Trans Reproduction: Controlling Transgender People in Mid-20th Century US Medicine

Fri, February 16, 2024 12:00 PM at Zoom

Please join us as Dr. stef shuster presents:

Trans Reproduction: Controlling Transgender People in Mid-20th Century US Medicine

In the mid-20th century, US medical professionals working with transgender people were confounded by increasing requests by patients for hormonal and surgical interventions. How to sort through who was a “worthy” patient for gender-affirming care thus became a central concern among medical providers. In response, providers began to create criteria about the “ideal” trans patient, which was code for white, affluent, “respectable,” heterosexual, childless trans people. Where these criteria came from is an overlooked aspect of trans medical histories. Drawing on archival records, this talk advances the claim that the history of trans medicine must be understood as framed by the legacy of eugenics and scientific and medical communities social and reproductive control over trans people in the name of ensuring a “healthy” society.

Bio:
Dr. stef shuster is an associate professor in Lyman Briggs College and the department of Sociology at Michigan State University. Their current research in gender, medicine, and feminist science and technology studies considers how evidence is constructed, mobilized, and weaponized, which is the subject of their book, Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender (NYU Press, 2021).