Wondrous Transformations
A Maverick Physician, the Science of Hormones, and the Birth of the Transgender Revolution
By Alison Li
272 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 11 halftones, notes, bibl., index
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Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-7485-8
Published: September 2023
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Drawing from extensive research in archival documents, secondary sources, and interviews, Li tells the story of Benjamin's early ventures in gerontology and his later work with over a thousand transgender patients. Benjamin's contributions to treatment, education, research, and networking helped to create the institutional foundations of transgender medicine. Moreover, they set the stage for a radical reconsideration of gender identity, challenging us to reflect upon what it is to be male or female and to envision moving beyond these long-held categories.
About the Author
Alison Li is a historian of science and medicine who writes about hormones, medical research, and the culture in which they are shaped. She is coeditor of Women, Health, and Nation: Canada and the United States since 1945.
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Reviews
"A smart and highly readable contribution to transgender studies."βPublishers Weekly
"I've been hoping for a long time that somebody would write this book. Alison Li has produced a highly readable, authoritatively researched biography of Harry Benjamin, whose contributions to transgender medicine are not as widely known as they should be. A much-needed corrective."βSusan Stryker, author of Transgender History
"With Wondrous Transformations, Alison Li has written a compelling and eminently readable biography that is at the same time magisterial in the scope and depth of its research. A must-read for anyone interested in the history of science, medicine, or trans iterations of the same."βJules Gill-Peterson, author of Histories of the Transgender Child