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tyler_j's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
Maybe i'll come back later to write a more thorough review, maybe not, so i'll say this at least
Read this! Seriously, please. I love this memoir by a trans man that is my grandparents age and I am a 34 year old trans man that just started hrt and legally changed my name this year.
It's readable, it's informative, it's updated, I love the writing and the voice and i've tabbed and annotated my copy to hell and back! Also, this book gives me so, so much hope and I cried so many happy tears while reading it.
Read this! Seriously, please. I love this memoir by a trans man that is my grandparents age and I am a 34 year old trans man that just started hrt and legally changed my name this year.
It's readable, it's informative, it's updated, I love the writing and the voice and i've tabbed and annotated my copy to hell and back! Also, this book gives me so, so much hope and I cried so many happy tears while reading it.
rami_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
saturn_xoxo's review against another edition
3.0
This book was very informative, if a bit dry and out of date. I struggled to get through some of the page-long paragraphs and boring facts, though I do appreciate all the work Mr. Green did even if I disagree with him on a few points
finesilkflower's review against another edition
3.0
** GRAIN OF SALT ALERT: I ONLY SKIMMED THIS BOOK **
Jamison Green, an educator and writer who transitioned in the 1980s, is an engaging and thoughtful writer who skillfully interweaves his own story with conceptual explanations of transition/gender/etc and transgender history of the 1970s-2000's. The opening chapter, which is essentially a transcript of a lecture problematizing the cis assumptions about gender ("how do you know?" you're a man or woman), is worth the price of admission and something many cis people should read.
Personally, I found the book hard to connect to because Jamison Green is just the type of binary trans man that always makes me feel insecure (super masculine, straight, knew since he was 2, etc.) but that's not his fault.
Not a fan of Green's use of "transperson" (without the space) but I'm willing to give a pass since terminology was not as standardized in 2004.
Highlights: The first few pages of this book are Green's lecture where he challenges college students to define sex/gender. Each proposed definition then lends itself to further scrutiny, until it's clear that, for example, there is really no such thing as biological sex. It's a great way of getting at the surprising complexity of these ideas.
Jamison Green, an educator and writer who transitioned in the 1980s, is an engaging and thoughtful writer who skillfully interweaves his own story with conceptual explanations of transition/gender/etc and transgender history of the 1970s-2000's. The opening chapter, which is essentially a transcript of a lecture problematizing the cis assumptions about gender ("how do you know?" you're a man or woman), is worth the price of admission and something many cis people should read.
Personally, I found the book hard to connect to because Jamison Green is just the type of binary trans man that always makes me feel insecure (super masculine, straight, knew since he was 2, etc.) but that's not his fault.
Not a fan of Green's use of "transperson" (without the space) but I'm willing to give a pass since terminology was not as standardized in 2004.
Highlights: The first few pages of this book are Green's lecture where he challenges college students to define sex/gender. Each proposed definition then lends itself to further scrutiny, until it's clear that, for example, there is really no such thing as biological sex. It's a great way of getting at the surprising complexity of these ideas.
mrhog's review against another edition
5.0
This book is really, very good at the beginning and at the end. I completely disagree with all the comments who say that this is FtM 101. This is about 1/3 memoir, 1/3 activism, and 1/3 penis intellectualization.
It definitely reads like it's intended for both (as Green would say) transsexual and non-transsexual audiences. He grapples with the desire to be a leader among men who comfortable with who he is, but is obviously not. He's as confused but resolute as the rest of us.
The only warning is that he definitely goes on about his ultimate-unclockable-ness. Give it a go.
It definitely reads like it's intended for both (as Green would say) transsexual and non-transsexual audiences. He grapples with the desire to be a leader among men who comfortable with who he is, but is obviously not. He's as confused but resolute as the rest of us.
The only warning is that he definitely goes on about his ultimate-unclockable-ness. Give it a go.
kihadu's review against another edition
5.0
Overall excellent. It was very good to read a book about being transgender focused on the male perspective. I like the opening chapter's explanation of sex vs gender. His whole approach, actually, is slightly sideways of what I've typically seen and it was refreshing and I like it far better than I have other explanations. Though I disagree (naturally) on some points, and toward the end it felt repetitive, it was a good read with a nice overview of the history of the (U.S.) FTM community.
selenajournal's review against another edition
5.0
i read this book for an honors credit/paper in human sexuality. i chose transgendered culture because i knew nothing about it and wanted to find out. this book amazed me. personal experiences from someone who had gone through ftm surgery and who could really explain what it felt like and what it did to their life. i admire the courage it took to put this story out there.
messbauer's review against another edition
4.0
The story of one of the earlier activist voices for trans men. This memoir covers an interesting period in the broader history of trans visibility and mostly succeeds in finding a good balance between the personal and the academic, though some may find it too dry in parts.
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