Reviews tagging 'Classism'

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

7 reviews

torismazarine's review

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.

angelfireeast24's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

templetoncecelia's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Confinement, Deadnaming, Genocide, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective

4.5

Before We Were Trans is a brilliant book exploring trans history in an intersectional way. The author shows how the history of trans identities overlaps with history of intersex people, women, lesbians, non-western cultures & spirituality and how they were warped by colonization. Dr. Heyam does a wonderful job of explaining the nuances of how trans history is interconnected with all those things above and directly questions how interpretation of history can harm certain communities even if unintentionally. This book was really thought-provoking and even if you have a good understanding of intersectional theory regarding activism and feminism, I still recommend this book because of how detailed Dr. Heyam is and how well-researched his book is. The audiobook was narrated by the author and I really enjoyed it. Although it might be worth getting your hands on a physical copy or ebook to at least see the names of the historical figures and communities mentioned. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

the_reading_wren's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Fascinating, challenging and most of all comforting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, Dysphoria, War, and Classism

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

informative reflective sad fast-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Classism