on the topic, interacting with other men who crossdress and their significant others, and being sensitive to my husband and his needs.

In writing this book I am not exalting or advocating crossdressing. My purpose is to help eliminate many of the misconceptions. Society has been repressive. This is because people do not understand the true feelings and behavioral patterns of crossdressers. What people do not understand, they tend to fear, and fear breeds prejudice. As the reader grows in awareness my hope is that tolerance and understanding will grow proportionately. I do not expect readers to accept all of my thoughts and theories, but I do hope that the topic of crossdressing can be approached with an open mind.

About the Author
Peggy J. Rudd, Ed.D received her Doctoral Degree from the University of Houston in Cultural Studies and Psychology. She has written four books on the topic of crossdressing "crossing gender lines" including her newest book to be published in May, 1998, Who's Really From Venus? The Tale of Two Genders. She serves on the Board of Directors of Tri-Ess, the Advisory Board of AEGIS, and is the Director of the Spouses and Partners International Conference for Education (SPICE). She has conducted numerous workshops and seminars on the topic of transgender relationships and has received many honors including the IFGE Trinity Award and the Tri-Ess Leader Servant Award.

Rudd has also written three other books on crossdressing: 

Crossdressers : And Those Who Share Their Lives which offers the pictures and stories of fifty crossdressers and their wives; Crossdressing With Dignity : The Case for Transcending Gender Lines which picks up where her first book left off; and Who's Really from Venus? : The Tale of Two Genders which is takeoff on the similarly titled popular self-help book. 

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Reviews
Amazon.com
Veronica Vera is an artist, sex activist, and founder of the world's first cross-dressing academy, a truly fabulous institution that has been serving the unique educational needs of "boys who want to be girls" since 1992. Serving more than 100 students a year at her New York City campus, Miss Vera offers courses in makeup application, how to walk in high heels, etiquette for budding princesses, sex education, and, of course, getting frocked. More importantly, she teaches each member of her largely heterosexual male clientele to develop his inner femme and to "take the insights of his femmeself and integrate them into his male persona."

Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls is an informative textbook for readers who want practical advice about all things femme (complete with illustrations and homework assignments). It includes an anecdotal "herstory" of Miss Vera's experiences as a pleasure activist and gender educator and a delightful document of the transformation of the academy's students as they prance toward "gender euphoria" in high heels and glimmering tiaras. This is an indispensable guide for emerging femmes of all ages, sexes, and sexual orientations, as well as an insightful, humorous, and sassy work sure to interest all devotees of gender studies. --Julia Steinmetz

Book Description
It is estimated that three to five percent of the adult male population of the United States feels the need, at least occasionally, to dress in women's clothing. Judging from enrollment at her academy, Miss Vera would say that figure is low.

Veronica Vera founded Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls in 1992 and started a gender revolution. Working from the pink palace of the Academy's intimate Manhattan campus, she has helped hundreds of students embrace and master Venus Envy through her expert instruction in the arts of dressing up, making up, going out, and acting like a lady. In her new book, she shares her priceless wisdom with the world.

With sparkling wit and dazzling insight, Miss V gives us the 411 on body hair, foundation garments, make-up, and dressing, as well as offering invaluable advice on Creating a Herstory (finding the real life story of the femmeself within) speech, manners, walking in high heels, and--that biggest step of all--going out in the real world all dressed up. Amply illustrated and filled with the real stories of students and graduates, Miss Vera's Finishing School also offers a fascinating history of how the Academy came to be, as well as Miss Vera's own incisive gender manifesto.

"As we step boldly toward the new millennium, many more of us will be doing it in high heels," says Veronica Vera. In Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls, she proves conclusively that, after a long day in wingtips, there's nothing like slipping into a pair of spiked heels.

Synopsis
For every woman who has burned her bra, there's a man ready to wear one. Or so says Veronica Vera, who founded Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls in 1992 as a resource for that part of the adult male population that feels the need to dress in women's clothing. This book unveils the naked truth about cross-dressing in a fun and philosophical way for would-be girls--and real girls, too! 35 photos.

From the Publisher
It is estimated that three to five percent of the adult male population of the United States feels the need, at least occasionally, to dress in women's clothing. Judging from enrollment at her academy, Miss Vera would say that figure is low.

Veronica Vera founded Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls in 1992 and started a gender revolution. Working from the pink palace of the Academy's intimate Manhattan campus, she has helped hundreds of students embrace and master Venus Envy through her expert instruction in the arts of dressing up, making up, going out, and acting like a lady. In her new book, she shares her priceless wisdom with the world.

With sparkling wit and dazzling insight, Miss V gives us the 411 on body hair, foundation garments, make-up, and dressing, as well as offering invaluable advice on Creating a Herstory (finding the real life story of the femmeself within) speech, manners, walking in high heels, and--that biggest step of all--going out in the real world all dressed up. Amply illustrated and filled with the real stories of students and graduates, Miss Vera's Finishing School also offers a fascinating history of how the Academy came to be, as well as Miss Vera's own incisive gender manifesto.

"As we step boldly toward the new millennium, many more of us will be doing it in high heels," says Veronica Vera. In Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls, she proves conclusively that, after a long day in wingtips, there's nothing like slipping into a pair of spiked heels.