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A review by nmcannon
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin
3.0
The other reviews are not wrong about this book. While the title of transgender teens "speaking out" is not wrong per se, it's misleading: this is much more an introduction to transgender youth experiences and issues than about transgender youth social justice, activism, or other political message through story. While Kuklin tries to keep herself out of the narrative, she steps in often to explain various terms, experiences, and ask pointed questions. There's an obvious focus on discovery, transition, and geography (all of the participants have a connection to/live in the New York area). I did enjoy the teens' diversity though: we have PoC folk, socioeconomic variety, & even a Thai citizen. That was very awesome.
The downside of Kuklin's focus is that it doesn't make for what I like to call "advanced queer reading." It's like, when you first start reading queer stories, they all center on coming out. Once that narrative becomes familiar enough, you start looking for other narratives. Like, stories about relationships and finding partners, or navigating therapy and mental health, or finding work. And this book is...not that. It's the basic basics. It's about coming out. It circles around the interviewees figuring out their identities and making their bodies match their hearts and heads. Which was a little disappointing to me, since I thought the book was more about trans teen social justice, activism etc etc.
However, the plus side of all Kuklin's work is that BEYOND MAGENTA is a perfect book for anyone (teen or otherwise) who knows nothing about transgender as an identity and wants to know more. This book is a great, if not the perfect, starting place.
The downside of Kuklin's focus is that it doesn't make for what I like to call "advanced queer reading." It's like, when you first start reading queer stories, they all center on coming out. Once that narrative becomes familiar enough, you start looking for other narratives. Like, stories about relationships and finding partners, or navigating therapy and mental health, or finding work. And this book is...not that. It's the basic basics. It's about coming out. It circles around the interviewees figuring out their identities and making their bodies match their hearts and heads. Which was a little disappointing to me, since I thought the book was more about trans teen social justice, activism etc etc.
However, the plus side of all Kuklin's work is that BEYOND MAGENTA is a perfect book for anyone (teen or otherwise) who knows nothing about transgender as an identity and wants to know more. This book is a great, if not the perfect, starting place.