Transsexuality and It's Relation to Gender Roles as a Binary Opposition: The First Man-Made Man by Pagan Kennedy - A Response

Upon reading Pagan Kennedy's 'The First Man-Made Man', one is struck by its universal voice, despite telling the tale of one singular, astonishing person. It follows Laura Dillon, as she grows into a young women tormented by unnamed feelings of difference amongst her peers. This torment leads her to seek the medical help of one Sir Harold Giles, perhaps the only man in England who could give her what she so desperately sought: a new gender. Born a woman, Laura became Michael Dillon, the first person to undergo a female to male sex change.

This historical biography is written to cover not only one revolutionary medical event, but to describe the obstacles that most transgendered persons faced in the early twentieth-century. Kennedy takes the genre of biography and stretches it to cover an entire social issue, one which is the subject of heated debate even today. Her skillful weaving of fact and personal antidotes (through Michael's story, and the stories of a handful of other transgendered people who crossed his path) makes this book highly relevant to today's audiences. Anyone interested in gender studies or their related issues can gain new perspective through 'Man-Made', as it gives a face to an otherwise impersonal political or moral concept.

Kennedy explains how transsexuals both reinforce and destroy gender roles as a binary opposition. By seeking and attempting to fulfill one or the other established gender role, transsexuals solidify the same roles which caused them to feel trapped in the first place. Whether a man seeking the role of a woman, or a woman seeking the role of a man, they do indeed strive to fulfill one or the other. But if we take a step back, the same logic can be used to illustrate how
transsexuals break down gender roles as a binary opposition. One of the most basic rules of a binary opposition theory of gender is that people are born into a sex, a biological role which they have no choice but to fulfill. If these roles can be fulfilled by persons of either gender, that gives the concept of 'gender' a duality which the black-and-white rules of binary opposition cannot explain.

Kennedy's book describes more than just early 20th century transsexuality. She creates the context of her story thorough research and skillful writing, painting a picture of exactly what Western society saw as 'normal' and acceptable. With Berlin standing as a noted exception, she describes the rigid repression of sexuality by many of the most advanced countries in the world, where male castration for any reason was illegal, as it made a man unfit to serve in the armed forces. ₁ Science still lingered upon outdated theories of the body, and hormones were only just beginning to be studied. Estrogen and testosterone, hormones so vital to sexuality, had yet to be named or understood, and no one could describe how these mysterious chemicals affected a person. ₂ It was in this world that Laura Dillon struggled to find help for her unshakable feelings of being in the wrong body.

As a biography, Dillon's personal struggles are a main point and focus of the book. While richly supplemented with historical data and relevant information, the author seems to skim over the psychological aspect of Dillon's transsexuality. Of great interest would be a comparison made between Michael Dillon's psychological patterns and how they lead him to seek surgery, and similar memoirs of past or modern transsexuals. In fact, such a comparison could shed
light on the often debated question of transsexuality, and its either innate or learned nature.

"In Self, Dillon asserted that there was only one way to determine whether a person is male or female: ask that person. True sex may have nothing to do with the appearance of the body; rather, the sense of being male, female, or something in between results from a "psychological build," according to Dillon. He posited that transsexuals develop their identities while they are still in the womb, and that aside from their desire to switch physical sex, they are perfectly ordinary." ₃

It stands to reason, then, that Dillon saw surgery as the solution needed by all transsexuals to allow them the mental health to become model citizens. ₄ But despite being the first person to change her sex from female to fully-endowed male, Michael did not settle into a normal, obscure life as he had wanted. The most overarching question raised by this book is whether becoming a man made Michael Dillon happy. Considering the content of the second part of the book, concerning mainly Dillon's lifelong quest for fulfillment and acceptance, I can only conclude that it was not the male gender role alone that he needed for peace, but something far more profound. In fact, Kennedy records one small quote that leaves a gaping hole in her story:

"I had never thought of myself as [female] despite being technically a girl...People thought I was a woman. But I wasn't. I was just me." ₅

The idea of being without gender takes us beyond the realm of transsexuality, into a concept well described in Bert Archer's 'The End of Gay'. He argues that if society can just disentangle sexuality from identity, we would advance as humans far beyond the current restricted views of gender we now hold. ₆ Unfortunately, Dillon lived in a society where one's place was first and foremost, almost without a second thought, determined by gender. She was treated not as an individual but as a woman.

"Men opened doors for her all the time now; when they glanced at her, they saw nothing but a silly girl...young men were politely condescending."₇

The way Archer's concept of gender-free identity relates is that had Laura been treated as Laura, rather than a female, she would not have so fiercely fought against her body. While she does note that her body, upon hitting puberty, caused her great confusion and strife,₈ it is clear through the opening of the book that it was the role of a woman that she most rebelled against. The acts of womanhood, the restrictions in livelihood, even the clothing made her revolt. If Archer's ideal society could be implemented, Laura could have studied where she wished, taken up what sports she desired, perused any love interest she found, without the stigma against her actions as being done by a woman. Kennedy does not note when Dillon ceased to think of herself as herself, but instead as a man. I conclude that it was the desire for the male role, rather than the female role, that led him to decide that a gender reassignment would solve his unrest. But it did not.
Michael Dillon was a deeply curious individual throughout his life. As a young woman,
he studied religion and psychology in a search for some truth to hold to.₉ After years of searching and suffering, Michael does eventually find a way to physically and legally change his gender to male. But what then? He does not marry and settle down as a doctor and husband. Instead, fear of discovery drives him across the globe. The very thing which should have insured his happiness was the one constant dark cloud in his mind that threatened to upset the delicate balance he'd achieved with male status. His unrest leads him to immerse himself in religion, starting with an encounter with a "Tibetan" mystic named Tuesday Lobsang Rampa.₁₀ Upon meeting Dillon, Rampa would suggest that he dedicate his life to holy service as a monk in the mountains of Tibet. Eventually, Dillon, still seeking a sense of inner peace, follows this advice. What would drive a person from the life they'd fought so hard to build to the corners of the earth? It was the same unrest that had plagued Dillon his entire life. The sense of constant searching, seeking out some intangible thing which would suddenly make all the confusion of his life clear.

