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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I picked this up mainly due to the striking cover. Although this is interesting and educational it is mostly dry and factual. Firstly this is written by a Gay Cis Man and although it includes quotes and snippets it is not really an own voice narrative, so I think that takes away some of the realness. I think the author was trying so hard for this to be bias-free and clear facts that he lost a lot of the emotions. Also, the book is written under headings, with interview snippets and quotes assigned to each heading such as 'surgery', 'identity' and 'sexual heath' etc. So you don't get an immersive experience of the interviews. I think I came into this book wanting a set of short autobiographical stories written by Trans people writing about their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Not a dictionary, thesaurus, and guide map about being trans.
A good introduction to gender in its many forms and the tremendous difficulties faced by the trans and non binary communities.
The reason I didn't rate it higher was because it wasn't intersectional. There were no perspectives from different races, cultures or disabilities and this was really disappointing.
The reason I didn't rate it higher was because it wasn't intersectional. There were no perspectives from different races, cultures or disabilities and this was really disappointing.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
The back of the book was horrifying and I expected a complete shit show when reading this. I even did a rant about the ableist and transphobic undertones of the blurb on Instagram, and continued to post updates on my story while reading this (@that_bookworm_guy)
I was pleasantly surprised that it contained some good points, however, it is nothing new. This is maybe a good book if you know next to nothing about trans people. This is definitely written for cis people that don't know much and want a basic all rounder.
However, the author is not trans. He has collected views and quotes from trans people and used this to show his points. I'm glad he interviewed a lot of trans people, but it didn't really give space for their voices, but seem rather that their voices gave space for his words. I'm not saying that cis people can't write books about being trans etc, but rather consider why they are choosing to write the book and what they can do for trans people. Trans people are often spoken over and yelled over and are only listened to when cis people yell over us and shout the same things we are, instead of boosting our voices so that other listen to us.
The author spoke about how trans people experience discrimination, however didn't touch on the relations with this and race. Trans people of colour experience a much higher rate of hate compared to white people and trans women of colour are murdered at a much higher rate compared to white or white passing trans women. This is not new information, and considering some of the other hard hitting topics (mental health, and sucide), it seems odd that this wasn't even mentioned once.
I also don't agree that cross-dressers should be included with trans people, unless they identify as such. But even the author said that most cross dressers are heterosexual cis men who have no desire to transition and don't label themselves as trans. So why was this included?? The really odd thing was how the author kept mentioning that it was often linked to sexual desires and behaviour, even going as far as mentioning that sometimes they would steal family members underwear to wear while performing sexual acts. I don't understand while this was included in a book about trans people. For someone who may not be able to distinguish between cross dresser and trans people, they may think that trans women are just Cross dressers, and therefore just a man in a dress, which is no only falling into harmful stereotypes, but untrue. Trans women are women, not men in dresses.
I feel like this feeds into transphobia and also may be confusing. As a trans person myself, I am confused why this was included in the book as the two are vastly different from one another. One is a trans person, the other is someone who like to dress up and have a persona but who has no issue with their assigned gender
There were some good points in this book, but they mainly came from the foreword and some of the trans peoples views. I can't say I agreed with all of the trans people interviewed, but that's the incredible thing, we are all different and our experiences are never the same. We have a variety of thought and opinions.
This book was published 4 years ago, and like non-fiction books, some of the information inside is now out-dated. I'm not holding this against the book at all and this doesn't affect my review, but it is important to consider when reading this
I was pleasantly surprised that it contained some good points, however, it is nothing new. This is maybe a good book if you know next to nothing about trans people. This is definitely written for cis people that don't know much and want a basic all rounder.
However, the author is not trans. He has collected views and quotes from trans people and used this to show his points. I'm glad he interviewed a lot of trans people, but it didn't really give space for their voices, but seem rather that their voices gave space for his words. I'm not saying that cis people can't write books about being trans etc, but rather consider why they are choosing to write the book and what they can do for trans people. Trans people are often spoken over and yelled over and are only listened to when cis people yell over us and shout the same things we are, instead of boosting our voices so that other listen to us.
The author spoke about how trans people experience discrimination, however didn't touch on the relations with this and race. Trans people of colour experience a much higher rate of hate compared to white people and trans women of colour are murdered at a much higher rate compared to white or white passing trans women. This is not new information, and considering some of the other hard hitting topics (mental health, and sucide), it seems odd that this wasn't even mentioned once.
I also don't agree that cross-dressers should be included with trans people, unless they identify as such. But even the author said that most cross dressers are heterosexual cis men who have no desire to transition and don't label themselves as trans. So why was this included?? The really odd thing was how the author kept mentioning that it was often linked to sexual desires and behaviour, even going as far as mentioning that sometimes they would steal family members underwear to wear while performing sexual acts. I don't understand while this was included in a book about trans people. For someone who may not be able to distinguish between cross dresser and trans people, they may think that trans women are just Cross dressers, and therefore just a man in a dress, which is no only falling into harmful stereotypes, but untrue. Trans women are women, not men in dresses.
I feel like this feeds into transphobia and also may be confusing. As a trans person myself, I am confused why this was included in the book as the two are vastly different from one another. One is a trans person, the other is someone who like to dress up and have a persona but who has no issue with their assigned gender
There were some good points in this book, but they mainly came from the foreword and some of the trans peoples views. I can't say I agreed with all of the trans people interviewed, but that's the incredible thing, we are all different and our experiences are never the same. We have a variety of thought and opinions.
