nmaltec's review against another edition
I’d really like to go back and read the 1994 version before giving my full opinion. Bornstein hints toward this in the beginning of Chapter 14 (“Queer Life/Queer Theater”), but it seems that the 2016 revision kind of moved this text to Transgender 101 down from something like Transgender 301. I really want to see what the original text and its flow was like before the terms “nonbinary” and “cisgender” became fully operational.
kangaroo1990's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
corinneplevy's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
woolfinbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia and Homophobia
michellenayc's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
ricoocri's review against another edition
2.0
Largely useful as a lens into what the trans community was like in its fledgling days/formation of the community itself. The author expresses many counter-productive and at times outright transphobic ideas and the rhetoric used to discuss everything is rather dated (expect lots of "transgendered" "ftm" "Mtf" etc.) The author does bring up nonwestern genders outside the binary, however its almost always done in a manner which summarizes millenia of a culture in a paragraph and then dismissively, accuses navajo nonbinary people of misogynistic existences for existing as mediators between men and women (not sure why that bit happened, there was a lot of reaching in that section and it was rather ahistorical and antimaterialist--she says things happened but never cites examples, which, in a society based around oral traditions would have been well documented). All in all it was Not Good.
ellist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
ezravarley's review against another edition
4.0
God I love Kate Bornstein. Such a valuable trancestor to have - I feel lucky to be alive at the same time as her. Incredible read that’s absolutely essential for anyone, cis or trans or whatever else you may be. The only reason a star has been knocked off is because I had to skip through the play at the end. I’m sure it’s good, I just don’t like theatre lol.