Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

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

10 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

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

chase0w0's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Dysphoria

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

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

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

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

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

caseythereader's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Outing, Colonisation, and Dysphoria