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CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 7 

 
Book Review: Gender Without Identity by Avgi Saketopoulou 
and Ann Pellegrini 

Angel Jaimes 
Department of Sociology 

California State University, Los Angeles 
 
In their 2023 book Gender Without Identity, Avgi Saketopoulou 
and Ann Pellegrini critique traditional psychoanalytic models that 
treat gender as an innate, fixed aspect of the self and instead 
advocate for a psychoanalytic approach that examines how trauma 
can serve as a resource in the process of gendered self-
theorization. The authors are both psychoanalysts with a private 
practice based in New York City and are faculty members at New 
York University. Their work is grounded in their clinical 
experience, and is also informed by trans of color critique, Black 
feminism, and queer theory, grounded in their extensive clinical 
experience with queer and trans individuals. 

 
GENDER AS A PSYCHICALLY CRAFTED PROCESS 
Saketopoulou and Pellegrini lay out an understanding of gender 
as a psychically crafted process, based on Laplanchean theory. 
They begin by laying out an understanding of the ego as having 
been constructed and solidified in attempts to ‘translate’ the 
enigmatic features of an attachment relationship. This is typically 
in relationships between child and caregiver, and in this 
relationship, the child’s physical needs are fulfilled, thus 
communicating messages of care to the child. These messages are 
embedded with the sexual unconscious of the parent and 
inevitably affect all communication to the child, producing an 
enigmatic disturbance. Then, this enigmatic disturbance, or 
ambiguous obscurity, that has met the child’s psyche, drives the 
child to interpret and digest these signals in a unique process that 
is compatible with the child’s overall being. The child’s 
translations draw from what Laplanche calls the 
“mythosymbolic”--the cultural codes which surround the child, 
including traumas relating to the parent (68), and ultimately, these 
translations “sediment as ego, and . . . when the codes pertain to 
gender, as gender identity” (57). It is not the case that the child 



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simply reproduces the codes in which they are surrounded. Rather, 
they are spun and mixed by the child, though not consciously, 
creating a “psychic world in their own personal idiom . . . and, 
from there on out, yields identitarian experience by becoming 
structured in the grammar of culture” (58). This foundation 
substantiates Saketopoulou and Pellegrini’s claims of gender as a 
complex and personal process of psychic translation, shaped not 
only by the cultural codes and familial dynamics surrounding the 
child, but also by the child’s particular, unconscious efforts to 
integrate and transform these influences into a cohesive sense of 
self. 

In developing their theory, Saketopoulou and Pellegrini 
draw upon a clinical example involving a particularly effeminate 
12-year-old child, referred to as Ory, to support their conceptual 
framework. Ory was introduced to Saketopoulou by his parents, 
who were under the impression that Saketopoulou could help him 
behave as a ‘normal’ boy, eliminating his feminine mannerisms 
and presentation. Through an exploration of Ory’s mother Ilana’s 
family history, the developmental dynamics between her and her 
son, and the possible intergenerational transmission, 
Saketopoulou argues that Ory’s non-normative gender manifests 
as a form of translation of the enigmatic troubles passed down by 
his mother’s history, ultimately serving a psychic purpose within 
their family system. Thus, follows that Ory is neither innately 
trans nor gay, but rather that his gender expression is something 
he has psychically forged for himself. They adamantly maintain 
that this is not to be understood as ‘damage’ caused by his mother. 
Rather, Ory’s gender is a set of “translational codes” (64) that he 
has spun in his efforts to psychically translate and elaborate a 
gendered self.  

Ory’s translation efforts, since they do not align with the 
propositional statements put forth by an imposed masculinity, are 
met with rejection, surveillance, policing, shame, and are 
generally regarded as an issue requiring correction. This stands in 
contrast to children who translate in ways that are regarded as 
‘acceptable’ or ‘normal’ by their social worlds. In those instances, 
children are allowed to “keep” their gender formulation (66). 
Saketopoulou and Pellegrini's detailed exploration of Ory’s case 
illustrates that his gender, with particular reference to his 



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femininity, is a multifaceted, psychically crafted process shaped 
by familial dynamics and intergenerational influences, rather than 
a pathological response or an innate aspect of his being. 

