A leading advocate for transsexuality and the author of the "Visible Man" column on the web (www.planetout.com/people/columns/ green), Green argues that the transsexuality movement is a struggle for fundamental human rights. The author is a female-to-male transsexual who deploys his autobiography to illustrate political points about gender and sex diversity. He asserts that transsexuals seek to balance their gender identity (an abiding sense of oneself as a man or woman) with their physical bodies. Like recent literature on the history of the body, this text differentiates biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Green's call for tolerance is important, but he fails to answer the concerns of sympathetic gender theorists. For example, Green asserts illogically that gender identity is both a naturally occurring "essence" and a mutable social construction. And despite Green's repeated denials, his arguments inadvertently reify sexual stereotypes. The result is less scholarly than Joanne Meyerowitz's How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States yet less scandalous than Edward Ball's Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love. Recommended with reservation for public libraries and undergraduate libraries. Katherine C. Adams, Bowdoin Coll. Lib., Brunswick, ME Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

"As Jamison Green himself points out in the preface to this second edition of Becoming a Visible Man, it's remarkable that many questions about trans lives were the same twenty—or even fifty—years ago as they are today, which makes this book as timely now as when it was first published. That Green brings his long and deep perspective to bear in additional material on such current hot-button topics as feminist transphobia, the toilet wars, health care, and mainstream media representation makes this second edition even more important—a fitting update to a true classic of transgender nonfiction writing."
—Susan Stryker, author of Transgender History and founding coeditor of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

"No one writes more eloquently, honestly, or powerfully about transgender lives than Jamison Green, one of the intellectual heavyweights of the transgender movement. No one has done more to capture the complex experiences of transgender men, who continue to struggle for visibility even as transgender issues have loomed larger than ever in our national discourse. Green's insightful treatise is a classic and, especially in this newly revised form, is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand gender and transgender issues."
—Shannon Price Minter, coeditor of Transgender Rights

"Ever the consummate storyteller, Dr. Jamison Green has, once again, captured the beauty and challenge that trans men encounter along their journey to discovering and living an authentic life. Through personal narrative interwoven with historical details, Dr. Green illuminates the insidious forms of marginalization and oppression experienced by many trans men beginning in childhood, as we navigate through the discomfort and dissonance we feel between our innate gender identification and society's gender-related expectations. Jamison has brilliantly captured what many of us come to know: that along an arduous yet achievable journey to change our sex, we must also work to find our way back into communion with loved ones who may feel betrayed, abandoned, or frightened at who we are becoming: visible men."
—Zander Keig, coeditor of Letters for My Brothers

"Many of us can easily name traits of toxic masculinity, yet most struggle with defining what healthy masculinity looks like in action. Fortunately, Jamison Green's Becoming a Visible Man, like Jamison's own journey, offers a powerful roadmap any man—cisgender or transgender—can follow. This book is essential reading for those of us committed to becoming better men ready to build a more just and equitable world for people of all genders."
—Rhodes Perry, author of Belonging at Work

"Becoming a Visible Man is one of the most important books about being a man and about being trans. Jamison Green's writing is strong and steady. He has a gift of painting densely woven, intricate tales of lives less examined while remaining accessible and keeping readers rapt. His writing is not just rich and beautiful, it is life-changing. He masterfully and lovingly leads us into learning about ourselves, about others, and about what it means to be a person. This book illuminates and preserves an otherwise largely untethered, untold, and rich history of the trans male experience. It captures the intimate experience of risking everything to become who you are. In its first edition, this book altered the course of my life and allowed me to see a future for the first time. This book was a lighthouse in uncharted waters. Nearly two decades later, in this revised version, the value is no different. This is a lifesaving book."
—Rocco Kayiatos, cofounder of Original Plumbing and Camp Lost Boys

Praise for the 2004 edition:
"An intelligent and engaging book. Jamison Green, an extraordinary activist and advocate for FTM transsexuals, demonstrates that he is also an extraordinary writer. Green artfully blends the personal, the informative, and the political, and grounds it all in a generous vision of inclusive communities. He makes a thoughtful and persuasive case for making gender visible."
—Joanne Meyerowitz, author of How Sex Changed