This book was published 4 years ago, and like non-fiction books, some of the information inside is now out-dated. I'm not holding this against the book at all and this doesn't affect my review, but it is important to consider when reading this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol
a compilation of opinions and experiences on numerous trans issues given by trans people is a great idea! the execution is where this fails. it still feels like a book by a cis person for cis people.
fast-paced
Mainly targetted at cis-allies, not trans people. Some of the info is a bit out of date and it could have done with more in-depth research but for a beginners intro into trans people and the issues they face its pretty decent.
I don't think the cross-dresser's section should have been included, yes there needed to be a clarification between transwomen/drag queens/crossdressers. But all those interviews in this section where cismen, who largely described how their cross-dressing started out sexually and with masturbating to their mother's underwear, which is extremely uncomfortable and disturbing, the crossdressers section further stigmatises trans people by being included in this book.
I don't think the cross-dresser's section should have been included, yes there needed to be a clarification between transwomen/drag queens/crossdressers. But all those interviews in this section where cismen, who largely described how their cross-dressing started out sexually and with masturbating to their mother's underwear, which is extremely uncomfortable and disturbing, the crossdressers section further stigmatises trans people by being included in this book.
I received an eARC of this novel from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The author of this book is a gay social worker, not a trans person, so I was hesitant, but I gave it a shot because he had worked & interviewed trans people, including those who identify as non-binary.
"I firmly believe that awareness and knowledge break down ignorance and bigotry and can create a world where everybody can get on with their business without interference or prejudice, thus allowing people to become whoever they want to be. Therefore it is the voices in this book that will reach out to you when descriptions of their experiences are conveyed because they are coming from lived lives, rather than from me as a mere spectator. Ultimately, I hope these voices will draw closer to what it is like to be a trans person in today's world."
I had high hopes after that statement, but the inclusion of research "connecting" being trans to being autistic killed this book for me, as someone on the autism spectrum and as a generally informed human being.
The study quoted [found here] is problematic because for a long time, the only reason that people assigned female at birth were taken to be diagnosed because they weren't presenting as ladylike or as pliable as their parents wanted them to be, which plays into gender identity. It gets ignored in so many of us, or it's misdiagnosed. None of that was discussed within any of the study writings linked above, despite that they mentioned that all of this was self-reported. Not to mention, the study was not able to prove its hypothesis, so it shouldn't have been included except as a theory.
Because I know this about this particular study, I don't trust the author to be accurate throughout the rest of the book, and I won't be continuing. If this book had been just the stories from the trans people that the author interviewed, I would have enjoyed it. I'll stick to books by trans people about their own experiences.
The author of this book is a gay social worker, not a trans person, so I was hesitant, but I gave it a shot because he had worked & interviewed trans people, including those who identify as non-binary.
"I firmly believe that awareness and knowledge break down ignorance and bigotry and can create a world where everybody can get on with their business without interference or prejudice, thus allowing people to become whoever they want to be. Therefore it is the voices in this book that will reach out to you when descriptions of their experiences are conveyed because they are coming from lived lives, rather than from me as a mere spectator. Ultimately, I hope these voices will draw closer to what it is like to be a trans person in today's world."
I had high hopes after that statement, but the inclusion of research "connecting" being trans to being autistic killed this book for me, as someone on the autism spectrum and as a generally informed human being.
The study quoted [found here] is problematic because for a long time, the only reason that people assigned female at birth were taken to be diagnosed because they weren't presenting as ladylike or as pliable as their parents wanted them to be, which plays into gender identity. It gets ignored in so many of us, or it's misdiagnosed. None of that was discussed within any of the study writings linked above, despite that they mentioned that all of this was self-reported. Not to mention, the study was not able to prove its hypothesis, so it shouldn't have been included except as a theory.
Because I know this about this particular study, I don't trust the author to be accurate throughout the rest of the book, and I won't be continuing. If this book had been just the stories from the trans people that the author interviewed, I would have enjoyed it. I'll stick to books by trans people about their own experiences.
Thank you Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the ARC!
Had this book only contained the interviews without the inclusion of clinical or psychological of documents and studies, this would have been a five-star read. However, I have to say that I feel this is a great book for people curious about the subject with little knowledge going in. Coupled with a comprehensive glossary and explanations throughout each chapter, I believe it would be a good starting point.
Full review on my blog.
Had this book only contained the interviews without the inclusion of clinical or psychological of documents and studies, this would have been a five-star read. However, I have to say that I feel this is a great book for people curious about the subject with little knowledge going in. Coupled with a comprehensive glossary and explanations throughout each chapter, I believe it would be a good starting point.
Full review on my blog.
Thank you Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the ARC!
Had this book only contained the interviews without the inclusion of clinical or psychological of documents and studies, this would have been a five-star read. However, I have to say that I feel this is a great book for people curious about the subject with little knowledge going in. Coupled with a comprehensive glossary and explanations throughout each chapter, I believe it would be a good starting point.
Full review on my blog.
Had this book only contained the interviews without the inclusion of clinical or psychological of documents and studies, this would have been a five-star read. However, I have to say that I feel this is a great book for people curious about the subject with little knowledge going in. Coupled with a comprehensive glossary and explanations throughout each chapter, I believe it would be a good starting point.
Full review on my blog.