Transgender Exigency

Edward Schiappa is the John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work in rhetorical theory and media studies has been published in journals in Classics, Psychology, Philosophy, English, Law, and Communication Studies. He is the author of a number of books, including Defining Reality: Definitions and the Politics of Meaning and Beyond Representational Correctness: Rethinking Criticism of Popular Media.

"Above all, this book provides a very basic service to our society’s vexed debates about transgender: it gives the empiricals. I have not come across a book that lays out the relevant factual background better than this one does. Through careful and detailed discussion of the particularities involved, Schiappa develops a pragmatic, moderate, and sensible approach to the main issues, culminating in his very helpful proposal to apply four different levels of gatekeeping to transgender people in different kinds of context. This moderate and context-nuanced approach is a sensible corrective to the ideological extremism that all too often comes from both sides." - Sophie Grace Chappell, Professor of Philosophy, Open University"Definitions matter: American, socialist, patriot, Trumpian. . . and woman. Schiappa does not think it is obvious that the state should be involved in all defining, though clearly it should in some. His warm, scholarly, humane, and readable book brings the discussion of trans rights and responsibilities to a higher level. But perhaps more significantly, it raises, too, the level of the discussion about definition itself. The next time you reach for a definition to make an argument, think Schiappa, and pause. A long time. So you don't start throwing rocks."- Deirdre N. McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Introduction, Part 1: Definitions and the Transgender Exigency, 1 The Role of Regulatory Definitions, 2 A Brief History of Defining Sex and Gender, 3 The Transgender Exigency, Part 2: Definitional Contexts, 4 Schools, 5 Bathrooms, 6 Military, 7 Sports, 8 Prisons, 9 Feminism, Part 3: What Now?, 10 A Pragmatic Approach to Defining Sex and Gender