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A review by ella_holden_
Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us by CN Lester
4.0
- p. 3 'her only crime was to be different. Not by choice but by some trick of nature'.
- p. 4 'These writers are recording the trans 'debate' in one language, and trans people like me are speaking the realities of our lives in a totally different tongue.' 'It is not just the absence of knowledge that keeps a truth from being widely known and accepted, it is also the active production of ignorance that suppresses the truth'
- p. 7 'For some trans people, one element of being trans is the physical process of transition. It can be joyful, it can be painful, it can be messy and it can involve surgery. the same could be said of parenthood. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth are necessary parts of making a family for the majority of people'.
- p. 8 'these words are blunt instruments, designed to give a rough understanding of the ever-changing world we find ourselves in'
- p. 9 'by implying that trans people are faddish and difficult about words, writers can cast aspersions on the validity of our language - and of our selves. By claiming that our words are too hard to understand, the media perpetuates the idea that we are too hard to understand, and suggests that there's no point in trying'. 'Wanting to be referred to in an accurate and respectful way isn't a trans-specific thing, but a cornerstone of polite society'.
- p. 11 'if we are not seen as trans, we run the risk of accusations of deceptions, of a scandalous 'reveal', if we don't announce that we are trans from the get-go.'
- p. 12 'our lives are truncated when we are seen only through the stereotypes of others'. 'Accept it as one crucial part and then, please, keep listening.' 'We, as trans people, are not the ones in control of the trans news story.' 'Trans people are far more likely to be written about as an 'issue' than we are tonbe recording our experiences and insights as equal participants.'
- p. 13 'When we are allowed to speak for ourselves, our answers are usually trimmed to fit a script written by others.'
- p. 16 'Trans people may choose not to consume transphobic media; we have no choice about living in a world shaped by this misinformation.'
- p. 17 'in the absence of real-life experience, cis people fell back on what they had learnt through the media. Overwhelmingly, what they had 'learnt' was that trans people are 'confused'.'
- p. 19 'we become complicit in the machine, knowing that if other people had not done the same for us, we would not be here today to keep the fight going.'
- p. 27 'the daily ways in which it is decided that some people are not as worthy of protection, of life, as others.'
- p. 33 'I can't overstate how hard it was to recognise myself as neither/nor when the whole world seemed to run as one or the other.' 'I barely knew what it felt like to be me.'
- p. 35 'I finally had the key to unlock all that I needed to tell about myself, and a tool with which to craft my future.'
- p. 36 'the more we expand our definitions, the more space there is for everyone. We push for the inclusion of these words into our common lexicon because, without them, it is so much easier to pretend that we're too impossible to exist.' 'What can be described can be communicated and made real, becomes a shield against that invisibility and dissolution.'
- p. 37 'Every time I was referred to with the wrong pronoun, a fundamental part of me was spoken away.' 'Trying to be understood by other people not prepared to understand.'
- p. 38 'How other people decide me is frequently confusing.' 'I would be scattered away into pieces if I let other people decide me in their own words.' 'We have a choice to respond with kindness rather than cruelty.' 'the compromises we all make between who we want to be and how the world wants us to behave.'
- p. 39 'it seems to have far less to do with gender than it does with broader issues of empathy and humility, and a willingness to understand that we are each the experts on our own lives.'
- p. 42 'I don't have to know every why of who I am to know the truth of my existence, and know that I can only find happiness by embracing that truth.'
- p. 44 'I don't understand how being true to my nature goes against it. I can't square that circle.'
- p. 45 'We hold off our transitions until it is transition or die. We are encouraged to do so. And some of us die. many of us who live have tried to.'
- p. 46 'I know myself, but not all that I could become.'
- p. 56 'Just listen to trans people and what we know of our own lives. We have been speaking this truth for a long time.' 'Revealing the body already felt to be there.'
- p. 58 'hoping for the basic right to breathe freely in our own bodies.'
- p. 61 'Is it possible to consider the body as something neutral that exists apart from the sexed and gendered terms we use to describe it?' 'Sex is a vast, infinitely malleable continuum.'
- p. 68 'As with many other things labelled 'unnatural' by our society, a better explanation of that particular usage would be 'something I do not approve of'.'
- p. 71 'It's not wanting a different body: it's knowing how your body should be, and living with the continuual pain of discord, as wrong as a broken bone.'
- p. 84 'A majority of trans adults became aware of their transness at a young age, an average of eight years old, they were also aware that knowledge was shameful and needed to be hidden away from their friends and families.'