Saketopoulou and Pellegrini contend that gender is not a 
static identity and critique traditional perspectives on gender 
formation and authenticity. They argue that gender is something 
acquired, suggesting that trauma might serve as a resource in 
shaping its constitution. They reject the dominant understanding 
that “gender is immune to trauma, or that gender, in order to be 
healthy, is uncontaminated by early traumatic intrusions, by adult 
interventions, or by the emotional debris of intergenerational 
pressures” (29), drawing links between the ways in which trauma 
can inflict gender, without implying that this is the cause of a 
“distortion” in one’s gender. They argue it is a human process to 
tend to experiences that are difficult, including those that are 
traumatizing, and as a result self-theorizations arise “that are not 
efforts to cope with or to survive trauma, but that, to the contrary, 
take up the energies roused by trauma to invent something new” 
(viii).  

A child’s gender, such as with Ory, can be understood as 
an unconsciously crafted articulation of their own processing of 
experiences, as their own spinning of experiences into gender. The 
authors explain that the particular avenues of translation taken up 
by a child are dependent on their own relational understanding of 
their contexts. Working from this point, they argue that gender is 
not something that can be discovered once at one’s core, is neither 
right or wrong, but more in line with a fitting integration into the 
self that one may arrive at over and over again through their life 
course. This is a significant point in their theorizing because it then 
renders predicting a child’s ‘true’ gender an impossibility. Thus, it 
follows that there is nothing about gender inherently that has any 
claim to authenticity other than one’s subjective experience of it 
in that particular moment. It can only be described and claimed by 
the person to which it belongs.  

Saketopoulou and Pellegrini also address the vision that 
this theorization may not solely be applicable to those with 
atypical gender expressions. All people, including cisgendered 
people, are subject to impositions from an “other” (26), and it is 
the processing of this imposition that solidifies a gendered facet 



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of ego. Ultimately, their argument extends beyond atypical gender 
expressions, positing that all individuals, regardless of their 
gender identity, are shaped by these intricate processes of psychic 
negotiation. 

 
UTILIZATIONS IN THE CONSULTING ROOM 
Saketopoulou and Pellegrini are critical of the binary in 
psychoanalytic theorizing that positions gender as either 
immutable, with roots in pursuits of ensuing protections against 
moral judgements and legal regulations, or as “acquired-and-
therefore-possible-to-eliminate” (21). It is within this context 
where concerns arise that “the mere suggestion that psychic 
factors contribute to how one becomes trans, nonbinary, or 
genderqueer threatens to endanger the safety and rights of gender-
diverse people. This is because such a suggestion is quickly 
constructed to authorize attempts to eliminate atypically gender 
experiences and identities” (21).  

Saketopoulou and Pellegrini, in building their argument 
that one can unravel these relationships without necessitating 
attempts of elimination, cite the wide body of psychoanalytic 
literature that evidently shows psychoanalysts' explorations 
regarding the constitutions of cisgender experiences in which they 
work towards enhancing the patient’s emotional life without aims 
of altering their gender. They detail how psychoanalysts, even 
those working towards eliminating transphobia in their consulting 
rooms, are limited in their approach, often not going beyond 
affirming their trans patients’ gender. If they do approach the links 
between gender and trauma, it is around the traumatic experiences 
(violence, discrimination, policing, etc.) the patient may have 
accrued as a result of living in a queerphobic world, but the 
analysts will not explore further around the becoming of their 
gender. A simple validation of an individual’s gender is not a 
substitute for efforts in uncovering deeper understandings of the 
patient's psychic gender process. Saketopoulou and Pellegrini see 
a necessity in implementing both practices, ultimately culminating 
into what they term “patient affirmation,” affirming for the patient 
that they have the right to their own non-linear process (27).  

