Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #103, Fall 2003.
If Michael Bailey had purposefully set out to write a book that deliberately demeaned its subjects; if he had set a goal of eroding any respect he might have had as a scientist; if he had intended to subject himself to scorn and derision, he could hardly have done better than producing the inappropriately subtitled The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism. The primary title is intentionally insulting to gay men and transgendered and transsexual people. The content continues this theme of derision. Bailey makes sweeping pronouncements and grand generalizations that go far beyond any existing data. He doesn?t even bother to reproduce the few data that exist, preferring instead to refer to his findings and the findings of others in a vague fashion before moving on to absolutist statements. He barely conceals subthemes of his erotic interest in transsexual women and his glee at promoting stereotypes that have proven to be harmful and insulting. The Man Who Would Be Queen is a sadistic book, one that deliberately belittles and ridicules. Its mean spirit far outweighs any redeeming qualities it might possess. It is a shameful book by a shameless author who should not be surprised at the scorn and disdain to which he has subjected himself.


Tapestry readers can view TMWWBQ free of charge online at www.nap.edu/catalog/10530.html.