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A review by howdyhoward
decolonizing trans/gender 101 by b. binaohan
4.0
I learned so fucking much from this book. About trans discourse. About myself.
This book confronted me in a way I haven’t often been confronted. It made me angry. The author consistently repeats how BIPoC trans feminine people are the most affected by transphobia/transmisogyny. That white trans men in particular benefit from cissexism and white privilege in ways that BIPoC trans feminine people can’t. This insistence alienated me (a white trans man) and made me feel like my own struggles/oppression weren’t “real”. I had to push myself through my discomfort to really see the point the author was trying to make. I argued with this book, out loud, in the margins, trying to justify my “place” in the discussion. And ultimately, I realized the author is right. I have never had to confront my whiteness or my white privilege the way i have reading and really absorbing this book. It would have been so easy to just write this off as the author centering herself and her experiences- but that was exactly what I was doing! I continue to feel that there was a missed opportunity to talk about BIPoC trans masculine people (which the author generally ignored). But making clear specifically the privileges white trans masculine people access is important. And I it’s okay and even good for me to be upset by this and to reckon with it. I see the world and my place/location in it differently than i did before I finished this book. This has been a reckoning.
I have never loved annotating a book more. So many incredible passages to highlight. So much to interact with. I LOVED that there were two other “authors” leaving footnotes throughout the text of what they thought of the work. Definitely added to the discussion this book is begging to start. Highly recommend treating the book not as a “text” but as a discussion. Talk to the book. Write in it. Talk about it. Out loud. To yourself. To others. I also loved the colloquial/internet style of the text with “incorrect” grammar, punctuation and capitalization for emphasis, abbreviations, and straight up spelling mistakes. This made it feel a lot more accessible than an “official” style book, which the author stated was her intention.
Not even to mention all the incredible knowledge I’ve gained from this book. I was floored in almost every chapter. I not only highlighted but also shared so many passages, and gaining access to/sharing these ideas led to conversations i couldn’t have accessed on my own (or wouldn’t have come to myself for many more years)
Like I mentioned I do wish the book spent a bit more time talking about trans masculine people, especially those who aren’t white, and how they find a place within “gender”. Although as the author is trans feminine I understand that she is writing from her experience.
I didn’t realize that this book was a direct response to another book (which gets quoted throughout the text). I don’t feel like i missed anything from never having heard of the other book but it did make me feel like I was coming into conversation that was happening without me (which is okay!!! i’m learning to live in the discomfort and meet people/ideas where they’re at)
I HIGHLY recommend this book to other white trans people. Push through the discomfort. De-center yourself. Engage in conversation with a text (you can’t commit micro aggressions against a text - it’s paper and ink! This makes it the perfect medium to work these more complicated topics on your own time.) Really engage with the text. Get angry with it! Learn. Learn. Learn.
It’s not a perfect book. The author says so herself in the introduction. But it’s really damn useful.
This book confronted me in a way I haven’t often been confronted. It made me angry. The author consistently repeats how BIPoC trans feminine people are the most affected by transphobia/transmisogyny. That white trans men in particular benefit from cissexism and white privilege in ways that BIPoC trans feminine people can’t. This insistence alienated me (a white trans man) and made me feel like my own struggles/oppression weren’t “real”. I had to push myself through my discomfort to really see the point the author was trying to make. I argued with this book, out loud, in the margins, trying to justify my “place” in the discussion. And ultimately, I realized the author is right. I have never had to confront my whiteness or my white privilege the way i have reading and really absorbing this book. It would have been so easy to just write this off as the author centering herself and her experiences- but that was exactly what I was doing! I continue to feel that there was a missed opportunity to talk about BIPoC trans masculine people (which the author generally ignored). But making clear specifically the privileges white trans masculine people access is important. And I it’s okay and even good for me to be upset by this and to reckon with it. I see the world and my place/location in it differently than i did before I finished this book. This has been a reckoning.
I have never loved annotating a book more. So many incredible passages to highlight. So much to interact with. I LOVED that there were two other “authors” leaving footnotes throughout the text of what they thought of the work. Definitely added to the discussion this book is begging to start. Highly recommend treating the book not as a “text” but as a discussion. Talk to the book. Write in it. Talk about it. Out loud. To yourself. To others. I also loved the colloquial/internet style of the text with “incorrect” grammar, punctuation and capitalization for emphasis, abbreviations, and straight up spelling mistakes. This made it feel a lot more accessible than an “official” style book, which the author stated was her intention.
Not even to mention all the incredible knowledge I’ve gained from this book. I was floored in almost every chapter. I not only highlighted but also shared so many passages, and gaining access to/sharing these ideas led to conversations i couldn’t have accessed on my own (or wouldn’t have come to myself for many more years)
Like I mentioned I do wish the book spent a bit more time talking about trans masculine people, especially those who aren’t white, and how they find a place within “gender”. Although as the author is trans feminine I understand that she is writing from her experience.
I didn’t realize that this book was a direct response to another book (which gets quoted throughout the text). I don’t feel like i missed anything from never having heard of the other book but it did make me feel like I was coming into conversation that was happening without me (which is okay!!! i’m learning to live in the discomfort and meet people/ideas where they’re at)
I HIGHLY recommend this book to other white trans people. Push through the discomfort. De-center yourself. Engage in conversation with a text (you can’t commit micro aggressions against a text - it’s paper and ink! This makes it the perfect medium to work these more complicated topics on your own time.) Really engage with the text. Get angry with it! Learn. Learn. Learn.
It’s not a perfect book. The author says so herself in the introduction. But it’s really damn useful.