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18 reviews for:
Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy Seal's Journey to Coming Out Transgender
Kristin Beck, Anne Speckhard
3.1 AVERAGE
18 reviews for:
Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy Seal's Journey to Coming Out Transgender
Kristin Beck, Anne Speckhard
3.1 AVERAGE
The content of the story, while painful, is also hopeful, and I am gratified to know that Kristin is finally living as her true self after so many years of fighting self-loathing. I am also somewhat mollified to see that, on the whole, she is getting support from the people with whom she fought and worked. Some of the messages written to her by her fellow SEALS made me cry for their poignancy and raw emotion.
Still, there were moments in the book when the writing was inelegant and could have benefited from a few additional edits and/or some polishing. Furthermore, while I appreciate the honesty of the book from Kristin's perspective, I do not understand her unequivocal animosity toward Vietnam vets. The vitriol seemed disproportionate to her experience, and out of character with her usual tendency toward empathy. It seemed out of place, and I'm not sure why it was included at all.
Still, I am glad that I read the book, and marveled at the juxtaposition of Chris's life as a SEAL to Kristin's life in Florida as the modern girl-next-door. If anything, I would like to know what the future holds for her. I hope that there is happiness, a loving relationship, and the healing of the bonds between her and her sons.
Still, there were moments in the book when the writing was inelegant and could have benefited from a few additional edits and/or some polishing. Furthermore, while I appreciate the honesty of the book from Kristin's perspective, I do not understand her unequivocal animosity toward Vietnam vets. The vitriol seemed disproportionate to her experience, and out of character with her usual tendency toward empathy. It seemed out of place, and I'm not sure why it was included at all.
Still, I am glad that I read the book, and marveled at the juxtaposition of Chris's life as a SEAL to Kristin's life in Florida as the modern girl-next-door. If anything, I would like to know what the future holds for her. I hope that there is happiness, a loving relationship, and the healing of the bonds between her and her sons.
Kristin Beck was a Navy SEAL named Chris Beck who had gender identity disorder and PTSD. Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. is a psychiatrist and an ambassador's wife who ran across Chris at some event. Chris recruited Anne into helping him write his book about his life in the military, his struggles with gender identity disorder, and his transition into becoming Kristin Beck. Anne was interested in how veterans dealt with PTSD. In the book, Chris was referred to as Chris with male pronouns before the transition and as Kristin and with female pronouns during and after the transition. I will try not to make a mess of it, but I will probably screw it up.
There are a lot of typos where words are missing from the text. I checked a copy of this book out of the library and someone had penciled in a couple of corrections here and there, but there were so many of these mistakes throughout the book.
I had hoped that the first part of this book would be a detailed war story like Bravo Two Zero, but it wasn't. In a way, I felt that this did not build up the remarkable accomplishment that it is to become a Navy SEAL enough. That part of the story was treated almost like a suicide wish when it really wasn't. Becoming a Navy SEAL is a lot of dangerous work and a very important part of Kris's history and identity. Kris spent 20 years in the Navy before retiring and transitioning. Wikipedia has all the awards and decorations listed.
In the beginning of the book, Anne writes about telling Kris's story. I don't think that she actually interviews anyone outside of the people that Kris invites her to meet. She rarely gets the perspective of other people outside of people that they are having a meal with at the moment. I thought that this was a shortcoming of the book. In the GQ interview "Kristin Beck: A Navy SEAL in Transition," the journalists actually spoke to Kris's colleague Mike about one of Kris's first forays into living an authentic life. That interview also mentions a person who I am assuming to be Kris's third wife.
The writing in the book gets much better around the chapter titled "Briefing with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense & Meeting Anne."
I thought that the material covered in this book was interesting, but I wanted this to be a better book than it was.
There are a lot of typos where words are missing from the text. I checked a copy of this book out of the library and someone had penciled in a couple of corrections here and there, but there were so many of these mistakes throughout the book.
I had hoped that the first part of this book would be a detailed war story like Bravo Two Zero, but it wasn't. In a way, I felt that this did not build up the remarkable accomplishment that it is to become a Navy SEAL enough. That part of the story was treated almost like a suicide wish when it really wasn't. Becoming a Navy SEAL is a lot of dangerous work and a very important part of Kris's history and identity. Kris spent 20 years in the Navy before retiring and transitioning. Wikipedia has all the awards and decorations listed.
