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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Actually 3,5 stars. I enjoyed the theoretical parts between the more personal fragments and the huge amount of movies and other forms of art that are mentioned. Jacques provided me with a lot of inspiration for further reading (and viewing).
I wanted to like this more. It's memoir interspersed with theory and politics. The problem was the memoir is a bit boring and I have a decent grasp of the history and politics so it wasn't new information. She writes well and I like that it's not 'sensational' in any way.
Admittedly, this book perturbed me at first. I've been considering sex reassignment surgery more frequently, though prematurely at this point of my transition, and to hear the harrowingly honest recounting in the first Chapter- then again towards the end of the book- made me reconsider whether I had the mental and physical fortitude to endure it.
I'll shelve these thoughts for another day. The memoir itself was a comfort. While there were retellings of dysphoria that escaped my experience, there were greater numbers that forced themselves into my mind and made friends with my memories. A kinship flared with Juliet's past self experiencing things for the first time: coming out to friends and family through quiet social media changes first, then last-second messages; the awkwardness of beginning a transition in a workplace knowing who you are and have been; the desire to find and settle into safe spaces so she wouldn't have *think* about being trans anymore; and feeling frustrated by the pace of biological changes until you lose focus and return to noticeable differences.
I appreciated the self-awareness Juliet brings to her relationship as a writer in an oftentimes unrelentingly transphobic industry and her sincerity in detailing just how her education and transition unsettled her life in a manner I'm wary of replicating. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied to have read this and may read it again in a year when things have changed for me.
I'll shelve these thoughts for another day. The memoir itself was a comfort. While there were retellings of dysphoria that escaped my experience, there were greater numbers that forced themselves into my mind and made friends with my memories. A kinship flared with Juliet's past self experiencing things for the first time: coming out to friends and family through quiet social media changes first, then last-second messages; the awkwardness of beginning a transition in a workplace knowing who you are and have been; the desire to find and settle into safe spaces so she wouldn't have *think* about being trans anymore; and feeling frustrated by the pace of biological changes until you lose focus and return to noticeable differences.
I appreciated the self-awareness Juliet brings to her relationship as a writer in an oftentimes unrelentingly transphobic industry and her sincerity in detailing just how her education and transition unsettled her life in a manner I'm wary of replicating. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied to have read this and may read it again in a year when things have changed for me.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Definitely more journalistic than literary, which is not a bad thing. I enjoyed learning Juliet’s story. In some ways, it is as much a history of transgender issues’ portrayal in media, which I think is important to document as well. I think it’s unfortunate that this story had to be told before her more creative work could be put forward. I hope there’s more to come in other genres.
Really powerful and insightful. In addition to the tale of Jacques's personal transformation, she dives into the history of trans representation, feminism, media, and trans theory.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The first half is pretty slow, and really went into way more detail about the bands/songs/books/movies she likes than I enjoyed. I skimmed quite a bit of those sections (I now realize that she included them in the book as references to learn more about trans history/culture, but I still found it tedious the read). The second half of the book deals more with her transition and her relationship with the media and being a “professional trans woman,” which I found much more interesting. The book really picked up for me then.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced