Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation by S. Bear Bergman, Kate Bornstein

2 reviews

leguinstan's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

2.0

It hurts me to say this, considering the importance of publishing a diversity of stories reflecting the lived experiences of trans and gender non-conforming people, but I simply did not like this anthology :(

Gender Outlaws features over FORTY essays and a handful of poems, comic strips, and descriptions of art performances pieces. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these works did not make an impression on me and I think the anthology as a whole would have benefited from a more selective editorial process. A lot of the essays felt underdeveloped or simply did not stand out in comparison to other essays in the collection that explored similar themes. I also really disliked the use of text chats between the two authors as introductions to the different sections of the anthology. It didn't help me gain a greater appreciation of the essays and generally felt like a waste of time. 

Luckily, there are a few essays that I think are actually good. In no particular order, these are my five personal favorites:

• "We're All Someone's Freak" by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
• "Identity, Schmidentity" by Telyn Kusalik
• "Performance Piece" by Julia Serano
• "Taking Up Space" by Kyle Lukoff
• "The Manly Art of Pregnancy" by J. Wallace

But overall, I just don't think Gender Outlaws is worth reading from front to back. I have no doubt that there are better anthologies of essays by trans people to be found. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Eating disorder

In a lot of these essays you will find frequent use of a specific transphobic slur

(t****y)

. While this slur is being reclaimed by many of the authors in this collection, it is still very triggering to many trans people today. So tread cautiously. There are also a few rare instances of using terminology like "transwomen" (combining the words "trans" and "women" into one word) that is considered outdated today which is why I definitely would not recommend this anthology as an introduction to trans issues.

kshertz's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

I can’t believe this book is from 2010. I learned a lot about the spectrum of gender and it definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Each essay was unique and special. The messages were great for me to hear and put into a practice to be a true accomplice to those who are not cis. I thought the author banter was unnecessary but that was a super small part of the book. Great book to help us all learn and grow. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Outing, Transphobia, and Violence