The Look of a Woman This page intentionally left blank eric plemons The Look Facial Feminization Surgery and of a the Aims of Trans- Medicine Woman Duke University Press Durham and London 2017 © 2017 duke university press. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ∞ Interior designed by Courtney Leigh Baker Cover designed by Amy Ruth Buchanan Typeset in Whitman and Gill Sans by Copperline Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Plemons, Eric, [date] author. Title: The look of a woman : facial feminization surgery and the aims of trans- medicine / Eric Plemons. Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2017001910 (print) lccn 2017006457 (ebook) isbn 9780822368861 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn 9780822369141 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn 9780822372707 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Male-to-female transsexuals—United States. | Sex change—United States. | Face—Surgery— United States. | Surgery, Plastic—United States. Classification: lcc hq77.95.u6 p54 2017 (print) | lcc hq77.95.u6 (ebook) | ddc 306.76/8—dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001910 Cover art: Annes Bil, Face Line Drawing, 2014. Continuous line drawing; pencil on paper. For Anne This page intentionally left blank contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 · On Origins interlude interlude 21 Celebrate! My Adam’s Apple 67 109 interlude The Procedures 3 · Cutting as 5 · The Operating 39 Caring Room 71 113 2 · Femininity in the Clinic 4 · Recognition 6 · And After 43 and Refusal 135 89 Conclusion 151 Notes 157 References 169 Index 185 This page intentionally left blank acknowledgments There are so many people to thank. First and foremost I am grateful to the surgeons who welcomed me into their busy practices, patiently answering questions and making space for a curious anthropologist in their already hectic days. I am grateful to the surgical patients whose graciousness was truly humbling. Their willingness to tell me their stories and allow me to witness their bodily transformations was profoundly generous, and I hope to have done those stories and transformations a measure of justice here. I have had the great fortune of working with incredible mentors and col- laborators. As a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, I am most grateful for the encouragement, enthusiasm, and friendship of my adviser, Cori Hayden, the intellectual wonder and generosity of Law- rence Cohen, the imaginative and expansive thinking of Juana María Rod- ríguez, and the warmth and inquisitiveness of Charis Thompson. Sharon Kaufman’s writing advice and insight were invaluable. I was fortunate to share my time as a graduate student with some wonderful friends who are now my valued colleagues, especially Xochitl Marsilli- Vargas, Katie Hendy, Anthony Stavrianakis, Emily Chua, Nick Bartlett, Kelly Knight, Jeff Schon- berg, Liz Kelley, Martine Lappé, and Chris Roebuck, all of whom read and commented on some part of this work over the years. Theresa MacPhail helped talk me over, under, around, and through the process of finishing this book. Laurence Tessier provided the introductions that made this proj- ect possible. My work at uc Berkeley was supported by a Dissertation Grant from the Wenner- Gren Foundation and a Dissertation Year Fellowship from Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Sexual Cultures. As a postdoctoral fellow of the University of Michigan Society of Fellows I benefited from the collegiality and support of Tom Fricke, Gayle Rubin, Holly Peters- Golden, Alaina Lemon, Krisztina Fehervary, Helmut Puff, Mi-