alyxinthestars's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Death
amphipodgirl's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
5.0
I could not stop thinking about this book (and my friends will tell you I kind of had to talk about it a lot to). This is the story of Ewan Forbes, a trans man who received hormone treatments in the 1930s, got his birth certificate changed to reflect his male name and gender in the 1950s, and had to go to court in the 1960s when a cousin challenged his right to inherit his brother's baronetcy. (It's not clear that Ewan cared that much about being a baronet, but if the court ruled that he was male, his marriage would have been invalidated and he and his wife might have gone to prison.) (And if you're think that he sounds privileged af, he absolutely was, and Playdon in no way sugarcoats it.) It is also a history of the legal treatment of trans people in the UK from the early 20th century until 2020, with additional information on press coverage, medical advances, medical definitions, political theory, and some coverage of overseas nations as well.
That's a LOT. And it's all scrupulously researched and clearly communicated. In other hands, such a book could have been dense and dry, valuable but unpalatable, but Playdon has made it riveting. She has pieced together the story of Forbes's life -- he was a quite private person in some ways, so that is a non-trivial undertaking -- and used it as the living heart and soul of the book. His experience illuminates the broader trans history she is telling and vice-versa. I was not quite as entirely captivated after his case ended, but stayed engaged and interested through the very end.
I have a couple of quibbles with the book. I do not feel that Playdon has entirely supported her contention that However, it is to her credit as a historian that she is sufficiently clear in laying out her evidence that I can judge her conclusion in this way.
Playdon was very persistent in labeling some medical thinking on trans people as "scientific medicine" and some other medical thinking as "pseudo-medicine". The two terms came up again and again, every time she mentioned any medical theories, papers, conferences, guidelines, etc. was repeated so many times that it started to feel like some kind of special pleading -- even though I don't think she's wrong, and I even think I understand the great importance of the distinction, given how medicine (pseudo-medicine, she would be quick to point out) is being used to fuel anti-trans legislation and other government action in both the US and the UK at our current political moment. Even with that, though, the incessant drumbeat got wearing.
So I don't agree with everything in the book, but it is a fascinating story, expertly told, and I learned a lot about the history of trans rights and trans medicine in the last hundred years. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
That's a LOT. And it's all scrupulously researched and clearly communicated. In other hands, such a book could have been dense and dry, valuable but unpalatable, but Playdon has made it riveting. She has pieced together the story of Forbes's life -- he was a quite private person in some ways, so that is a non-trivial undertaking -- and used it as the living heart and soul of the book. His experience illuminates the broader trans history she is telling and vice-versa. I was not quite as entirely captivated after his case ended, but stayed engaged and interested through the very end.
I have a couple of quibbles with the book. I do not feel that Playdon has entirely supported her contention that
Spoiler
the judge in Corbett vs. Corbett was acting primarily in response to Ewan's (suppressed) victory in his case and in defense of the institution of male primogeniture.Playdon was very persistent in labeling some medical thinking on trans people as "scientific medicine" and some other medical thinking as "pseudo-medicine". The two terms came up again and again, every time she mentioned any medical theories, papers, conferences, guidelines, etc. was repeated so many times that it started to feel like some kind of special pleading -- even though I don't think she's wrong, and I even think I understand the great importance of the distinction, given how medicine (pseudo-medicine, she would be quick to point out) is being used to fuel anti-trans legislation and other government action in both the US and the UK at our current political moment. Even with that, though, the incessant drumbeat got wearing.
So I don't agree with everything in the book, but it is a fascinating story, expertly told, and I learned a lot about the history of trans rights and trans medicine in the last hundred years. I cannot recommend this book too highly.
arlingtonchamberofgay's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Medical content
hfleur's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Sexism, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, and Deadnaming
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Car accident
james1star's review against another edition
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.0
After finishing this book I was certain of giving it a full 5 star rating but since reading some reviews and the online discourse which is summarised in this article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10303731/amp/Battle-transgender-baronet-Dr-Ewan-Forbes-Sempill-born-woman.html I have chosen to lower it to 4. I won’t describe the story of Dr Ewan Forbes in my review as you can learn this from others. I’ll start with what I enjoyed most about this book.
