The role of medicine in the (Trans)formation of 'Wrong' bodies

Abstract

The trope of the 'wrong body' is at once a universalizing concept and one which functions variously in relation to different modes of embodiment and different surgical procedures. The 'wrong body' is always something more than simply a metaphor consciously and strategically employed by those seeking access to 'corrective' surgeries of one sort or another. This article aims to interrogate the discursive and phenomenological effects of the trope of the 'wrong' body, as they are lived by those identifying as transsexual and those who refer to themselves as self-demand amputees or wannabes. © 2008 Sage Publications.