Sociology SOC-R 320 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Christine Jorgensen, Caroline Cossey, Transsexual
Document Summary
When sex =\ gender =\ sexual orientation/preference **next 3 points. Came to light in us in 1950s with case of christine jorgensen (born george jorgensen--grew up as male) Had sex reassignment surgery in scandinavia (denmark) --scandal! Advocated surgery and hormonal treatment to change body to match. 1980: referred to as gender dysphoria (in dsm) No symptoms except strong desire to be other sex. Had to appear before 2 dr. s and be certified that you"re not crazy or self-mutilating. Then undergo real-life test: living in role of woman for year-ish (able to have surgery if still desire after year) 1980s high point of sex reassignment surgery. Study by john meyer et al. (dr. at john hopkin"s univ) Doing follow-up studies of transexual people showed that surgery had no positive effect (actually lots of probs--regretted, high rate of suicide) So john hopkin"s univ stopped surgery (so go abroad to thailand to get surgery)