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Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation by S. Bear Bergman, Kate Bornstein
1 review
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:
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.
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
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