In the beginning of the book, Anne writes about telling Kris's story. I don't think that she actually interviews anyone outside of the people that Kris invites her to meet. She rarely gets the perspective of other people outside of people that they are having a meal with at the moment. I thought that this was a shortcoming of the book. In the GQ interview "Kristin Beck: A Navy SEAL in Transition," the journalists actually spoke to Kris's colleague Mike about one of Kris's first forays into living an authentic life. That interview also mentions a person who I am assuming to be Kris's third wife.
The writing in the book gets much better around the chapter titled "Briefing with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense & Meeting Anne."
I thought that the material covered in this book was interesting, but I wanted this to be a better book than it was.
I read this book for my Multicultural Resources for Diverse Communities class.
Beck, K. & Speckhard, A. (2013). Warrior princess. McLean, VA: Advances Press.
Hardcover | $19.99 | ISBN-13: 978-1-935866-42-8 | 220 pages | A Fiction
Not many books receive the attention of ABC, CNN, the Huffington Post, and other mainstream media outlets within days of publication. Usually these books are written by celebrities, but in this case what makes the book newsworthy is its subject’s seeming impossibility—the author is both a Navy SEAL—a member of a brotherhood of elite warriors—and a woman.
Kristin Beck was born Chris Beck to religious Christian parents who had clear distinctions between what was appropriate for their three daughters and two sons. Kristin spent her childhood failing to keep up with her athletic brother and wishing that she was like his sisters, who never got scolded or paddled the way he did. After college she joined the Navy SEALs, got married, and tried to be the man society expected her to be while struggling with her internal female gender identity. Kristin pushed herself to her physical and mental limits as a Navy SEAL, but ultimately she could not escape who she is. Rather than becoming “normal,” she drove herself into depression. After retiring from the SEALS, Beck finally began to accept her inner woman and transition towards life as a woman. Kristin calls these three periods her “three lives,” and the book follows her journey through all three of them.
Warrior Princess portrays the struggle and fear that comes with being a transgendered person. The reader follows Kristin from childhood through transition and relives each step of the process with her, from her childhood troubles through family rejection, fear of losing her job, and getting beat up on the street. The book is very raw and repeats emotions and internal dialogue frequently, giving the reader a sense of how constant the feelings and the struggle were to Kristin. The book would have benefited from a good copyeditor, as there are frequent punctuation errors which trip up the reader, but in a way this adds to the authenticity of the story. This is Kristin’s attempt to tell her story, not a professional writer spinning a tale.
Kristin writes that her primary reason for writing Warrior Princess is “to reach out of all of the younger generation” because the suicide rate among transgendered individuals is almost 50% (p. 5). The struggles portrayed in this book are sure to resonate with transgender readers, but the graphic scenes of war may not be suitable for young adult readers. Readers who are not part of the GLBT community may find the book confusing, as the authors use “Chris” and “he” throughout the book and only use Kristin’s true gender towards the end, where it is used in addition to the male name and pronouns. This does not portray the fact that Kristin was born female in a male body, but rather suggests that at some point Kristin became female. In addition, Kristin’s wish to be like his sister as a child in order to be spared his father’s wrath may confuse readers into thinking that Kristin’s transgender identity is a result of parenting rather than a serious condition that she was born with. A better book for introducing readers to the transgender experience would be Jennifer Finney Boylan’s She’s Not There, which is less confusing and better written.
Boylan, J.F. (2003). She’s not there. NY: Crown.
Ferran, L. (2013). Transgender Navy SEAL ‘warrior princess’ comes out. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/transgender-navy-seal-warrior-princess/story?id=19314231
Hadad, C., Chun, S., & Ford, D. (2013). Former Navy SEAL comes out as transgender: ‘I want some happiness.’ CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/us/transgender-veteran
Sieczkowski, C. (2013). Kristin Beck, transgender Navy SEAL, comes out in new book. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/transgender-navy-seal-kristin-beck_n_3383015.html
Beck, K. & Speckhard, A. (2013). Warrior princess. McLean, VA: Advances Press.
