Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam

37 reviews

cronchbonch's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A historian acknowledging their biases and the intersectionalism of how hustory is recorded in the first chapter. Beautiful.

A multicultural peak into how cultures and people looked at gender through time while giving care to those retellings. Amazing

The level of care and love poured into this book is a gift. I am going to reccommend this book to most people who want to start looking at queer history but dont know where to start. Allies who dont understand. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Transphobia, Violence, and Sexual harassment

hannahshriver5's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

this was a very well-done exploration of trans history! Kit Heyam did a phenomenal job in presenting so many pieces and perspectives of the stories that they shared. their mindfulness of the topic that they were sharing on was evident, and i really appreciated that! highly recommend :)

notes: chapter 3 was my favorite! strong cw for chapter 5 in the realm of medical trauma/forced body modification. my only small critique was that in the introduction Heyam shares that they wanted to avoid using the terms AFAB/AMAB in this book as much as possible, however, they are used pretty prevalently throughout!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Medical trauma

rideauriverreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Colonisation

jeti's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Colonisation

torismazarine's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Genocide, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

g_whitt's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Outing, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

I had so little understanding of the history covered in this book, and never expected to find a work like it. The author is very cautious in defining terms, explaining differences in culture, sharing histories before colonization & globalization, displaying episodes of appropriation, and shows special care in representing people who were individuals in their own time. Though there is a lot of hope in the sentiment that we have always been here, the author doesn’t present a golden or idealistic version of the past. There are some passages that were difficult to listen to, and there were passages I had to return to again at a later time. However, these difficult moments were not needlessly gruesome, and though there was no dwelling on evils, it was not shied away from either. The reader-author has a calm voice which expressed care for the topic and the people who were shared with the audience. I feel like I could write an essay on this work, but will leave it at this: excellent work, well presented, hopeful in spite of tragedy and difficulty. A good read for anyone interested in a more complete reading of world history.

starryeyedreads's review against another edition

informative reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

arinheck's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Incredible. My favourite history book to date. Gave me a new perspective on how historians are taught to approach people from the past and why that has prevented more books like this one being written. Loved it so much. Cannot recommend it enough!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Dysphoria

ashton_n's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Stunning work, and I hope to go through it again once I’ve thought about it. I wish there were more books like this. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

rorikae's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

'Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender" by Kit Heyam is a thoughtful look at trans history through sections that focus on specific aspects. From clothing to performance, Heyam looks at how trans people have lived throughout time and in different places throughout the world. They do a good job of breaking down important aspects into bite sized pieces and packaging this history in an easy way to understand. With histories, it can be easy to try and focus on too much or end up feeling like more of a timeline than a cohesive narrative. Heyam does a great job of making the history span a good chunk of time and subjects by focusing on specifics and then extrapolating from there. I think this is an important book for many people to read as they learn more about gender and trans history. I also appreciate that Heyman very clearly addresses that they are a white trans man and how this may impact their work. This book feels very open and informative in the best ways. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Colonisation

Minor: War