"The conquest of the body proved easy...but the conquest of the mind is a never-ending struggle."₁₁

One overarching theme of Kennedy's book is how gender can affect the way a person sees themself and how society sees them. "Transsexual" was one classification for those who felt their gender was incorrect. Before Michael Dillon, there were very few people who knew that gender change was possible. The medical revolution of reconstructive surgery gave new hope to those who felt that their happiness lay in their ability to change their bodies to fit their minds.

"...the transsexual patient needed "his body [to] be made to fit his mind"; this was the only therapeutic model that would work for him. Transsexuals could not be talked out of their urges; psychiatry would not help. It was their bodies that didn't fit, and so the only cure was to give the patient a new body."₁₂

While "getting a new body" may have resolved Dillon's urges to be seen as a man, it clearly did not solve whatever unnamed ache he felt inside. He spent the end of his life working in a secluded monastery, eventually dying of malnutrition and poor health care. What is perhaps most tragic was that he only felt true happiness for the first time in his life during his time as a monk in training, despite his gender still barring him from his aspirations (only men could be ordained as monks, and his female birth and subsequent sex-change was revealed to his superiors, making him an 'incomplete' man). ₁₃

After reading 'The First Man-Made Man', I am left feeling more learned about the idea of transsexuality. From Kennedy's historical recording of the birth of gender-change surgery, I gained new insight into the almost accidental development of genital reconstruction; indeed, the entire concept of 'plastic surgery'. It was not for the sake of reassigning genders to those who felt they were born incorrect. Such procedures only became possible after reconstructive surgery was brought into high demand by the horrific injuries of World War I.

"Patients weren't reconstructed so much as they were patched up...[doctors] did so with as much finesse as if they were upholstering a sofa. During the First World War, British soldiers returned from the front with their noses gone, jaws exploded, entire faces a mass of bone and bloody gristle..." ₁₄

Prior to reading this book, I did not know what could have spawned the medical advanced that would allow surgeons to build a new genital for a transgendered patient; but the link between war injuries and such advances is an enlightening fact. It can be said, then, that Michael Dillon's surgery opened (in secret) the door for transgendered persons to gain the medical help they needed.

This book brought together the facts and the story of the birth of sex-change in an empathetic and insightful manner appropriate for even the casual reader. It's scope of factual information makes it a value resource for gender studies. Kennedy's storytelling ability puts her research into focused context; the events and landmarks she has recorded all had a major impact on the life of Michael, and by the end the reader is drawn into concern for his well-being. 'The First Man-Made Man' also puts into greater context the issues of our modern day, since we can best understand the pattern of current events through the significant patterns of past events.

By comparing our society's stance on gender roles and transsexuality to the ways of the past, we can best describe how we have improved or regressed in our opinions and practices. For example, surgeons no longer rely on crude instruments and improvisation for reconstructive surgery. The field of plastic surgery requires years of intense study, and has grown into a legitimate medical branch. In the past, there were but a handful of doctors who practiced across the West, and they were shunned by the medical world as not proper doctors. ₁₅

This book raised questions for me about the psychological drives behind sex changes. While Dillon claims that for transsexuals, a gender reassignment through hormones and surgery will resolve any inner conflict, he himself stood as proof that gender alone could not bring happiness. For many, changing sex is the first and most essential step towards a fulfilling life. For Michael, it appears that it was only the first of many steps that he would take in his search for truth. For while this book is about the first sex-change, it is also more widely about the human desire to change how others perceive us. It is perhaps best summarized by Pagan Kennedy, who relates the overarching theme of transsexuality with Michael's personal struggle:

"Dillon's tale proves just how far a human being can bend, how protean we are, how raw with possibility. He inhabited a dizzying array of roles: schoolgirl, doctor, besotted suitor, sailor, mystic. And yet, no matter how much he managed to mold his body and mind, Dillon could never manage to blot out a certain stubborn nub of himself, an essential quirk of his personality. Dillon could never change his desire for change." ₁₆

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1 Page 16 & 36, Pagan Kennedy. The First Man-Made Man. New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA, 2007.
2 Page 42
3 Page 54
4 Page 14
5 Page 22
6 Page 24, Bert Archer. The End of Gay and the Death of Heterosexuality. New York, NY: Thunder Mouth Press, 2002.
7 Page 24, Pagan Kennedy. The First Man-Made Man. New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA, 2007.
8 Page 21
9 Page 22
10 Page 124
11 Page 17
12 Page 15
13 Chapter 12
14 Page 61
15 Page 63
16 Page 17