Hardcover | $19.99 | ISBN-13: 978-1-935866-42-8 | 220 pages | A Fiction
Not many books receive the attention of ABC, CNN, the Huffington Post, and other mainstream media outlets within days of publication. Usually these books are written by celebrities, but in this case what makes the book newsworthy is its subject’s seeming impossibility—the author is both a Navy SEAL—a member of a brotherhood of elite warriors—and a woman.
Kristin Beck was born Chris Beck to religious Christian parents who had clear distinctions between what was appropriate for their three daughters and two sons. Kristin spent her childhood failing to keep up with her athletic brother and wishing that she was like his sisters, who never got scolded or paddled the way he did. After college she joined the Navy SEALs, got married, and tried to be the man society expected her to be while struggling with her internal female gender identity. Kristin pushed herself to her physical and mental limits as a Navy SEAL, but ultimately she could not escape who she is. Rather than becoming “normal,” she drove herself into depression. After retiring from the SEALS, Beck finally began to accept her inner woman and transition towards life as a woman. Kristin calls these three periods her “three lives,” and the book follows her journey through all three of them.
Warrior Princess portrays the struggle and fear that comes with being a transgendered person. The reader follows Kristin from childhood through transition and relives each step of the process with her, from her childhood troubles through family rejection, fear of losing her job, and getting beat up on the street. The book is very raw and repeats emotions and internal dialogue frequently, giving the reader a sense of how constant the feelings and the struggle were to Kristin. The book would have benefited from a good copyeditor, as there are frequent punctuation errors which trip up the reader, but in a way this adds to the authenticity of the story. This is Kristin’s attempt to tell her story, not a professional writer spinning a tale.
Kristin writes that her primary reason for writing Warrior Princess is “to reach out of all of the younger generation” because the suicide rate among transgendered individuals is almost 50% (p. 5). The struggles portrayed in this book are sure to resonate with transgender readers, but the graphic scenes of war may not be suitable for young adult readers. Readers who are not part of the GLBT community may find the book confusing, as the authors use “Chris” and “he” throughout the book and only use Kristin’s true gender towards the end, where it is used in addition to the male name and pronouns. This does not portray the fact that Kristin was born female in a male body, but rather suggests that at some point Kristin became female. In addition, Kristin’s wish to be like his sister as a child in order to be spared his father’s wrath may confuse readers into thinking that Kristin’s transgender identity is a result of parenting rather than a serious condition that she was born with. A better book for introducing readers to the transgender experience would be Jennifer Finney Boylan’s She’s Not There, which is less confusing and better written.
Boylan, J.F. (2003). She’s not there. NY: Crown.
Ferran, L. (2013). Transgender Navy SEAL ‘warrior princess’ comes out. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/transgender-navy-seal-warrior-princess/story?id=19314231
Hadad, C., Chun, S., & Ford, D. (2013). Former Navy SEAL comes out as transgender: ‘I want some happiness.’ CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/us/transgender-veteran
Sieczkowski, C. (2013). Kristin Beck, transgender Navy SEAL, comes out in new book. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/transgender-navy-seal-kristin-beck_n_3383015.html
Fascinating and quick read, but poorly written (spelling and grammar). Seems like they rushed the writing to get it out on bookshelves. Also, I was left wanting a tad more details.
As a copy editor, I'm not sure I'll be able to get through this book. Spelling errors, punctuation errors, and such are driving me to distraction.
... I didn't finish it. Returned to the library. It's too bad: good story, but not a good book.
... I didn't finish it. Returned to the library. It's too bad: good story, but not a good book.
It has been awhile since I've given a one star review. My feelings on this book are pretty complicated. I don't have anything against the authors, or Kristin Beck being transgendered. Especially considering I myself am a transwoman. There's issues with this book that are just too hard for me to over come.
I decided to pick up this book for a couple of reasons. When Amazon recommended it to me it looked self-published, and I'm usually down for reading a transwoman's self published story. Those usually feel like a conversation and I usually walk away feeling a good connection. That isn't this book though. For one thing Kristin Beck didn't write this. It was written by Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. Kristen wrote an author's note at the beginning, but that's about it. Secondly this is... sorta self published. Ish. The book was released by Advances Press LLC, but it looks like that's a company set up so that Ms. Speckhard and publish her books. So technically it's self published, sorta, I guess.
