Scan barcode
cymbal_curtain's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.5
It's an introductory book, and can introduce you to new things if you know extremely little.
Every topic is handled really superficially. It is an introduction to the topic but it gets kinda ridiculous at some points. It concludes certain things without even really mentioning them or defending against any scrutiny.
It also missed very obvious things, for example it's a bit ridiculous to only spend like a page discussing second vs first wave feminism in a book about gender, gender activism & such.
I also didn't like that it used isnotreali soldiers in it's example of women in the military. Contributing to pinkwashing the colony power currently commiting a genocide.
It has a lot of pictures and varying text sizes. It can be cool if you like that sort of thing.
Every topic is handled really superficially. It is an introduction to the topic but it gets kinda ridiculous at some points. It concludes certain things without even really mentioning them or defending against any scrutiny.
It also missed very obvious things, for example it's a bit ridiculous to only spend like a page discussing second vs first wave feminism in a book about gender, gender activism & such.
I also didn't like that it used isnotreali soldiers in it's example of women in the military. Contributing to pinkwashing the colony power currently commiting a genocide.
It has a lot of pictures and varying text sizes. It can be cool if you like that sort of thing.
mosswood's review
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Really enjoyed the structure of this book, the style of these books is really cool and an interesting way to consume books. I loved how rather than starting from the ‘transgender issue’ as it’s referred started from the ‘gender issue’ found this a really thought provoking perspective.
neshasurya's review
3.5
very interesting and insightful read for gender and sexuality (meskipun aku masih gak mudeng dan harus baca berulang kali)
harrietannreads's review
4.0
This book was incredibly informative and well researched. There was a lot of thought around accessibility and this could be read by anyone, sociological background or not, because definitions for all key terms are provided. I found the format a bit hard to read at times with the picture captions often on different pages to the picture. A really enjoyable read that taught me a lot!
lattelibrarian's review
4.0
This was an interesting read. Granted, it's posed as a primer, so much what this book discussed I already knew--however, the way it was presented was genious, riveting, and stylistically incredible. In addition to photographs and paintings that were well-sourced and a glossary on each page for whatever new words were introduced, the text was written in varying font sizes. If you only had a couple minutes to read, read the biggest text. If you had a lot of time to read, read the smaller text. The bigger the text, the bigger the idea. The smaller the text, the more detailed and supportive it was of the bigger text. Incredible! I'd never seen an academic text designed in such an incredible way. If only journal articles were written like that, right?
And like I said before, since this is a primer, I already knew a lot of the general ideas. But even if you're as well-versed in this topic as I am, it's still worth the read for the supporting photographs and paragraphs. Introduced in this book are indeed ideas of which I'm already aware, but supported by examples from communities I'd never heard of. Additionally, this book does a great job at going into the past of how gender and sex are conflated, and how essentialism became a well-known concept as well as its fall from grace.
My one caveat, surprisingly, is actually its treatment of radical feminists, or as the authors and editors call them via the colloquial way, TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, if you don't know). In a book that ponders the question of whether gender is fluid, it takes great care to discuss the ideas that are prevalent today from trans ideology, the rejection of essentialism, and gender affirming surgery. But in the question of radical feminists, the authors fail to elaborate, casting them off as morally bad and unworthy of a discussion. Whether you agree with them or not, in a book that tries to answer such a big question, I was a little disappointed that they didn't get the time of day to have their ideologies explained and questioned, either. Acknowledging their ideologies, again, whether you agree with them or not, would have brought an interesting conversation to light, and would have provoked really interesting conversations in what would be a safer environment for all of us.
That being said, I definitely think that the authors only looked for the stuff that supported what they wanted their answer to be ("Yes, gender is fluid"), and in doing so denied the opportunity for some very intriguing discussions. While I do think that gender is more fluid than we think it is--and certainly so, given the amounts of evidence and examples they bring to the table--I also think that there is a little more left to be said on the topic of this very big subject. But then again, it's a primer, and maybe I'm expecting a little too much.
Overall, it's clearly a thought-provoking book! I learned a lot, and I appreciated the use of examples that I'd never even seen before. It's informative, I love the design, and I love the structure. Definitely worth reading if you're new to this conversation or want a rehash of the basics.
Review cross-listed here!
And like I said before, since this is a primer, I already knew a lot of the general ideas. But even if you're as well-versed in this topic as I am, it's still worth the read for the supporting photographs and paragraphs. Introduced in this book are indeed ideas of which I'm already aware, but supported by examples from communities I'd never heard of. Additionally, this book does a great job at going into the past of how gender and sex are conflated, and how essentialism became a well-known concept as well as its fall from grace.
My one caveat, surprisingly, is actually its treatment of radical feminists, or as the authors and editors call them via the colloquial way, TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, if you don't know). In a book that ponders the question of whether gender is fluid, it takes great care to discuss the ideas that are prevalent today from trans ideology, the rejection of essentialism, and gender affirming surgery. But in the question of radical feminists, the authors fail to elaborate, casting them off as morally bad and unworthy of a discussion. Whether you agree with them or not, in a book that tries to answer such a big question, I was a little disappointed that they didn't get the time of day to have their ideologies explained and questioned, either. Acknowledging their ideologies, again, whether you agree with them or not, would have brought an interesting conversation to light, and would have provoked really interesting conversations in what would be a safer environment for all of us.
That being said, I definitely think that the authors only looked for the stuff that supported what they wanted their answer to be ("Yes, gender is fluid"), and in doing so denied the opportunity for some very intriguing discussions. While I do think that gender is more fluid than we think it is--and certainly so, given the amounts of evidence and examples they bring to the table--I also think that there is a little more left to be said on the topic of this very big subject. But then again, it's a primer, and maybe I'm expecting a little too much.
Overall, it's clearly a thought-provoking book! I learned a lot, and I appreciated the use of examples that I'd never even seen before. It's informative, I love the design, and I love the structure. Definitely worth reading if you're new to this conversation or want a rehash of the basics.
Review cross-listed here!
echo_chamber's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
tiptin's review
1.0
Is Gender Fluid? Yes, no doubt about it.
However, I did not like this book. The writing is too academic and but never goes into the depth of the subject its discusses. And the format, not a fan.
However, I did not like this book. The writing is too academic and but never goes into the depth of the subject its discusses. And the format, not a fan.