"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Gender and Psychiatry

Interesting post by hilzoy on transgenderism and our reactions to it. The kicker is that the APA is getting ready to revise DSM IV and has put Kenneth Zucker in has head of the committee dealing with trangenderism (officially, the "Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group"). He's not sympathetic to transpeople. (I happen to think his approach is flat wrong, but given that psychotherapy is largely shaped by social norms, it's a matter of emphasis as much as anything else.) I had read Autumn Sandeen's post at Pam's House Blend, which I frankly found largely incoherent until I read hilzoy's. Than her concerns started to make sense.

This is one of the areas where the concerns of gays and transgenders intersect, and I recommend hilzoy's post

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