Understanding Trans Health: Discourse, Power and Possibility - Hardcover

Pearce, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 144734233X ISBN 13: 9781447342335

Publisher: Policy Press, 2018

Synopsis

This is the first book to provide an in-depth sociological examination of the contemporary social and material conditions of health for transgender people. It draws upon the findings of a six-year ethnographic project in the United Kingdom that looked at the challenges faced by trans patients and the practitioners who work with them. Ruth Pearce shows that patients and practitioners are frequently divided by their different understandings of what it means for someone to be trans, a situation that is complicated by the operation of professional power within medical settings and that has profound consequences for both healthcare provision and for trans communities more widely.

About this title

About the Author:

Ruth Pearce is a researcher and tutor based in the sociology department at the University of Warwick.

Review:

“Recommended. . .Pearce has written what she terms an "autoethnography," in which she draws on her personal experience as a transgender person who has transitioned from male to female to understand trans health and trans health services in the UK. The author takes a critical look at trans healthcare services and providers in the UK, which she claims are often problematic due to many factors, including a lack of understanding of what it means to be transgender in addition to prejudice and a general reluctance to embrace change on the part of some providers. The chapter on historical approaches to gender diversity in Western societies is thorough and informative, as is the chapter on the diagnostic criteria that must be met in order for an individual to access trans services from the UK's National Health Service.”
  (Choice)

“This book offers sophisticated yet clear explanations of the terrain of trans health in the UK, with superb analytic purchase—made all the more impressive by its accessibility and candor.” (Sociology of Health and Illness)

About this edition

• Publisher: Policy Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 144734233X
• ISBN 13: 9781447342335
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224