Pat Califia's "Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism" is a bold step forward towards the right to self-indentify, of not just trans folks, but af all persons. I'm astounded that some reviewers came away with an impression that Califia felt transexuals should not exist, or should not pursue surgery. She merely states many of the potential hazards of taking that big step. As a preoperative transexual woman, who has every intention of having GSR, I want all the information available, not just the info I want to hear. But I also felt that she was under the impression we're all going to get breast implants? Many of us are quite content with our hormone grown, and very sensitive breasts, thus all her talk about nipple insensitivity left me confused. The highlight of the book is how she counters J.Raymond and his ilk of hatemongering seperatists. While Bornstein tries to placate this group in her works and Wilchins challenges, but with "puppy eyes," Califia makes no apologies for referring to Raymond as "pigheaded" and shows Raymond to be little more than a well educated fanatic with a clear agenda of hatred. The comparison of Raymond to Anita Briant is perfect. The only problem I had with the book was too many long quotations from previous TG authors, whose works many readers, like myself, are already very familiar. Pat Califia has done a great service to the TG and particularly TS community. We should be proud to have her as an ally.
