Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction  1
1. On Origins  21
Interlude. The Procedures  39
2. Femininity in the Clinic  43
Interlude. Celebrate!  67
3. Cutting as Caring  71
4. Recognition and Refusal  89
Interlude. My Adam's Apple  109
5. The Operating Room  113
6. And After  135
Conclusion  151
Notes  157
References  169
Index  185

"In the early 1990s, Judith Butler theorized a new performative model of sex/gender; now Eric Plemons provides us with an exemplary ethnographic analysis of how that discursive model materialized as surgical practice, transforming medical treatment for transfeminine people along the way. It is a readable, well-argued, and deeply informed account of how what counts as 'sex' has shifted from genitals to faces over the last few decades. It is of interest not only to members of trans* communities, but to anyone working in the history or anthropology of medicine, and to scholars of gender, sexuality, and embodiment more generally." — Susan Stryker, coeditor of, The Transgender Studies Reader

"What does a woman look like? This fascinating ethnography of facial feminization surgery made me see that question in a new light. There is much here that troubles social constructionist accounts of gender. Sex inheres in skulls and jaws. By reshaping them in line with sex-specific population norms, surgeons help their patients to reach the ultimate frontier in 'passing' as women. But equally Eric Plemons shows that transient beauty ideals and different surgical practices guide sex transformation. A rigorous analysis that is also a sensitive portrayal of the embodied experiences of trans- people." — Alexander Edmonds, author of, Pretty Modern: Beauty, Sex, and Plastic Surgery in Brazil

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