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A review by ettegoom
Faking It: My Life in Transition by Kyle Mewburn
4.0
The first half of this book was difficult. I often struggle with trans people's memoirs, as they recount the years of knowing that they belonged to the opposite gender. This is entirely personal, as being transgender, but nonbinary, I don't share this experience in quite the same way. So reading about others' more obvious binary experiences can leave me with a hefty dose of imposter syndrome.
The second half though, and particularly the last chapter, were something I recognised. The slow discovery of the understanding that passing isn't the important part. Nor is being able to tick all the boxes associated with the gender that most closely matches yours.
It's about being comfortable in your own body abs your own being. Choosing the clothes and changes that are important to you, and that you're comfortable with.
After all, if you're going to break some of the rules, why not just ignore the ones that restrict and bind you into socially constructed gender roles? It's quite liberating. And I'm really glad that she talks about this, as it is something that is often an area of contention in trans groups, where social conditioning pushes us into focusing on passing, more than living.
The second half though, and particularly the last chapter, were something I recognised. The slow discovery of the understanding that passing isn't the important part. Nor is being able to tick all the boxes associated with the gender that most closely matches yours.
It's about being comfortable in your own body abs your own being. Choosing the clothes and changes that are important to you, and that you're comfortable with.
After all, if you're going to break some of the rules, why not just ignore the ones that restrict and bind you into socially constructed gender roles? It's quite liberating. And I'm really glad that she talks about this, as it is something that is often an area of contention in trans groups, where social conditioning pushes us into focusing on passing, more than living.