Is gender really as straightforward as we would all like to think? What is it that makes anyone a man or woman? A female athlete is the subject of international controversy surrounding her right to compete as a woman; a pre-pubescent girl demands medical treatment to prevent the onset of female puberty; a school-age boy lives his life as a girl with his parent’s support. Questions about gender and identity are confusing and often generate controversy. More and more, stories about children “identifying” as the opposite sex, and parents allowing them to live their lives as the alternate, or even undergo medical interventions to prevent development as one gender or the other, raise questions about ethics, values, and science. Beyond X and Y looks at the science of gender identity and offers the personal stories of some of those affected by these questions. Leading us on a journey from chromosomes through evolutionary psychology and what makes us who we are, Jane McCredie includes stories of people from all walks of life and explores the science that is helping us answer these questions. She shows that we are far from “opposite” sexes and challenges everything you thought you knew about men and women.

McCredie is an Australian journalist who writes about science and medicine. For this book, along with reading the literature, she interviewed experts in the field of gender as well as transsexual and intersex persons. The book covers the gamut of the field from genetics, embryology, evolutionary psychology, child rearing, intelligence, and personality traits to culture. The author describes the kinds of intersex individuals, transsexuality issues, and sexual orientation and possible reasons for each. Throughout the book, she emphasizes the complexity of the field, positing that the binary male/female category is much too simplistic; there must be many spectra (e.g., extreme masculine to extreme feminine, with many more unknown spectra) that interact with one another in complicated ways. McCredie rejects nearly all causal explanations currently held, showing how shallow each is, and describes contrary evidence for each when available. Well researched, easy to read. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. * CHOICE *
McCredie offers an engaging and insightful look at the complex terrain surrounding the science of sex, gender and sexuality. -- Michael R. Dietrich, professor, Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College, editor-in-chief; The Journal of the History of Biology
In Beyond X and Y: The Science of Gender, Jane McCredie offers an engaging and thoughtful review of the biology and psychology of sexual development and gender identity. Presenting a solid foundation of biological and psychological concepts, historical context and the stories of real people facing the challenges of everyday life, she calls upon the reader in every chapter to reexamine our conventional, and often erroneous, understanding of gender and to consider the ways in which our biology interacts with our psychology and depends upon our environment from the very moment of conception. Most importantly, she articulately, and with a great generosity of spirit, exposes the fallacy that genes lead to morphology and behavior without intervening steps in fetal, childhood adolescent and adult development. -- Laura Malloy, professor of biology, Hartwick College

Jane McCredie is an award-winning writer on science and medicine. The former news and features editor for leading medical publication, Australian Doctor, she has also worked as a journalist on the Melbourne Age and has contributed to media outlets including the Australian, the British Medical Journal, ABC Health and ABC Science.