Crossing: A Memoir

I read this book out of curiosity right after I read J. Michael Bailey's landmark scholarly study, The Man Who Would be Queen. I find McCloskey's memoir to be complementary and reinforcing---wonderfully well written, insightful, humourous, and honest. McCloskey is a consummate scholar, a dispassionate writer, and an astute observer of human behavior. I recommend this book to one and all readers. Kudos!

"Crossing" is an honest account of a high-profile intellectual's sometimes terrifying journey to herself through a maze of psychological, social and physical barriers. A noted economist and economics historian, Deirdre McCloskey is currently UIC Distinguished Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago. and a visiting professor at Erasmusuniversiteit Rotterdam. She began this career as Donald McCloskey, and her gender change was heralded by accounts in The Chronicle of Higher Ed and elsewhere.Arranged in three sections named for a progression of personae -- "Donald," "Dee," and "Deirdre," the book follows decades of furtive cross-dressing to a moment of epiphany in 1994 at the age of 52, followed by learning to "pass"as a woman, by loss of family and some friends, by painful surgery, and on to discovering new friend, and rediscovering the world (and the academic discipline of economics) through the eyes of a woman. Joys -- a child born, named for her -- sorrows -- her own children, long since grown, refusing to acknowledge her. Well paced yet thoughtful, "Crossing" reads like a novel despite its long passages of musing on the economic, social and political aspects of her situation and of that of other crossers, of women, and of men in a "free" society that is severely opressive to those whose free choice is to redefine their gender expression. Want to know more about these issues? Or just want to know a brave new woman better? Buy the book.The medical profession has labeled crossing as a medical condition, "transsexualism," for which there is a specific cure, an agonizingly slow course of treatment consisting of counseling, mandatory two years living as the other gender, hormone therapy, and gender assignment surgery, most of which is regarded by the insurance industry as strictly elective and uninsurable. McCloskey makes the excellent point, not always made clear, that the two year's waiting game thus mandated is not only quite dangerous to many crossers, due to the activities of "gay" bashers but is in most places illegal. Police, firemen, EMTs, doctors, and nurses have all been known to slow down or even stop rendering assistance when faced with "pre-op" gender crossers. In the case publicised by the 1999 film "Boy's Don't Cry," the attitude of the police actually contributed to the death of a young woman, living as a man, at the hands of intolerant youths. Given the often painful struggle Donald went through to become Deirdre, it is interesting to note that criticism of her memoir is often directed, sometimes by women, to what is thought to be the flaw in her theory of womanhood; the word "stereotyping" is bandied about, in a tone suggesting that it is improper to notice how women move, how men move, and that we know and can tell the difference almost immediately. Such knowledge is vital to the crosser, who needs it in order to survive, yet describing these cultural realities invites ridicule. I think the flaw is in the thinking of the criti

American jokes often begin with "You know that someone or something is ... if ..." and the list goes on. I will not build up such a list on McCloskey's book, (anyway, I do not try to be funny either) but rather give you one personal reason why I loved it.The author, at first, convinces you that her crossing is truly a "state of being" and not what most of us would take as some sort of obscure fantasy. The reader is then "sympathetic" to her in the very first meaning of the word: I understand and I suffer with you, especially as things go wrong with her surgeries and with her family.But here come the mixed feelings: is she not responsible for being rejected by her wife and her children? For instance, was she not expecting too much from her daughter when signing "Deirdre and Dad" at the end of one letter ? Was "Dad" only not more appropriate to show that her new physical appearance changed nothing about the love she has for her daughter?At the end, the reader cannot help but ask himself where would he likely stands in all this and long after finishing the book he would think and think over it again. As for me, this is a sure way to recognize "a great book".Finally, the book is well written and it is hard to skip a single page when you put both your mind and your feelings into it, which is surprisingly easy once you began to read it.

"Crossing: A Memoir" is an excellent education for anyone who wants to learn more about the complexities involved in changing (and, ultimately, accepting) your own identity. As a male reader, I will admit that I could not relate to the feelings expressed by Donald (the man), but the book is so well written that you begin to understand those feelings.The book will certainly resonate with those individuals who cherish liberty and freedom above all else. The hurdles, obstructions, etc., that Deirdre had to endure to make her crossing should raise the ire of freedom loving individuals in this country. The medical establishment's Benjamin Standards, coupled with the power they have to incarcerate people in mental institutions--supposedly for their own good--is truly horrific in this day and age.Deirdre has written an impassioned, personal account of her journey, with many profound insights into the male and female psyche. I would recommend this book to anyone with the courage to become educated on this misunderstood topic.

Kudos for the first completely honest and exceptionally well-written presentation of the difficult road a transgendered person must travel to define his/her place in the world. I was especially pleased to see how well-balanced this book is and the obvious pains the author took to show the many sides of this issue. Especially impressive are those instances where Ms. McCloskey is able to describe the mistreatment, lack of understanding, and downright cruelty of others without lapsing into vengeful remarks or angry tirades. Instead of using it to deride the mistreatment she received at the hands of the ignorant, Deidre's multi-dimensional story leaves the reader with an empathy for the plight of the so-called 'transsexual' and the need for us to rethink our view of the subject. Through her story we begin to understand in a very personal way the limiting nature of the male and female definitions of gender. This is not a historical or medical book. As the subtitle says, it's a memoir. I've struggled through books on this subject by other transgendered writers like Rikki Wilchins and Kate Bornstein, but this is the first I've found that is written in a way that makes the subject accessible to those who haven't had to deal with this situation. Ms. McCloskey has adopted a use of the third person which is wholly appropriate to her subject. Given the pronoun limitations for referencing gender, she has done a remarkable job of presenting the different aspects of herself while retaining the sense of a completely unified individual.As an educator and writer, I believe that "Crossing" should be recommended reading for people of all ages. As we grapple more and more with gender issues, Deidre McCloskey's book provides the kind of understanding and appreciation of the experiences of all gender variant persons we need to hear. Like Ms. McCloskey, one of my oldest and dearest friends is an economist. I plan to give him a copy of the book for Christmas.