Real Gender

Danièle Moyal-Sharrock is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire.Constantine Sandis is Founding Director of Lex Academic and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire.

"In an atmosphere dominated by toxic lies and misunderstandings about transgender people, this wonderful book is a much-needed antidote. It is clear, comprehensive, careful, level-headed, humane, and fair. If you want to cut through the myths and actually understand transgender, this book is essential reading."Sophie-Grace Chappell, The Open University"Real Gender is a vigorous defence of trans identities against the rising tide of anti-trans sentiment. Written by two cis-identified philosophers for a largely 'cis' audience, it shoulders a burden that many trans people are coming to find too soul-destroying to bear on our own. Although written by two non-trans authors, the book is firmly grounded in trans theory and replete with a diversity of trans voices (thankfully sparing us the frustration of having to repeat ourselves). Moyal-Sharrock and Sandis demonstrate how non-trans philosophers might pursue trans philosophy in a way that is both affirming and useful. Smart and well argued, this is a most welcome contribution to the burgeoning literature."Talia Mae Bettcher, California State University, Los Angeles"Real Gender is essential reading for our times. It's a book that takes on the views and news that have made of transgender such a bugbear today. It's also a book about real transgendered people, including, vitally, in their own voices, stories and images. The authors are not trans but – especially at this moment – as they say, solidarity matters."Jay Prosser, University of Leeds"Real Gender is a well-written and highly engaging book. Writing about such a contentious topic in a nuanced way is no easy task. Gender identity is not merely an academic question; it is also a struggle for equal rights and living conditions. The stakes go beyond conceptual clarity to practical implications. In this sense, the book raises essential questions about how concepts like 'woman' are defined—whether biologically, socially, or functionally—and what this means for societal organization [...] the book succeeds in shedding light on the complexities of gender identity and its relevance to both individual self-understanding and societal structures.'"Journal of Political Philosophy"Real Gender succeeds in showing how trans-lives already exist and are lived (and have been lived throughout human history), in the most concrete sense... Wittgenstein was criticizing logicians for not engaging with the lived and animal nature of language, and Moyal-Sharrock and Sandis do right in claiming that the TERF-perspective in a similar way is creating a grammar detached from the very lived circumstances where words like man and woman gain their meaning."Nordic Wittgenstein Review

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsText and Image CreditsPrologue from 'The Wild Side'Chapter 1: The Woman QuestionChapter 2: False AlarmsChapter 3: 'I Say Therefore I Am?': Gender and Self-IdentificationChapter 4: Trans Kids: 'Out of the Mouths of Babes'Chapter 5: Bedrock GenderChapter 6: Gender Born and LivedChapter 7: Gender Across Time and PlaceChapter 8: Reconceptualizing Gender (from the Stream of Life)Epilogue: The Way ForwardNotesBibliographyIndex