Playdon does a great job of portraying Ewan’s life which is very fascinating, he and his wife Patty seemed like such lovely people that were a real rock in their community. His story is the focus but there’s also other trans individuals and the book showcases the history of trans rights (or lack there of) with a focus on the UK. Other cases, specifically that of April Ashley, ‘P’ and ‘R’ were all fascinating and landmarks in their own right, along with Ewan’s. Playdon takes us from the early 1900s up through to 2020 and negating the possible fallacies in the primary story, the cases and history were true. This is by far my favourite part of the book and the reason I loved it so much, I definitely learnt loads from it and for this reason I still feel confident in recommending it, to trans people, the rest of us that make up the LGBTQ+ community (we’ve long forgotten our trans and non-binary siblings), allies and everyone too. There is certainly a focus on the law, different cases, acts and bills and the like but it was written quite accessibly - I listened to the audiobook and did enjoy this, I found not directly seeing all this information did help in all honesty - and most importantly, this story should be told and either purposely or not, was forgotten about for many years.
As mentioned above, the case of Ewan Forbes and later that of April Ashley did heavily impact the lives of trans people then and currently still do. Whilst the former did win, Patty later stated ‘Those that win, do so at a personal cost’ referencing the vile treatment of Ewan, and subsequently many others, in his sex identification examination and the pressing personal questions the couple were forced to answer too. Ashley was so horrendously treated by her ‘husband’ and this was truly horrible to read at times but sadly her experience wasn’t a one off. For many years that followed, trans people’s rights were taken and their standing in society heavily jeopardised. When Forbes was younger, he self-identified as male, he sought out affirmable medical treatment, changed his birth certificate and till 1965 lived a nearly equal life to cisgender people. Despite coming from a very rich background and a mother, Gwendolyn, who helped out massively - side note: so she basically fully accepted him and helped find/fund the necessary treatments and this was OVER 100 years ago when times were by and large very different to today, but still people *parents* chose not to accept or even recognise trans people now… umm I thought we moved forward but okay -, trans people could take these steps to feel more comfortable in their bodies and society. After Forbes’s case was hidden and Ashley’s loss, these steps were made unavailable as someone’s gender would be solely defined by their birth certificate leading to the disgusting treatment of trans people in all aspects of life for over a decade and still now. Conversion therapy and forced sterilisation was taking placed from the 1970s up until 1996, how is this possible?! Honestly it’s sickening what many faced and is explained in this book, I’m so angry just writing this. A quote from the book sums up a lot of this period: ‘Trans people were objects for discussion, deluded masqueraders at best to be told who and what they are, and in no way experts on their own lives’ and does this sound familiar to things happening now? It does to me, still trans people aren’t awarded the rights they deserve (and once had) and the growing transphobic rhetoric in ‘culture wars’ and laws/bills being passed in many places around the world *US*. What I also found interesting was the discourse on media portrayals of trans people and how they expressed and impacted the attitudes of the time. These and many aspects of the book are focused on the UK which again I loved as I feel much of queer history is told via a US-centric lens so it was refreshing, but Playdon does include things from America, Europe, Australia and other places too. Two later court cases, that of ‘P’ and ‘R’ involved two trans women who stood their ground, were immensely brave and inspirational in the face of the UK and EU courts and were integral to the trans rights movement. But there’s still a lot more to do.
What I guess I didn’t like all that much was how the book tries to act on many ways like a biography for Ewan Forbes. It isn’t this fact because his life and story is fascinating and should be told, just it’s not coming from him. I felt like Playdon didn’t particularly put things into his mouth but there’s this ‘he would’ve… because we don’t know’ sensation which is a little unnerving… kind of? But also not? I don’t really know. Forbes did purposely keep parts of his life secret or hidden and has reasons for this but at the same time knowledge of his life (and case) does impact many people so maybe he’d be happy it’s out now… we don’t know. In the interview section at the end of the audiobook, Playdon states how she consulted Forbes’s relatives and others that knows he personally so I’m guessing they’d consent to her telling his story and it being in the world is a good thing as a whole in my opinion.
From reading some reviews and the article I am a little sceptical on the facts of the matter but I would still defiantly recommend giving this book a read (or listen). Be mindful of explicit transphobia, misogyny, and homophobia as well as other TW topics of discussion.
