ABSTRACT
Many trans men undergo sex reassignment surgery to reconstruct their genitalia into penises and are satisfied with their postoperative results. Yet, little is known in academia about their surgical journeys. Moreover, what we do know about their journeys is often distorted in queer-feminist theory and truncated in postsurgical medical reports. This chapter draws from testimonies of trans men who have had surgery and discusses some of the reasons trans men want penises, how they feel and relate to their new genitalia after surgery, and the transformative impact that it has on their lives. While offering a deeper, more intricate understanding of trans men’s journeys, the chapter also explores the implications of trans men’s desires for a penis for the ways in which gender identity, performativity and sexed embodiment are conceptualized and used as interpretive methods by queer and feminist theorists.
