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	Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us Kate Bornstein 1996, Routledge 245 Pages

From the Cover Gender Outlaw is the work of a woman who has been through some changes - a former heterosexual male, a one-time Scientologist and IBM salesperson, now a lesbian woman writer, actress and performance artist.  In this disarming account of her life and genders, Kate Bornstein covers the "mechanics" of her surgery, as well as everything you've always wanted to know about gender (but were too confused to ask). In her funny, compassionate voice, Kate Bornstein asks and answers questions, sharing stories on her way towards a radical new world of sexuality and gender. A manifesto, a memoir, and a performance all rolled into one, Gender Outlaw challenges our most basic assumptions about what it means to be a man or a woman.  Or something else entirely.

Table of Contents 1. Transgender Style: Some Fashion Tips 2. The Hard Part 3. Interlude: Nuts and Bolts 4. Naming All The Parts 5. Interlude: The Lesbian Thing 6. Abandon Your Tedious Search!  The Rulebook has been Found! 7. Which Outlaws? or, Who Was That Masked Man? 8. Gender Terror, Gender Rage 9. Send In The Clowns 10. First You Die, And Then You Get Their Attention 11. The First Question, or, They Have Those Funny, Staring Eyes 12. The Other Questions 13. Transsexual Lesbian Playwright Tells All! 14. Queer Life/Queer Theater 15. Hidden: A Gender 16. The Seven Year Itch (what goes around, comes around)

Readers' Comments

Diane Sutton 

This is a must read for several reasons. First, there is memorable substance said in memorable ways as easy, yet stimulating reading. Some quotes I like are: "The choice between two of something is not a choice at all, but rather the opportunity to subscribe to the value system which holds the two presented choices as mutually exclusive alternatives." and "Sex is f--king, gender is everything else." Here are some more astute observations: "Who reads us? People whose identity hinges on the need to determine gender: gays and lesbians for sexual reasons, sex workers and street people for economic reasons, children for the reason of trying to establish their own place in the system." and "It's frightening to be genderless. What makes it easier is a sense of humor, and that's where camp comes into the picture." This book is fun and I came away knowing' this engaging and visible transgender personality and spokesperson.