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travisclau's review against another edition
5.0
A model piece of trans scholarship that is richly researched and historicized. We need more of this kind of intersectional and critical work.
catbois's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
hew's review against another edition
5.0
Gill-Peterson does an excellent job of gathering and consolidating varied (and sometimes) sparse documentation into a cohesive work considering the historitization of trans childhood in the 20th century US. particularly through medical records the author threads the needle well of criticizing the medicalization of trans* people and humanizing the figures within the record. As the author uses a trans of color critique of medicine i found the book rounded in its approach to the archive and its subjects.
This dense academic text is just that-dense and academic, I am used to theory writing so it was less of a jump for me but if you are picking this up for a personal read just know going into it it takes a bit of adjustment to the academia text of it all (also get your dictionary handy because you will find some beautiful new words). This is a dense text but is well worth the investment if trans history/gender theory is of any interest. To be clear, this is not a detraction from the work, instead simply just a note for those interested in the topic but are unfamiliar with the authors work or academic theory writing. Once your become familiarized to Gill-Peterson's writing cadence it is quite easy to get into.
This dense academic text is just that-dense and academic, I am used to theory writing so it was less of a jump for me but if you are picking this up for a personal read just know going into it it takes a bit of adjustment to the academia text of it all (also get your dictionary handy because you will find some beautiful new words). This is a dense text but is well worth the investment if trans history/gender theory is of any interest. To be clear, this is not a detraction from the work, instead simply just a note for those interested in the topic but are unfamiliar with the authors work or academic theory writing. Once your become familiarized to Gill-Peterson's writing cadence it is quite easy to get into.
cherryboyhunter's review against another edition
5.0
The time Jules takes to fully explain and expand this history is invaluable. I implore every trans, queer, or ally to read Histories of the Transgender Child