"Growing up transgender in the 60s and 70s, when there weren’t many resources for gender dysphoric people, “Who She Wants to Be: an uncommon memoir,” recounts Tara’s life beginning with her childhood and trying to navigate what was expected of boys, but relating to and preferring the company of girls; dressing in her mom’s clothes and putting on her makeup (thinking she wouldn’t notice); confusion of who she was and trying to “cure” herself by destroying her girl’s clothes.
At 23, she began taking her mother’s estrogen pills then, on her own, found a doctor who would prescribe her hormones. She went in and out of transition until her mother urged her to get off the fence and come to terms with her transgender identity. The world opened for Tara once she became who she really was, gaining new friends and allies, and finding a generous gentleman who paid for her surgery."
"But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill memoir! Tara also presents the latest research on the origins of gender dysphoria that appears to have biological and genetic causes, resulting in a feminized brain in a male baby and vice versa, and tackles two very controversial issues within the transgender world that have fractured the trans community: detransition and autogynephilia. Detransition addresses the significant increase of young, cis-women who are identifying as male, go on testosterone injections and sometimes have surgery, then realize they weren’t transgender, revert to their biological gender and how they deal with the changes that hormones and surgery made to their bodies.
Autogynephilia is a male’s erotic obsession with the image of himself as female and is a basis, according to some scholars, for gender dysphoria. Employing research, interviews, media reports and personal stories, Tara explains these topics in detail, how they came about and presents both sides of the issues."
Available via Amazon
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