Sissies and Tomboys: Gender Nonconformity and Homosexual Childhood - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814774849 ISBN 13: 9780814774847

Publisher: NYU Press, 1999

Synopsis

In 1973, homosexuality was officially depathologized with a revision in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatry. In 1980, a new diagnosis appeared: Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood (GID). The shift separated gender from sexuality, while it simultaneously reinforced traditional concepts of "male" and "female" and made it possible for cross-gendered behavior and/or identification to be deemed psychiatric illness.

What is the difference then between a child being called a sissy on the playground and being labeled with a disorder in a psychiatric hospital? Combining theory and personal narrative, this volume interrogates the meaning of "the normal" that pervades the literature on GID and investigates the theoretical underpinnings of the diagnosis. Sissies and Tomboys considers how the stigma of illness influences a child's development and what homosexual childhood, freed from the constraints of conventionally acceptable gender expression, might look like.

About this title

Review:

"Wonderful. . . . A fascinating and complex account of husbands struggling to assert their legal dominance in a changing cultural landscape, while law remained static. . . . "Stray Wives" is full of creative research and compelling new insights about marriage in early national America. Sievens's nuanced argument about power and interdependence within marriage is absolutely convincing. She also clearly demonstrates that legal change lagged behind cultural change, leaving husbands frustrated by their inability to rule."
-"William & Mary Quarterly",

"Sievens focuses on a rich and under-used source: the ads that appeared in early American newspapers alerting readers not to extend credit to run-away wives, as well as occasional replies made by wives themselves. This is a terrific source that illuminates marriage, gender, law, print culture, and community in early America. Sievens has shown considerable sensitivity and acuity, as well as diligence in the pre-digitized days, in her approach to these fascinating sources. This is an impressively lucid coverage resting on persuasive claims. . . . Indeed, this book, in its brevity, clarity, and inherent drama, may be of particular use in the classroom. A fine book on an important topic, it will certainly be of use to many working in this field."
-"Journal of Social History",

"Offers an engaging look at marital conflict at a key transitional time in the emotional and economic landscape of early national New England."
-"Journal of the Early Republic",

"Sievens shows how even when free of their marriages, women often remained dependent on male kin."
-"The Chronicle of Higher Education",

-,

Synopsis:

What is the difference between a child being called a sissy in the school playground and being labelled with a disorder in a psychiatric hospital? Combining theory and personal narrative, this volume examines the meaning of the "normal" that pervades the literature on GID (gender-identity disorder of childhood) and investigates the theoretical underpinnings of the diagnosis. It considers how the stigma of illness influences a child's development and what homosexual childhood, freed from the constraints of conventionally acceptable gender expression, might look like.

About this edition

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0814774849
• ISBN 13: 9780814774847
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344
• Editor: Rottnek Matthew