Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

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

37 reviews

arrr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Thoughtful as historiography, interesting as trans and gender expansive history. Solid attempt at decolonial history accounting. Read the trigger warnings, it gets difficult at times. But the book is mostly affirming. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault

noomzoom's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Dysphoria

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Biphobia, Cursing, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Eugenics, Intersexism, Incarceration

lindsdavis's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence

aweekinthelife's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

i learned a lot from this book about trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming history from around the world. i think the author does a good job of acknowledging their position in the world as a white nonbinary person and being careful to represent other people's stories respectfully. 

it was engaging on audio, although this may be why i don't remember the epilogue part that some other reviewers are hesitant about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

ashstrausser's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Medical trauma, and Cultural appropriation

lbelow's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

This is the kind of book that for years I have been looking for. It looks at the past with an openness that reflects the breadth of the trans experience. Rather than pointing to a list of people who meet certain criteria, the author expounds on the trends and situations of the past and the multi-layered reasons for acting in gender-nonconforming ways—from the economic and social/political in Western/European history to reasons intrinsically tied with sexuality, (non-white) culture, and spirituality. I may not have finished this book with a laundry list of definitely trans figures, but I'm left with a buoying feeling that people like me have always existed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Minor: Ableism, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria

frog_appreciator's review against another edition

3.75

While jarring to see AGAB language used so often in a historical context, the author is extremely self aware which is important when talking about other cultures, even if it bordered on excessive at times (repeating themself in footnotes) I definitely learned a lot while reading so it was worthwhile. I’m excited to dive into other texts mentioned in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Transphobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture

lettuce_read's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism and Hate crime

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I DEVOURED this in one sitting so 🙌 As a history major in college, I appreciate this book and how it approaches trans history so much. Obviously the language we have now was not always around, but that doesn't mean trans people were not. I appreciate how the author explains so many of the flaws in how we study history--needing hard proof of someone's queerness and considering them cis by default unless proven otherwise and how hard that is to do. I appreciate that this book really is an exploration of gender nonconformity across many cultures, races, etc. Not only was the research and everything else about the content fantastic, but I loved how it was structured (issue-based more than chronological). This book has me thinking a lot about a recent book I read about women rulers of the past bending gender and their reasons for doing so, and I love it when I can make connections like that. I feel quite strongly that everyone should read this book and hopefully have a better understanding not just of trans people and their history but also of how we have looked at gender in the past, present, and future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Outing

Minor: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Lesbophobia