Praise for the 2004 edition:
"Becoming a Visible Man offers brilliant insight into the world of trans men, a much needed insight for the professionals who seek to serve this population or to educate others about the wide range of diversity that exists in the world of human sexuality and gender expression. Anyone with an interest in this topic should consider this book required reading."
—American Journal of Sexuality Education

Praise for the 2004 edition:
"When the premier trans activist of a generation decides to write a memoir, we should be grateful. When Jamison Green weaves his personal and political experiences into a magnificent story, it is all the more reason to celebrate. Becoming a Visible Man shows why he is a leading voice to a generation of trans men and trans women and why this issue should be on the top of the agenda for all of us in the twenty-first century."
—Henry Rubin, author of Self-Made Men

"Since I first met Jamison Green in 1990, I've known him to embody integrity and kindness. Becoming a Visible Man has stood the test of time and continues to offer hope and inspiration to new generations. It's a work of both historical importance and contemporary relevance."
—Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw

"The first great memoir by a trans man."
—New York Times

"Game-changing. . . . [This new edition] presents an opportunity for Green to claim his place in transgender history, where he [has been] largely uncredited."
—Kate Sosin, NewNowNext

Praise for the 2004 edition:
"We can all, regardless of gender, benefit from this strong and gentle book about what is really important about gender: self-acceptance and tolerance."
—Archives of Sexual Behavior

Praise for the 2004 edition:
"Jamison Green has always known who he is. Others may have been confused, but never he. Now he tells, with integrity, and in a moving and thoughtful way, his story. We learn how he became a visible man—and in the reading, we learn much about being human."
—Dallas Denny, editor of Transgender Tapestry

"The OG of trans masculine visibility, advocacy, and representation is back—with a brand new, fully updated edition of his essential, no-less-than-lifesaving resource for trans men of all generations. Born out of a necessity to document the forging of community when there was scarcely a community to speak of, Becoming a Visible Man is an evergreen history book that should be required reading for anybody interested in the future of social justice (for all). It is an unflinching, beautifully written, and eminently readable memoir, which generously centers not only Green's trailblazing life, but also the stories of so many other invisible pioneers from our collective history, without whom many of us—including myself—would simply not be where we are today."
—T Cooper, author of Real Man Adventures and director of Man Made

Praise for the 2004 edition:
"Becoming a Visible Man offers brilliant insight into the world of trans men, a much needed insight for the professionals who seek to serve this population or to educate others about the wide range of diversity that exists in the world of human sexuality and gender expression. Anyone with an interest in this topic should consider this book required reading."
—American Journal of Sexuality Education

"Jamison Green tells, with integrity, and in a moving and thoughtful way, his story."
--Dallas Denny, Editor, Transgender Tapestry Journal


"An intelligent and engaging book. Jamison Green, an extraordinary activist and advocate for FTM transsexuals, demonstrates that he is also an extraordinary writer. Green artfully blends the personal, the informative, and the political, and grounds it all in a generous vision of inclusive communities. He makes a thoughtful and persuasive case for making gender visible."
--Joanne Meyerowitz, author of How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States


"When the premier trans-activist of a generation decides to write a memoir, we should be grateful. When Jamison Green weaves his personal and political experiences into a magnificent story it is all the more reason to celebrate. Becoming a Visible Man shows why he is a leading voice to a generation of transmen and transwomen and why this issue should be on the top of the agenda for all of us in the twenty-first century."
--Henry Rubin, author of Self-Made Men


"Jamison Green has given a great gift--based on experience born of a great personal journey, he demystifies gender in a way that transfixes the reader. The biological journey from zygote to adulthood unfolds to challenge the neat little boxes into which our culture drives gender each day. This is an essential contribution to the growing body of literature on gender identity and expression."
--Elizabeth Birch, former Executive Director, Human Rights Campaign