Amy Beth Bloom (born June 18, 1953) is an American author, producer, and therapist. She is author of the 2002 nonfiction book Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Cross-dressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude.
Background
Bloom’s mother Sydelle was a psychotherapist and writer. Her father Murray was an author of books and magazine articles.
Bloom earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater/Political Science from Wesleyan University in 1975 and her Masters Degree in Social Work from Smith College in 1978.
She has authored several fiction books and was creator of the 2007 television drama State of Mind.
Normal (2002)
The book is expanded from her April 2002 Atlantic Monthly article “Conservative Men in Conservative Dresses.” Bloom has several points of contact with the community.
- A Dignity Cruise to Catalina Island
- The Fall Harvest 2000 gender convention in St. Louis
- Tri-Ess leaders Jane Ellen and Mary Francis Fairfax
She quotes psychologist Ray Blanchard, who says: “They emulate the women they want to be – some kind of confusion between attraction to a sexual object and being the object.” When Bloom mentioned that she’s been told that crossdressing is relaxing for its practitioners, Blanchard was quick to shut that down:
‘Of course it’s not relaxing,’ Blanchard says, with some heat. ‘Heels and makeup and a wig and a corset? It’s preposterous. Even women don’t find that relaxing. Relaxing is a pair of sweatpants, clothing that doesn’t even feel like clothing. Cross-dressers want to normalize this, to have it seen as relaxation and self-expression.’
Bloom seems to agree:
Crossdressers wear their fetish, and the gleam in their eyes, however muted by time or habit, the unmistakable presence of a lust being satisfied or a desire being fulfilled in that moment, in your presence, even by your presence, is unnerving. The mix of the crossdressers’ own arousal and anxiety and our responsive anxiety and discomfort is more than most of us can bear.
Bloom concludes of the crossdressers she met:
There is no innate grasp of female friendship, of the female insistence on relatedness, of the female tradition of support and accommodation for one’s partner and of giving precedence to the relationship overall.
Nancy Nangeroni complained in an open letter to The Atlantic that the piece was a “glib caricature.” J. Michael Bailey recommended it in his book The Man Who Would Be Queen because it “angered many autogynephiles.”
References
Bloom, Amy (2002) Conservative Men in Conservative Dresses. The Atlantic; April 2002, Vol. 289 Issue 4, p. 94.
Nangeroni, Nancy (April 15, 2002). An open letter to the editor of The Atlantic Monthly. https://www.gendertalk.com/open-letter-bloom/
Bloom, Amy (2002). Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Cross-dressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude. Random House ISBN-13: 978-0679456520
Staff report (May 1, 1977). Amy Bloom Fiancee Of Dr. James D. Moon. New York Times.
Staff report (September 16, 2007). Amy Bloom and Brian Ameche. New York Times.
Resources
Amy Bloom (amybloom.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)