Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

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

13 reviews

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

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.

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

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

sophieprime's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Medical trauma

kkpwnall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Colonisation

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Medical trauma

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

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

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