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engpunk77's review
3.0
Backstory: I had a student ask for "everything you have about gender identity." I made a stack of fiction and nonfiction titles, and this was one of them. Weeks later, the student returned them all and said, "You have no idea how helpful this was. Thank you." This book may be one of the helpful ones, but I'm not totally sure. As for me, this book feels pretty comprehensive. It provides the reader with a great overview of gender identity. The reader will have an excellent understanding of all the vocabulary, plus the understanding that the vocabulary still may have different meanings to every individual, but someone who doesn't understand what "nonbinary" means, or the difference between gender, sex, identity, transgender, cisgender (and cisgender privilege), genderqueer, and intersex will find what they need here to get up to speed.
The book also aims to change culture. The reader will be spoken to, with a firm hand, about respecting people as unique individuals and how to use inclusive language and avoid the pronoun problem. The book is informative and also preachy, with a strong bias toward respecting people's gender identity. Instead of saying that many people are anti-cultural appropriation or that "many people believe," it comes right out and tells you what to do and what you should believe. For example, on the topic of Native American cultures and their beliefs about gender, the author says, "these gender identities are rooted in specific cultures' concepts of gender, and should only be used to describe the gender of people within that culture" and "non-Native American people should not describe their own gender identities in this way." I disagree with this, and this is not a fact. It is a fact, however, that many people believe this....I didn't appreciate the biased, opinionated tone the author took some of the time. This statement also contradicts all the other messages of the book, mainly that people can choose to identify however they want to and everyone else must respect that. Other contradictions include the claim that medically transitioning is "medically necessary," while on another page affirming that "you can transition simply because you want to...it's for anyone that wants it." Finally, I do need to gripe about the section titled, "Grammar is Changeable." The author explains that "grammar" changes in time (yes) and that "people who notice do not care as long as the meaning of a word or sentence is clear." She provides this example: The word "stream,"until recently did not include a definition of "flow of data" because at one time streaming, as in video streaming, did not exist. First of all, this is not a change in grammar but rather an addition of vocabulary and new definitions for old words. She then jumps to what seems like a logical analogy to her, which is how "they" is officially a plural prounon, but now it can be a singular plural pronoun. However, I am NOTICING because no, the meaning is not clear. So this is not an example of grammar changing in a way that people don't even notice because the meaning is clear--I have to process and re-process written and spoken sentences to try to determine the subject of a sentence due to the change. This is a grammar change, not just a new vocabulary word. I'd love to learn a new vocabulary word, a new set of pronouns; this "they" change is not easy and causes confusion, but then she sums up this little lesson with this bold statement: "Saying that a person cannot refer to themselves with the word 'they' because it is not grammatically correct is not a valid argument." See how opinionated this is? I'd have preferred it to be written like this: "Some people may find this confusing and may struggle to adjust, but taking the time to do so will be an effort toward kindness and respect for the needs of others." I believe the author should have taken a strictly informative approach and taken no stance on what people should or shouldn't do.
These complaints aside, I do think this book will provide a solid foundation for those hearing these buzzwords in political discourse and wanting to know what it all means. I do think that it will promote understanding and respect, and I think it would give some good information for those who are questioning and needing info right then and there, especially since it provides important advice to those who consider making body modifications such as binding and an overview of what to expect if you think you want to medically transition (but of course this wouldn't be the only source). It's accessible and easy to read, and I recommend it especially to middle and high school students. It took so long to read it because it's basically dull and didactic (and I already knew a lot of it), but I'm glad that I did read it.
The book also aims to change culture. The reader will be spoken to, with a firm hand, about respecting people as unique individuals and how to use inclusive language and avoid the pronoun problem. The book is informative and also preachy, with a strong bias toward respecting people's gender identity. Instead of saying that many people are anti-cultural appropriation or that "many people believe," it comes right out and tells you what to do and what you should believe. For example, on the topic of Native American cultures and their beliefs about gender, the author says, "these gender identities are rooted in specific cultures' concepts of gender, and should only be used to describe the gender of people within that culture" and "non-Native American people should not describe their own gender identities in this way." I disagree with this, and this is not a fact. It is a fact, however, that many people believe this....I didn't appreciate the biased, opinionated tone the author took some of the time. This statement also contradicts all the other messages of the book, mainly that people can choose to identify however they want to and everyone else must respect that. Other contradictions include the claim that medically transitioning is "medically necessary," while on another page affirming that "you can transition simply because you want to...it's for anyone that wants it." Finally, I do need to gripe about the section titled, "Grammar is Changeable." The author explains that "grammar" changes in time (yes) and that "people who notice do not care as long as the meaning of a word or sentence is clear." She provides this example: The word "stream,"until recently did not include a definition of "flow of data" because at one time streaming, as in video streaming, did not exist. First of all, this is not a change in grammar but rather an addition of vocabulary and new definitions for old words. She then jumps to what seems like a logical analogy to her, which is how "they" is officially a plural prounon, but now it can be a singular plural pronoun. However, I am NOTICING because no, the meaning is not clear. So this is not an example of grammar changing in a way that people don't even notice because the meaning is clear--I have to process and re-process written and spoken sentences to try to determine the subject of a sentence due to the change. This is a grammar change, not just a new vocabulary word. I'd love to learn a new vocabulary word, a new set of pronouns; this "they" change is not easy and causes confusion, but then she sums up this little lesson with this bold statement: "Saying that a person cannot refer to themselves with the word 'they' because it is not grammatically correct is not a valid argument." See how opinionated this is? I'd have preferred it to be written like this: "Some people may find this confusing and may struggle to adjust, but taking the time to do so will be an effort toward kindness and respect for the needs of others." I believe the author should have taken a strictly informative approach and taken no stance on what people should or shouldn't do.
These complaints aside, I do think this book will provide a solid foundation for those hearing these buzzwords in political discourse and wanting to know what it all means. I do think that it will promote understanding and respect, and I think it would give some good information for those who are questioning and needing info right then and there, especially since it provides important advice to those who consider making body modifications such as binding and an overview of what to expect if you think you want to medically transition (but of course this wouldn't be the only source). It's accessible and easy to read, and I recommend it especially to middle and high school students. It took so long to read it because it's basically dull and didactic (and I already knew a lot of it), but I'm glad that I did read it.
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