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Ann Oakley and transgender people

Ann Oakley is a British sociologist who has published extensively on sex and gender. While many of Oakley’s early views about gender were considered groundbreaking and progressive, in later life Oakley made several statements that could be construed as “gender critical,” including support of “gender critical” scholars and lamenting “the erasure of sex categories.”

Background

Ann Rosamund Titmuss was born in London on January 17, 1944 to Richard and Kathleen “Kay” Titmuss. Both parents were involved in academic social research and social work.

After attending Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls, Ann Oakley married Robin Oakley in 1964, then earned a bachelor’s degree from Somerville College, Oxford University in 1965. Oakley then wrote scripts for children’s television and creative fiction. Oakley earned a doctorate in 1969 from Bedford College, University of London.

Oakley had a long and storied career in feminist sociology. See the selected bibliography below.

Gender critical views

Late in life, Oakley occasionally expressed support for “gender critical” academics and anti-transgender activists.

In 2023, Oakley provided a blurb for anti-transgender book Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader:

‘An important and extremely timely collection of essays that presents a valuable overview of current research investigating the relationship between sex, gender and gender identity in the UK today. The contributors to this volume are all senior researchers in their fields who conduct evidence-based research and believe, in issues as diverse as criminology, sports science, children’s literature, education and many others, that sex matters. This book pays tribute to their tenacity in researching the erasure of sex categories in their fields in the face of the many obstacles that have been placed in the way of “gender-critical” scholars.’

Selected nonfiction books

The best overview of Oakley’s writings is the 2005 book The Ann Oakley Reader, with a foreword by anti-trans extremist Germaine Greer, ‎Policy Press, ISBN 9781861346919

  • Oakley, Ann (2014). Father and Daughter: Patriarchy, Gender and Social Science. Policy Press. ISBN 9781447318101
  • Oakley, Ann (2007). Fracture: Adventures of a Broken Body. Policy Press. ISBN 9781861349378
  • Oakley, Ann (2002). Gender on Planet Earth. The New Press / W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9781565847682
  • Oakley, Ann (2000). Experiments in Knowing: Gender and Method in the Social Sciences. Polity Press. ISBN 9780745622576
  • Oakley, Ann; Williams, Fiona; Popay, Jennie (1999). Welfare Research: A Critical Review. UCL Press. ISBN 9781857282702
  • Oakley, Ann; Mitchell, Juliet (1997). Who’s Afraid of Feminism?: Seeing through the Backlash. New Press / W.W. Norton. ISBN 9781565843851
  • Oakley, Ann (1996), “Sexuality”, in Jackson, Stevi; Scott, Sue (eds.), Feminism and Sexuality: A Reader. Columbia University Press, pp. 35–39, ISBN 9780231107082
  • Oakley, Ann; Williams, A. Susan (1994). The Politics of the Welfare State. UCL Press. ISBN 9781857282061
  • Oakley, Ann (1993). Essays on Women, Medicine and Health. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748604500
  • Oakley, Ann (1992). Social Support and Motherhood: The Natural History of a Research Project. Blackwell. ISBN 9780631182740
  • Oakley, Ann; Houd, Susanne (1990). Helpers in Childbirth: Midwifery Today. Hemisphere Pub. Corp. ISBN 9781560320364
  • Oakley, Ann; Mitchell, Juliet (1986). What is Feminism? Basil Blackwell. ISBN 9780631148432
  • Oakley, Ann (1985) [1984]. Taking It Like a Woman. Flamingo. ISBN 9780006545118
  • Oakley, Ann (1984). The Captured Womb: A History of the Medical Care of Pregnant Women. Basil Blackwell. ISBN 9780631149712
  • Oakley, Ann (1982) [1981]. Subject Women. Fontana. ISBN 9780006860594
  • Oakley, Ann (1980). Women Confined: Towards a Sociology of Childbirth. M. Robertson. ISBN 9780855202118
  • Oakley, Ann (1980). Becoming a Mother. Schocken Books. ISBN 9780805237351. [1981 reprint From Here to Maternity: Becoming a Mother. Penguin. ISBN 9780140222562]
  • Oakley, Ann; Mitchell, Juliet (1976). The Rights and Wrongs of Women. Penguin. ISBN 9780140216165
  • Oakley, Ann (1976). Woman’s Work: The Housewife, Past and Present. [reprint of Housewife] Vintage Books ISBN 9780394719603
  • Oakley, Ann [1974]. The Sociology of Housework. Basil Blackwell. 1985 reprint ISBN 9780631139249
  • Oakley, Ann [1974]. Housewife (2nd ed.). Penguin. [1990 reprint] ISBN 9780140135237
  • Oakley, Ann [1972]. Sex, Gender and Society. Aldershot: Arena / New Society. [1993 reprint] ISBN 9781857421712

Resources

Ann Oakley (annoakley.co.uk)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

UCL (ucl.ac.uk)