Playdon does a great job of portraying Ewan’s life which is very fascinating, he and his wife Patty seemed like such lovely people that were a real rock in their community. His story is the focus but there’s also other trans individuals and the book showcases the history of trans rights (or lack there of) with a focus on the UK. Other cases, specifically that of April Ashley, ‘P’ and ‘R’ were all fascinating and landmarks in their own right, along with Ewan’s. Playdon takes us from the early 1900s up through to 2020 and negating the possible fallacies in the primary story, the cases and history were true. This is by far my favourite part of the book and the reason I loved it so much, I definitely learnt loads from it and for this reason I still feel confident in recommending it, to trans people, the rest of us that make up the LGBTQ+ community (we’ve long forgotten our trans and non-binary siblings), allies and everyone too. There is certainly a focus on the law, different cases, acts and bills and the like but it was written quite accessibly - I listened to the audiobook and did enjoy this, I found not directly seeing all this information did help in all honesty - and most importantly, this story should be told and either purposely or not, was forgotten about for many years.
As mentioned above, the case of Ewan Forbes and later that of April Ashley did heavily impact the lives of trans people then and currently still do. Whilst the former did win, Patty later stated ‘Those that win, do so at a personal cost’ referencing the vile treatment of Ewan, and subsequently many others, in his sex identification examination and the pressing personal questions the couple were forced to answer too. Ashley was so horrendously treated by her ‘husband’ and this was truly horrible to read at times but sadly her experience wasn’t a one off. For many years that followed, trans people’s rights were taken and their standing in society heavily jeopardised. When Forbes was younger, he self-identified as male, he sought out affirmable medical treatment, changed his birth certificate and till 1965 lived a nearly equal life to cisgender people. Despite coming from a very rich background and a mother, Gwendolyn, who helped out massively - side note: so she basically fully accepted him and helped find/fund the necessary treatments and this was OVER 100 years ago when times were by and large very different to today, but still people *parents* chose not to accept or even recognise trans people now… umm I thought we moved forward but okay -, trans people could take these steps to feel more comfortable in their bodies and society. After Forbes’s case was hidden and Ashley’s loss, these steps were made unavailable as someone’s gender would be solely defined by their birth certificate leading to the disgusting treatment of trans people in all aspects of life for over a decade and still now. Conversion therapy and forced sterilisation was taking placed from the 1970s up until 1996, how is this possible?! Honestly it’s sickening what many faced and is explained in this book, I’m so angry just writing this. A quote from the book sums up a lot of this period: ‘Trans people were objects for discussion, deluded masqueraders at best to be told who and what they are, and in no way experts on their own lives’ and does this sound familiar to things happening now? It does to me, still trans people aren’t awarded the rights they deserve (and once had) and the growing transphobic rhetoric in ‘culture wars’ and laws/bills being passed in many places around the world *US*. What I also found interesting was the discourse on media portrayals of trans people and how they expressed and impacted the attitudes of the time. These and many aspects of the book are focused on the UK which again I loved as I feel much of queer history is told via a US-centric lens so it was refreshing, but Playdon does include things from America, Europe, Australia and other places too. Two later court cases, that of ‘P’ and ‘R’ involved two trans women who stood their ground, were immensely brave and inspirational in the face of the UK and EU courts and were integral to the trans rights movement. But there’s still a lot more to do.
What I guess I didn’t like all that much was how the book tries to act on many ways like a biography for Ewan Forbes. It isn’t this fact because his life and story is fascinating and should be told, just it’s not coming from him. I felt like Playdon didn’t particularly put things into his mouth but there’s this ‘he would’ve… because we don’t know’ sensation which is a little unnerving… kind of? But also not? I don’t really know. Forbes did purposely keep parts of his life secret or hidden and has reasons for this but at the same time knowledge of his life (and case) does impact many people so maybe he’d be happy it’s out now… we don’t know. In the interview section at the end of the audiobook, Playdon states how she consulted Forbes’s relatives and others that knows he personally so I’m guessing they’d consent to her telling his story and it being in the world is a good thing as a whole in my opinion.
From reading some reviews and the article I am a little sceptical on the facts of the matter but I would still defiantly recommend giving this book a read (or listen). Be mindful of explicit transphobia, misogyny, and homophobia as well as other TW topics of discussion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Transphobia
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Medical trauma, Racism, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Bullying, and Death
Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Car accident, Dysphoria, Medical content, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, War, Physical abuse, and Rape