Scan barcode
nic55's review
2nd finished read for #TransRightsReadathon!
While I appreciated the project of this book, I feel like I only digested 50% of the content. And this is not the fault of the author! This is definitely written for an academic audience in mind, so it’s not necessarily meant to be accessible. The ideas were definitely enlightening: how gender has been/continues to be racialized, how this realization sheds light on gender’s variability/flexibility, how Black folks explored gender pre and post slavery…all of it was eye opening. Regardless, I was struggling to follow the ideas being explored because they were expressed in both dry and very academically dense language. It was still a valuable read (and honestly needs a reread in the future) but I wouldn’t recommend for those looking for a straightforward history of Black trans experiences in the US.
While I appreciated the project of this book, I feel like I only digested 50% of the content. And this is not the fault of the author! This is definitely written for an academic audience in mind, so it’s not necessarily meant to be accessible. The ideas were definitely enlightening: how gender has been/continues to be racialized, how this realization sheds light on gender’s variability/flexibility, how Black folks explored gender pre and post slavery…all of it was eye opening. Regardless, I was struggling to follow the ideas being explored because they were expressed in both dry and very academically dense language. It was still a valuable read (and honestly needs a reread in the future) but I wouldn’t recommend for those looking for a straightforward history of Black trans experiences in the US.
stargrl314's review against another edition
DNF at 7%. This is really well researched but reads like a textbook. I was just not in the mood/headspace to read a book like this at this time.
ktxx22's review against another edition
3.0
This book is not what you think by simply reading the title. While the author tells us that in the intro I was more surprised than anything in how it shakes out. This reads very intellectual dissertation style and while it’s interesting it’s a bit discombobulated. I learned a few new things here which is nice but I would’ve preferred it focusing on black trans folk and not the vague trans black gendered discussion we get in this book.
abbie_'s review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
A middle of the road rating for this one because I’m too stupid to fully understand what Snorton is putting down and that’s not his fault 😂 I went into this knowing that it’s an academic text and yet still expected to be able to follow and hopefully at least absorb some of it via osmosis… my friends that was not the case. The audiobook was definitely the right choice for me, because had I been reading this with my eyes I simply would have not. Via audio and on dog walks/doing chores, it was like listening to an interesting lecture. I did learn some interesting stuff about how Black bodies were used during scientific experiments, as well as how cross-dressing allowed some Black folks to escape slavery, but ultimately it was just too theoretical for me to grasp fully.
I did learn a new word - fungible 😌 which means interchangeable!
I did learn a new word - fungible 😌 which means interchangeable!
thomasr417's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
collins1129's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
There are some incredible ideas in here. But that brilliance is obscured by the jargon-heavy style, making it inaccessible to the public as well as many scholars. I’ve read and enjoyed Judith Butler, and this language was challenging for me to chew on. However, the time and effort to do so is incredibly worth it!
girlpuck's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This is a very academic book. The topic is interesting and worth learning about, but this particular text was at times very hard to understand for someone not in the field of study.