Gender Shock

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Burke, who adheres to the school of thought that gender is a social construct rather than a natural characteristic, argues that Gender Identity Disorder (GID) should be abolished as a diagnostic category. Very young children and preadolescents whose behavior is deemed gender-inappropriate"tomboyish" girls, "effeminate" boysare forced by their parents, school psychologists and psychiatrists to undergo therapy for GID. Treatment can include behaviorism, drugs, psychoanalysis, close monitoring of voice, posture, gait and activities, even hospitalization. Burke presents numerous case histories to illustrate the damaging emotional effects such therapy can have on children who are straitjacketed by rigid gender stereotypes. In support of her thesis that masculine and feminine identities are artificial social constructs, Burke marshals studies of perceived physical attractiveness, then takes us inside workshops for male and female cross-dressers. She not only maintains that gender, sex and sexuality are three distinct domains but also asserts that "gender independent" individuals, people free from society's sexist stereotyping, are more flexible, and more accepting of their masculine and feminine components. (July)

Library Journal

As lesbian coparent to her partner's son, Burke (Family Values: Two Moms and Their Son, LJ 4/15/93) found herself challenged when asked, "Who will teach him to be a man?" In turn, the author challenges us to explore the connection between gender behavior and sexuality. Burke believes that sexmale, femaleis biological, while gender role is behavioral, or learned. She was herself shocked to discover that confusion of the two leads to such practices as gender identify disorders (GID) therapy, in which children as young as three are treated for not acting like a "typical" boy or girl. Much of this book comprises research and documented case histories of GID through the examination of three principal areas: behavior, appearance, and science. Burke feels we all need to acknowledge the feminine and masculine within ourselves to attain gender independence. A thought-provoking work that questions basic assumptions; recommended for academic and public libraries.Kathleen L. Atwood, Pomfret Sch. Lib., Conn.

Whitney Scott

Horror stories abound in this well-researched work exposing myths that surround the inflexible views of masculinity and femininity based primarily on appearance and behavior. There is the case of a child subjected, during 16 years of institutionalization, to electroshock treatments because of his preference for girls' toys. There is the brainwashing by mental health professionals who reward "appropriate" choices of clothing, behavior, and toys of a boy presumed "effeminate" because of lack of hand-eye coordination. Most frightening, though, is gender identity disorder (GID), which is used to identify children engaging in behaviors stereotypically associated with the opposite sex and formerly regarded as homosexual markers--this despite the removal in 1980 of homosexuality as an official disorder from the manual used by professionals to diagnose psychological disorders, A society in which women increasingly earn half or more of family income, Burke argues, must reexamine societal concepts of gender, distinguish gender and sexuality as separate elements of self, go beyond cultural myths, and offer new paths to our children.