Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices

ABSTRACTAesthetic Plastic Surgeryproduces This essay investigates a divergence between medical and autobiographical accounts of transexuality. By analyzing a letter to the editor in the journal Aesthetic Plastic Surgery that defends trans patients as a “special case” (Selvaggi and Giordano, 2014), I...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Latham, Joe
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71725
_version_ 1848762556137603072
author Latham, Joe
author_facet Latham, Joe
author_sort Latham, Joe
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description ABSTRACTAesthetic Plastic Surgeryproduces This essay investigates a divergence between medical and autobiographical accounts of transexuality. By analyzing a letter to the editor in the journal Aesthetic Plastic Surgery that defends trans patients as a “special case” (Selvaggi and Giordano, 2014), I examine how medicine produces trans patients as a separate category of patients. The differential treatment paths of trans and nontrans people who pursue “gender-enhancing” medical interventions demonstrate a double standard that undermines claims to act in the best interest of the patient. Using the evidence of trans men’s accounts of themselves as well as research into the experiences of trans people from across the United Kingdom, Australia, and North America, I critique the medical management of transexuality and call on clinicians to rethink the treatment practices of trans medicine.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:49:26Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-71725
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:49:26Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Routledge
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-717252018-12-13T09:32:08Z Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices Latham, Joe ABSTRACTAesthetic Plastic Surgeryproduces This essay investigates a divergence between medical and autobiographical accounts of transexuality. By analyzing a letter to the editor in the journal Aesthetic Plastic Surgery that defends trans patients as a “special case” (Selvaggi and Giordano, 2014), I examine how medicine produces trans patients as a separate category of patients. The differential treatment paths of trans and nontrans people who pursue “gender-enhancing” medical interventions demonstrate a double standard that undermines claims to act in the best interest of the patient. Using the evidence of trans men’s accounts of themselves as well as research into the experiences of trans people from across the United Kingdom, Australia, and North America, I critique the medical management of transexuality and call on clinicians to rethink the treatment practices of trans medicine. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71725 10.1080/15240657.2016.1238682 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Latham, Joe
Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices
title Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices
title_full Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices
title_fullStr Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices
title_full_unstemmed Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices
title_short Making and Treating Trans Problems: The Ontological Politics of Clinical Practices
title_sort making and treating trans problems: the ontological politics of clinical practices
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71725