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graveyardpansy's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars - Direct, well-organized, and full of really strong arguments. I wish this book got more attention outside of trans studies spaces, I think it provides really wonderful and actionable ideas for many gender “problems.” Really benefits from being written by a Black trans person, as it also incorporates multiple dimensions past gender, which was definitely necessary in multiple sections. I’d definitely recommend this to a lot of people, and I think it’s very readable for a more general audience. It’s only not a five-star read because I found the overall writing slightly dry (but not at all to a detrimental extent) and i do wish there had been slightly more discussion of both disability justice and nonbinary trans identities.
ralowe's review against another edition
2.0
heath fogg davis' book's vague and vaguely provocative title, *beyond trans: does gender matter?*, offers no clue that the book's sole concern will be with the "choice architecture"ќ (from thaler and sunstein's *nudge*) of the law. as if, "what else could it possibly concern?"ќ disclaimer: anarchist prescriptive-sounding things follow: we're treated to consultation on how the state should use biometrics rather than misgendering people. how about getting rid of the surveillance state? we discuss retooling the need for gender designation in admission forms at elite single-sex universities; what about redistributing the resources in the university outward amongst the larger variously-gendered community to re-imagine the project of collective study? davis labors to figure out how to not get t-shots regulated as doping. how about abolish the epic quadrennial transnational ecological and economic disaster that is the olympics? that these relatively low-stakes anti-oppression sensibilities are not seen as inextricably bound to trans in davis' formulation is depressing. davis mentions iris marion young during the college chapter to describe how discrimination is tracked by thinking of gender as a series and i fell into a serious hole for a week thinking about sexual difference. the book doesn't explore the concept as thorougly as i felt compelled to. obsess over lacanian deadlock, an impasse for all prospective anti-establishment trans queer mobilization brought on by the inability of administrative systems to properly symbolize the body. unsymbolizable in discourse since it's nobody's business. hi(r)storicity is an extension of the prerogative of each body-mind, not a coercion from a transcendental nowhere. "the bathrooms are trending, let's slap something together and make a fortune!"ќ who am i holding a picture of on the cover? is this person trans? do they know they're on a book that delves into the bathroom issue so intensely? (i read in public so i had to always come up with ways to make sure the image was facing down or sideways or partially obscured when i took it in and out of my bag.) chris vargas engages the fatiguing indignity here in "introducing the museum of transgender hirstory and art"ќ:
MOTHA will be built to preserve the legacy of the transgender community's struggles and triumphs. Designs of the building that will house MOTHA will naturally begin with the bathrooms. For transgender people, these hyper-gendered areas have long been a point of concern. In many ways, they are the smallest yet still also the largest of our problems. For this reason, MOTHA will have gender-neutral bathrooms. Non-transgender"Уor cisgender"Уpeople will, of course, be obligated to use these bathrooms; however, transgender people will also be welcome to use special, hyper-gendered bathrooms during their visit. Outside the bathroom facilities, there will be informational placards to educate those who are unfamiliar with the bathroom issues that transgender people face.
maybe copies of this book can go next to the placard.
MOTHA will be built to preserve the legacy of the transgender community's struggles and triumphs. Designs of the building that will house MOTHA will naturally begin with the bathrooms. For transgender people, these hyper-gendered areas have long been a point of concern. In many ways, they are the smallest yet still also the largest of our problems. For this reason, MOTHA will have gender-neutral bathrooms. Non-transgender"Уor cisgender"Уpeople will, of course, be obligated to use these bathrooms; however, transgender people will also be welcome to use special, hyper-gendered bathrooms during their visit. Outside the bathroom facilities, there will be informational placards to educate those who are unfamiliar with the bathroom issues that transgender people face.
maybe copies of this book can go next to the placard.
alexandrabree's review against another edition
2.0
Upfront : I skim read a large portion of this beyond the first few ages and I didn’t make it all the way to the end.
This book could have had much better editing and been cut down to about half its size had the messaging been concise and had the repetition been removed.
This is written by a trans gender MTF activist, who focuses on feelings, emotions and ideologies over facts.
She’s does have a few points worth thinking about, but the base that Male and Female distinction should be abolished, makes it very clear why feminists and the transgender community are so often at odds. While I think all people regardless of race, gender, sexual preference should have the same human rights, this does not mean we are all one homogenous giant group.