I don't know if this is the case for all the paperbacks, but the text on the cover of mine actually goes off of the margin. The cover isn't too short, it just looks like some one didn't check the margin's correctly. On top of that whatever glue was used to bind the book smells awful. It smells like dead worms and bad fish. I don't know how else to explain it. Maybe I just got a bad copy, but that's what it smells like.
The other reason I picked this up was because when I came out as a transwoman I had to go to group therapy sessions once a week. I was one only two transwomen in the group that were under 50 at the time. Neither of us had been in the military, but pretty much every of the older women had. We got to have these strong transaunts and transgrandmas that taught us what it was to be proud of who we are. We all used to go to the bars after group and bigots learned very quickly not to miss with those ladies. I am still trying to live up to their example. So when I saw this book I thought it would be like listening to their stories.
I don't think Anne Speckhard intended for this book to be offensive. I honestly don't. Reading it I can tell she was trying to grapple with how to talk about transpeople, but she doesn't do it very well. There's quite a few times where she refers to Kristen Beck and her transwomen friends as men in dresses. Or explains how suddenly their faces look more masculine. It also seems like she's leaving it open to interpretation that Kristen's transition is some how related to how she was treated as a kid or her PTSD from combat. It's all just weird and kind of gross to me. As a transwoman I felt offended reading some of the descriptions. Especially considering in Kristen's author note she mentions she wanted this book written to give young transkids hope. I just wish Kristen would have found an author in the transcommunity to write this. Without the weird descriptions and language this would be a much better book. It just made me think of the strong transwomen that taught me to be proud of who I am, and how mad I would be if some one described them this way. I don't think the offense is on purpose, but it is very much there.
I don't know Kristin Beck personally, but just with an overview of her life she seems like a pretty interesting person. Apparently there's a CNN documentary about her. I'll probably check that out. I wouldn't recommend this book. I can tell effort and love went into it, but I just can't get over the handling of Kristin's trans self to want others to read it.
I decided to pick up this book for a couple of reasons. When Amazon recommended it to me it looked self-published, and I'm usually down for reading a transwoman's self published story. Those usually feel like a conversation and I usually walk away feeling a good connection. That isn't this book though. For one thing Kristin Beck didn't write this. It was written by Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. Kristen wrote an author's note at the beginning, but that's about it. Secondly this is... sorta self published. Ish. The book was released by Advances Press LLC, but it looks like that's a company set up so that Ms. Speckhard and publish her books. So technically it's self published, sorta, I guess.
I don't know if this is the case for all the paperbacks, but the text on the cover of mine actually goes off of the margin. The cover isn't too short, it just looks like some one didn't check the margin's correctly. On top of that whatever glue was used to bind the book smells awful. It smells like dead worms and bad fish. I don't know how else to explain it. Maybe I just got a bad copy, but that's what it smells like.
The other reason I picked this up was because when I came out as a transwoman I had to go to group therapy sessions once a week. I was one only two transwomen in the group that were under 50 at the time. Neither of us had been in the military, but pretty much every of the older women had. We got to have these strong transaunts and transgrandmas that taught us what it was to be proud of who we are. We all used to go to the bars after group and bigots learned very quickly not to miss with those ladies. I am still trying to live up to their example. So when I saw this book I thought it would be like listening to their stories.
I don't think Anne Speckhard intended for this book to be offensive. I honestly don't. Reading it I can tell she was trying to grapple with how to talk about transpeople, but she doesn't do it very well. There's quite a few times where she refers to Kristen Beck and her transwomen friends as men in dresses. Or explains how suddenly their faces look more masculine. It also seems like she's leaving it open to interpretation that Kristen's transition is some how related to how she was treated as a kid or her PTSD from combat. It's all just weird and kind of gross to me. As a transwoman I felt offended reading some of the descriptions. Especially considering in Kristen's author note she mentions she wanted this book written to give young transkids hope. I just wish Kristen would have found an author in the transcommunity to write this. Without the weird descriptions and language this would be a much better book. It just made me think of the strong transwomen that taught me to be proud of who I am, and how mad I would be if some one described them this way. I don't think the offense is on purpose, but it is very much there.
I don't know Kristin Beck personally, but just with an overview of her life she seems like a pretty interesting person. Apparently there's a CNN documentary about her. I'll probably check that out. I wouldn't recommend this book. I can tell effort and love went into it, but I just can't get over the handling of Kristin's trans self to want others to read it.