ABSTRACT
Gender identity is a highly politicised area. It has been subject to the attention of political and sociological theorists, of radical activists and conservatives. It can be viewed in a huge number of different and sometimes sharply opposed ways. Expositions about the two spirit people of North America often follow gender identity disorders. This generalises out to the view that such states are part of life's rich tapestry, and ought not to be medicalised. In stark contradistinction is the view that gender identity disorders represent a wholly physical problem, either in that every organ bar the brain is inappropriately of the other sex, or that there has been some kind of endocrine or birth anomaly. This viewpoint appears to be that of medicalisation at the expense of even a hint of psychologisation. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
