Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice by Shon Faye

8 reviews

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

 A stark and striking look at the facts and figures regarding the moral panic around trans people (mostly focusing on the UK, but with brief look at the USA). 

 

Shon Faye writes incredibly well, succinct and clear, with inarguable analysis and case for improving the lives of trans people. I would advise reading this book as a whole to understand the links between each social issue thoroughly. Yet, I would also suggest picking up the specific chapters that you may feel you lack a full awareness of (e.g., homelessness or incarceration or domestic violence). Each picks apart and expertly counters misinformation and shares the reality of living as a trans person in the UK. 

 

While I whole-heartedly recommend this book, it is also very very hard-hitting. It took me a long time to read due to needing to take a lot of breaks. Please be aware of any trigger warnings when you pick up this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Classism, Body shaming, Police brutality, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Outing, Lesbophobia, Hate crime, Death, Violence, Rape, Racism, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Sexism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

booksjessreads's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

This book is absolutely incredible. There is not much that I can say in a review here that will genuinely do this justice. I think it is all incredibly well researched and written, and is genuinely one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read. 

One thing that stopped me from giving it 5 stars, was how jam-packed it is with information. At the same time, this is also what I like about it. Let me explain. I tried to read the print copy of this in 2022 but it reads almost like a text book (please don't let this put you off though its amazing!) I found it super heavy, but since I liked what I read, I decided to just give it a break and come back to it. Later down the line, I picked up the audiobook and consumed it within a matter of days. Shon Faye narrates the audio and makes it such a rich experience. However, there was so much information that I occasionally felt overwhelmed. Although, I completely didn't mind since it was genuinely just so good. I think I am going to attempt the print edition next time I read it, so that I can go over anything that I missed. There is no doubt that this book is heavy, so I recommend you take your time.

This book is essential. I recommend this to anyone and everyone. It is written convincingly and contains such a diversity of sources to enrich the content and reading experience. Please just read it and take your time to digest it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Misogyny, and Homophobia

Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, Medical content, Deadnaming, Murder, Violence, Outing, Suicide, and Death of parent

tuesday_evening's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Transphobia, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Medical content, Violence, Classism, Deadnaming, Death, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

nialiversuch's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Classism, Suicide, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Moderate: Body horror, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Abortion, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexism, Biphobia, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Slavery

hannahbailey's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

Difficult to rate so I won't for now (may return later). Definitely worth a read, especially for those not particularly clued up on the 'transgender issue'.

My main takeaway, which was a point repeated throughout the book, was "trans liberation cannot happen under capitalism". Each chapter, whilst focusing on different elements of trans experience in our society, drives home this point. Everything leads back to capitalism (and the patriarchy). With these structures in place, cis people will continue to view trans people as 'other', 'abnormal', 'non-conforming' etc. The first two chapters were the most enlightening for me as Faye explores the impact of legislation and education (or lack thereof) enforced by the UK government over the last 40 or so years. It's common knowledge that the progression of trans rights is slow and often sabotaged by those on the extreme right-wing, but the latter chapters of this book detailing the sabotaging from within the LGBTQ+ community was also enlightening to read.

My one issue was how long the chapters were. Each chapter could have been trimmed down without losing any meaning. It would be great to see these chapters split into mini manifestos or pocket penguins as I think this would make them more accessible to a wider range of people. The chapter on class could have benefitted from more research to back up Faye's observations too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Trafficking, Outing, Medical trauma, Hate crime, and Suicide

pachelrooley's review

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

This book is important, informative, compassionate and insightful on it's topic, refusing to engage with devaluing arguments and instead clearly and methodically showing exactly how the systems in the UK today impact trans people, and points a path to how this can change in the future. Most of all though, this book is absolutely exquisitely written. I tend to have a hard time finishing non-fiction even if I find the topic interesting, but this book was so engaging, the pacing so well done, the links between topics so seamless that it was as easy to read as a book on difficult topics could ever be. I really look forward to reading more from this author! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Homophobia, Hate crime, Bullying, Alcohol, and Addiction

balfies's review

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

Absolute must read. One of the best books of the year. 

Trans journalist and advocate Shon Faye cuts deeply into the issues facing the trans community - this is not an argument for recognition or acceptance, but a demand for justice, and a scathing critique of the aggressive and dangerous anti-trans politics within the UK. 

The chapter on class struggle was particularly astute. This is a vital piece of writing which verbalised and crystallised so many complex ideas into essential, clear gems.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Outing, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Deadnaming, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Transphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Medical content, and Sexism

bookichor's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Transphobia