Boston: Beacon Press, 1979. First edition. xxvii, 220pp; index. Gray cloth; dust jacket. A few faint spots of foxing to textblock top, former owner's name stamped to ffep. Else fine in unclipped jacket.
Sharp first edition of this serious albeit controversial study of trans issues from a specifically lesbian and radical feminist perspective. Though not unsympathetic to those suffering from gender dysphoria, Raymond (b. 1943) takes aim at the "medical-psychiatric empire" built to support male-to-female transition, which she reads as yet another attempt to colonize women's bodies and minds. Frequently and not incorrectly attacked as transphobic, the work nonetheless raises important points about the the potentially thorny relationship between trans rights and the broader women's movement—a debate still raging today, though seldom with the critical insight found here.
