Transgender studies is a heterogeneous site of debate that is marked by tensions, border wars, and rifts both within the field and among feminist and queer theorists. Intersecting the domains of women’s studies, sexuality, gender and transgender studies, Debates in Transgender, Queer, and Feminist Theory provides a critical analysis of key texts and theories, engaging in a dialogue with prominent theorists of transgendered identity, embodiment and sexual politics, and intervening in various aspects of a conceptually and politically difficult terrain. A central concern is the question of whether the theories and practices needed to foster and secure the lives of transsexuals and transgendered persons will be promoted or undermined - a concern that raises broader social, political, and ethical questions surrounding assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sexual difference; perceptions of transgendered embodiments and identities; and conceptions of divergent desires, goals and visions.

Transgender studies is a heterogeneous site of debate that is marked by tensions, border wars, and rifts both within the field and among feminist and queer theorists. Intersecting the domains of women's studies, sexuality, gender and transgender studies, Debates in Transgender, Queer, and Feminist Theory provides a critical analysis of key texts and theories, engaging in a dialogue with prominent theorists of transgendered identity, embodiment and sexual politics, and intervening in various aspects of a conceptually and politically difficult terrain. A central concern is the question of whether the theories and practices needed to foster and secure the lives of transsexuals and transgendered persons will be promoted or undermined - a concern that raises broader social, political, and ethical questions surrounding assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sexual difference; perceptions of transgendered embodiments and identities; and conceptions of divergent desires, goals and visions.

Queer ideas have unsettled other forms of exploring gender and sexuality in particular feminism and feminists have been significant critics. This book explores the debates between feminist and queer theorizing to seek out interconnections and identify new directions in thinking about sexuality and gender that may emerge out of and at the interface.

Transgender studies is a heterogeneous site of debate that is marked by tensions, border wars, and rifts both within the field and among feminist and queer theorists. Intersecting the domains of women’s studies, sexuality, gender and transgender studies, Debates in Transgender, Queer, and Feminist Theory provides a critical analysis of key texts and theories, engaging in a dialogue with prominent theorists of transgendered identity, embodiment and sexual politics, and intervening in various aspects of a conceptually and politically difficult terrain. A central concern is the question of whether the theories and practices needed to foster and secure the lives of transsexuals and transgendered persons will be promoted or undermined - a concern that raises broader social, political, and ethical questions surrounding assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sexual difference; perceptions of transgendered embodiments and identities; and conceptions of divergent desires, goals and visions.

The first comprehensive presentation of an explicitly transgender theory. This theory goes beyond feminist and queer theory by incorporating the idea of fluid embodiment and lived experience in conceptualizing gender and sexual identity. Beyond developing a formulation of transgender theory that incorporates the socially constructed, embodied, and self-constructed aspects of identity in the narrative of lived experiences, the authors discuss the implications of this “trans-identity theory” for theory, research, and practice.

In recent years, the influence of queer theory and adjacent ideas rooted in postmodernism and critical theory has distorted the discussion around trans issues. This has led to confusion about why trans people transition, and the decentering of the actual experience of trans lives in the public trans discourse. In turn, these developments have likely contributed to a slow down in trans acceptance and even backlash in some segments of society. Queer theory sees both gender and sexuality as entirely socially constructed, and to be deconstructed. As such, queer theory resists having stable definitions and identities for everything. The problem with this approach is that it practically denies the ability of people to have a stable identity with a stable meaning at all. Right now, what trans people need most is for the rest of the world to understand us better. An ideology that basically says trans people are not understandable is certainly not what we need right now. I believe that those of us who believe in using free speech to advance trans understanding and acceptance should instead work to encourage a trans discourse that is rooted in objectively observable facts. This book is written from a broadly liberal, and at times specifically Moral Libertarian point of view. As a Moral Libertarian, I value free speech, I believe in sharing a reality with other people rooted in the objective truth, and that judgement of right and wrong is possible by observing objective facts and outcomes. This worldview is at the root of my advocacy for a return to a fact-based trans discourse, and my opposition to postmodernism more generally. However, the argument made here is also about what is best for trans people, as well as what is good for society in general. Hence, one does not necessarily need to be a Moral Libertarian, or otherwise agree with my politics, to agree with the arguments presented here.

Western political theory typically incorporates certain assumptions about sex and gender as natural, unvarying and “pre-political.” This book critically examines these assumptions and shows how recent scholarship undermines the illusion that bodies exist outside politics and beyond the reach of the state. Leading political theorist Mary Hawkesworth’s cutting-edge intersectional account demonstrates how popular conceptions of human nature, public and private, citizenship, liberty, the state, and injustice relegate women, people of color, sexual minorities, and gender-variant people to inferior status despite constitutional guarantees of equality before the law. Hawkesworth argues that traditional political theory has contributed to the perpetuation of pernicious forms of injustice by masking the state’s role in the creation of subordinated and stigmatized subjects. The book draws insights from critical race, feminist, postcolonial, queer, and trans* theory to give a compelling, original, and highly readable introduction to historical and contemporary debates on gender and political theory for students.