By focusing on specifics, it ignores a big picture view and Ignores A LOT of science.
This book could have had much better editing and been cut down to about half its size had the messaging been concise and had the repetition been removed.
This is written by a trans gender MTF activist, who focuses on feelings, emotions and ideologies over facts.
She’s does have a few points worth thinking about, but the base that Male and Female distinction should be abolished, makes it very clear why feminists and the transgender community are so often at odds. While I think all people regardless of race, gender, sexual preference should have the same human rights, this does not mean we are all one homogenous giant group.
By focusing on specifics, it ignores a big picture view and Ignores A LOT of science.
maximz's review against another edition
3.0
Short book, but still manages to be quite repetitive. The point or argument the author writes about is clear and spelled out pretty quickly. They provide many examples of situations where their argument fits and while I agree with the overall message, I think the same arguments could be made in a short blog post and have the same impact on the reader. I also wish the book spent more time educating people on how they can make a difference in the problem areas discussed.
riotsquirrrl's review against another edition
4.0
This book is especially useful for cisgender people (that is, people whose gender matches the designation on their original birth certificate.). It's especially useful as a compendium of a lot of conversations happening in feminist/trans spheres over the last ~4-5 years.
Trans friends: you probably know everything in this book already, but it might be helpful if you would like assistance with knowing how to talk to the cis powers that about systemic issues regarding gender.
The book also includes helpful concrete advice on how to make trans and gender nonconforming people more comfortable in one's organization. Most of the advice boils down to: do you really need a M/F tick box in your forms? Do you really need to separate people based on their genitals? Even if you think you might, could you achieve your aims through other means that don't involve forcing people to choose one category or another? Davis examines this question through the lens of 4 test cases: legal ID, restrooms, women's colleges, and athletics of all levels.
The brunt of his argument is that if you require people to be divided into two separate groups and be labeled as such, people will fail to clearly fall into one of those categories, both cis and trans people, and the result is that it makes people vulnerable to being interrogated about their identities in embarrassing and traumatic ways. The most egregious example Davis cites is SEPTA's former policy of requiring M or F stickers on all monthly passes, ostensibly for the purpose of ensuring that a man and a woman in a relationship are not sharing a single pass. Instead of solving the issue, the policy makes ticket sellers and bus drivers into arbiters of whether the person presenting the pass is "really" a man or a woman. The policy opened people, both trans and cis, to harassment and the unfair enforcement of a policy counter to why the policy was created.
I found Davis' writing to be very clear and very careful, especially on issues regarding sex vs. gender. The book is short and to the point with only a bit of repetition.
Trans friends: you probably know everything in this book already, but it might be helpful if you would like assistance with knowing how to talk to the cis powers that about systemic issues regarding gender.
The book also includes helpful concrete advice on how to make trans and gender nonconforming people more comfortable in one's organization. Most of the advice boils down to: do you really need a M/F tick box in your forms? Do you really need to separate people based on their genitals? Even if you think you might, could you achieve your aims through other means that don't involve forcing people to choose one category or another? Davis examines this question through the lens of 4 test cases: legal ID, restrooms, women's colleges, and athletics of all levels.
The brunt of his argument is that if you require people to be divided into two separate groups and be labeled as such, people will fail to clearly fall into one of those categories, both cis and trans people, and the result is that it makes people vulnerable to being interrogated about their identities in embarrassing and traumatic ways. The most egregious example Davis cites is SEPTA's former policy of requiring M or F stickers on all monthly passes, ostensibly for the purpose of ensuring that a man and a woman in a relationship are not sharing a single pass. Instead of solving the issue, the policy makes ticket sellers and bus drivers into arbiters of whether the person presenting the pass is "really" a man or a woman. The policy opened people, both trans and cis, to harassment and the unfair enforcement of a policy counter to why the policy was created.
I found Davis' writing to be very clear and very careful, especially on issues regarding sex vs. gender. The book is short and to the point with only a bit of repetition.
jedwardsusc's review against another edition
4.0
Challenging. I'm not instinctively supportive of all the author's policy proposals, but I'll be thinking a lot more about them as a result of this book.