The Last Time I Wore A Dress
by Daphne Scholinski
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Book Summary Information
Author: Daphne ScholinskiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-10-01
ISBN: 1573226963
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Book Reviews of The Last Time I Wore A Dress
Book Review: An an examination of an era in America mental health treatment
Summary: 5 Stars
Daphne Scholinski wore the label of "inappropriate female" for much of her life. As a tomboy youth, she was often mistaken for male. On one grocery trip, a clerk caught the "boy" for using the women's restroom. When the clerk confronted Daphne's father, instead of correcting the clerk, her weary father slapped her hand: "Bad boy. I told you to stop doing that."
In 1981, at odds with her raging father and abandoned by her free-thinking mother, 15-year-old Daphne was committed to a psychiatric hospital, at which a treatment plan was designed to help her identify as a "sexual female." Over one million dollars (you read that right) of insurance money was spent on three years of make-up lessons, encouragement of flirtation with males, and points for hugging male staff members. Daphne was indirectly blamed for all her family's troubles and told that her depression and confusion were symptoms of her improper gender identification. Desperate for a mothering relationship, she latched onto nurses, begging to be adopted by the most compassionate one, and attempting suicide when her efforts were rebuffed.
In a series of institutions, Daphne busied herself working the system to earn more privileges. To entertain themselves, she and other patients competed to shock the staff and get unusual diagnoses added to their charts. Their every movement was already analyzed and reduced into psychobabble, so why not? Daphne often embellished alcohol and drug abuse to make her case more interesting, but she realized she was out her league when she was transferred to rehab. All the while, a host of therapists and staff failed to identify sexual assault in Daphne's life, both before and *after* entering treatment. At age 18, when Daphne's father's insurance money ran out, she was discharged as no more "appropriate" a female than when she entered, but without a traditional high school experience or preparation for the world, and a few more years of victimhood under her belt.
Daphne Scholinski survived institutionalization with her intelligence, sense of humor, and sassy rebellious spirit. Every time she was transferred, she felt hope few her new situation. She writes that she knows she was lucky to be middle-class and be offered treatment, instead of being kicked onto the streets. As an adult, Daphne channeled her traumatic past into an artistic career, and now lives as Dylan Scholinski in the San Francisco area (Dylan's identification as male occurred after the 1997 publication of this memoir). I only discovered Scholinski's gender identity when I started composing my review, and in many ways, Daphne's "actual" gender identity is irrelevant to this story of the failure of the mental health system to help a depressed youth and her family.
Summary of The Last Time I Wore A Dress
This terrifying memoir recounts author Daphne Scholinski's three years spent in mental institutions for, among other things, Gender Identity Disorder. Daphne came from a busted home: Mom left to go to college and become a feminist and an artist; Dad stayed home with two daughters, the elder of whom, Daphne, he often beat. When Daphne started acting up at school, her shrinks decided to put her away. Her family, not knowing how to handle her, agreed. Because she was a tomboy who wore jeans and T-shirts and didn't act enough like a girl, her treatment, in addition to talk therapy, isolation, and drugs, required her to wear makeup, walk with a swing in her hips, and pretend to be obsessed with boys. This sounds awful enough, but when you realize that the confinement and treatment took place from 1981 to 1984, it's absolutely chilling. This book is both a powerful indictment of Gender Identity Disorder treatment and an inspiring testament of one person's survival.General Books
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