They envision that the psychoanalytic practice has more 
to offer to their trans and queer patients, that “strives to uncover 



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CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 7 

the psychic complexities that are present in non-normative 
experiences of gender, not as a way to question its validity or to 
alter it, but to articulate its complexities and enable its flourishing. 
In attending to these nuances with their trans and queer patients, 
psychoanalysts may begin unraveling the relationships embedded 
in a patient's gender, so that their patient’s gender may feel more 
integrated within themselves, something of their own creation in 
which they may inhabit as an “idiom of their own forging” (55). 
At the heart of their argument is a call to open up the 
psychoanalytic world in a way that does not simply accept a trans 
and queer identity, but that utilizes the breadth of tools at its 
disposal to tell and discover more complex stories about non-
normative gender expression, ultimately, supporting their patients 
in understanding and embodying their own queer gender and 
sexual self-theorization.  

 
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES 
Gender Without Identity is a profound piece that deepens 
developments in trans studies, breaks from reductive conceptions 
of transness, and does significant work in reframing normative 
cultural conceptualizations of gender. In fleshing out a 
psychoanalytic process that approaches gender as a process that is 
neither innate nor of an individual's choosing, they generate 
possibilities for full acceptance of any person’s unique gender 
expressions as an embodiment of their own psychic process.  

Saketopoulou and Pellegrini open up avenues to support 
non-normative gender expressions in order to ensure the physical, 
mental, and emotional well-being of queer individuals. Though 
the field of sociology generally regards gender as a social 
institution, perpetuated in its longevity of social practices, it may 
still integrate the concept of gender as Saketopoulou and 
Pellegrini discuss it into sociological work. For example, working 
with the idea of gender as something not subject to being known 
‘correctly’ or ‘incorrectly,’ sociologists may incorporate policies 
and create programs that are not based on a criterion one must 
prove themselves against, making resources increasingly more 
available to those who wish to explore them.  

This may also have implications for those who 
“detransition” (or “retransition”) (29), as embracing the idea of no 



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CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 7 

true origin of gender that one is “returning to” after having 
previously been “wrong about.” Additional gender transitions no 
longer need serve as a signifier of “regret,” but can instead be seen 
as a new iteration of gender embodiment. Moreover, their 
reconceptualization of trauma as “generative source material” 
(xxxiii) transcends narratives of pain and dysphoria as defining 
aspects of transness, and instead reveals the profound beauty and 
complexity in the unfolding of each individual’s own gender 
becoming. This reframing has broader implications for the field of 
sociology, as it challenges reductive hegemonic views on gender, 
potentially signaling a driving force for a significant cultural shift. 
Their approach is both innovative and compelling, with the only 
shortcoming being a desire for further exploration of its 
implementation in the consulting room to further demonstrate 
applicability in patient life.  

 
CONCLUSION 
Gender Without Identity offers a profound reframing of queer 
gender expressions by reconceptualizing trauma as generative 
psychic material, ultimately contributing towards a vision for a 
world that delights in the pleasures of difference. This piece can 
speak to trans and queer individuals seeking nuanced ways of 
thinking about themselves and their relationship to their 
queerness. It may also have relevance for those invested in 
improving the material, physical, and psychological well-being of 
trans individuals, as analysts, friends, family, and more. 
Additionally, cisgendered people may benefit by gaining a deeper 
understanding of gender as Saketopoulou and Pellegrini position 
it—not as something innate or given, but as a complex internal 
process unique to each individual, including themselves. 

 
REFERENCES 

Saketopoulou, Avgi and Ann Pellegrini. 2003. Gender Without Identity. New 
York: The Unconscious Translation.


	Book Review: Gender Without Identity by Avgi Saketopoulou and Ann Pellegrini - Angel Jaimes



