The Man Who Invented Gender
The Man Who Invented Gender
Engaging the Ideas of John Money
In 1955, the controversial and innovative sexologist John Money first used the term “gender” in a way that we all now take for granted: to describe a human characteristic. Money’s work broke new ground, opening a new field of research in sexual science and giving currency to medical ideas about human sexuality. An ardent advocate for sexual liberation, he became something of a fixture in the popular imagination, giving expert testimony in court cases and being featured in Life and Playboy magazines.
Terry Goldie seeks to cut through Money’s talent for controversy and self-promotion by digging into the substance of Money’s theories and achievements. He offers, for the first time, a balanced and probing textual analysis of this pioneering scholar’s writing, to assess Money’s profound impact on the debates and research on sexuality and gender that dominated the last half of the twentieth century. Goldie reconsiders Money’s work and influence, paying specific attention to his work on intersex, transsexuality, homosexuality, pornography, and sexual liberation. Through his analysis, Goldie recovers Money’s brilliance and insight from simplistic dismissals of his work due to his involvement in the tragic David Reimer case, while never losing sight of his flaws.
This book is essential reading for scholars of gender studies in both cultural studies and medicine, and for anyone seeking a fuller interpretation of the leading sexologist’s theories and accomplishments.
Professor John Money was as controversial as he was influential in his field of Sexology. Terry Goldie has managed to capture the academic and personal impact that Money exerted on our concepts of gender, sex, and love. It is possible to argue for Money or against Money but no one should argue about Money before reading this book. Highly recommended.
In The Man Who Invented Gender, Terry Goldie performs an insightful, rich, and well-researched investigation into the life and legacy of John Money. This engaging book complicates and humanizes the much-maligned sexologist, and documents the multiple and varied shifts in public and academic reception that his research on gender and sexuality underwent over and beyond his lifetime.
Introduction: Sexual Behaviour in the Human
1 Once a Brethren Boy: The Early Years
2 Fixing Sex: Intersex
3 Lovemaps: The Relationship World
4 Man/Woman, Boy/Girl: Transsexuality
5 Gay, Straight, and In-Between: Homosexuality
6 The Edge of the Alphabet: Neologisms
7 What Wild Ecstasy: Sexual Liberation, Pedophilia, and Pornography
8 As Nature Made Him: The Reimer Case
Conclusion: Venuses Penuses
Works Cited
Index
The Canadian War on Queers
National Security as Sexual Regulation
By Gary Kinsman and Patrizia Gentile