- p. 86 'We have the chance to end that pattern of isolation and self-loathing, to make the experience of being unconditionally loved the norm, rather than the exception.'
- p. 94 'without being anything but the physical embodiment of something far greater and more beautiful than I could ever hope to be - this is who I am at the core.' 'Being trans is not a fate anyone needs saving from.'
- p. 107 'your life makes my life better - thank you for being here.'
- p. 112 'I found pride in presenting myself in a way that felt congruent with my inner self, in learning the exact things that made me feel happy and at home.'
- p. 114 'if someone loves a certain image of you - an image which misses your true self - then the actuality of who you are will never be enough.'
- p. 134 'We can be more than we were taught we could be. What other people say about us does not translate into who we are. There are many different paths to happiness, and even more ways in which to travel them.'
- p. 165 'in our interlockings, our intersections, there is power, hope, a path to something better.'
- p. 169 'something must exist in order for it to be suppressed.'
- p. 173 'We could take the best - the empathy and solidarity - and try to add to it, to pass that legacy down to the people who come after us. Not just as activists, but as individuals, we could do better in community than in division.'
- p. 188 'It was not hard, or threatening, to learn from one anothers' experiences: it was a gift.'
- p. 199 'her very existence a threat to be exterminated.'
- p. 206 'to build a better future we must first be able to imagine it.'
- p. 210 'when we assume that the arc of history will bend towards justice, we stop working to make it so.'
- p. 214 'a future in which our possibilities are limitless and our differences the links in a chain that join us in a common humanity.'
- p. 4 'These writers are recording the trans 'debate' in one language, and trans people like me are speaking the realities of our lives in a totally different tongue.' 'It is not just the absence of knowledge that keeps a truth from being widely known and accepted, it is also the active production of ignorance that suppresses the truth'
- p. 7 'For some trans people, one element of being trans is the physical process of transition. It can be joyful, it can be painful, it can be messy and it can involve surgery. the same could be said of parenthood. Conception, pregnancy and childbirth are necessary parts of making a family for the majority of people'.
- p. 8 'these words are blunt instruments, designed to give a rough understanding of the ever-changing world we find ourselves in'
- p. 9 'by implying that trans people are faddish and difficult about words, writers can cast aspersions on the validity of our language - and of our selves. By claiming that our words are too hard to understand, the media perpetuates the idea that we are too hard to understand, and suggests that there's no point in trying'. 'Wanting to be referred to in an accurate and respectful way isn't a trans-specific thing, but a cornerstone of polite society'.
- p. 11 'if we are not seen as trans, we run the risk of accusations of deceptions, of a scandalous 'reveal', if we don't announce that we are trans from the get-go.'
- p. 12 'our lives are truncated when we are seen only through the stereotypes of others'. 'Accept it as one crucial part and then, please, keep listening.' 'We, as trans people, are not the ones in control of the trans news story.' 'Trans people are far more likely to be written about as an 'issue' than we are tonbe recording our experiences and insights as equal participants.'
- p. 13 'When we are allowed to speak for ourselves, our answers are usually trimmed to fit a script written by others.'
- p. 16 'Trans people may choose not to consume transphobic media; we have no choice about living in a world shaped by this misinformation.'
- p. 17 'in the absence of real-life experience, cis people fell back on what they had learnt through the media. Overwhelmingly, what they had 'learnt' was that trans people are 'confused'.'
- p. 19 'we become complicit in the machine, knowing that if other people had not done the same for us, we would not be here today to keep the fight going.'
- p. 27 'the daily ways in which it is decided that some people are not as worthy of protection, of life, as others.'
- p. 33 'I can't overstate how hard it was to recognise myself as neither/nor when the whole world seemed to run as one or the other.' 'I barely knew what it felt like to be me.'
- p. 35 'I finally had the key to unlock all that I needed to tell about myself, and a tool with which to craft my future.'
- p. 36 'the more we expand our definitions, the more space there is for everyone. We push for the inclusion of these words into our common lexicon because, without them, it is so much easier to pretend that we're too impossible to exist.' 'What can be described can be communicated and made real, becomes a shield against that invisibility and dissolution.'
- p. 37 'Every time I was referred to with the wrong pronoun, a fundamental part of me was spoken away.' 'Trying to be understood by other people not prepared to understand.'
- p. 38 'How other people decide me is frequently confusing.' 'I would be scattered away into pieces if I let other people decide me in their own words.' 'We have a choice to respond with kindness rather than cruelty.' 'the compromises we all make between who we want to be and how the world wants us to behave.'
- p. 39 'it seems to have far less to do with gender than it does with broader issues of empathy and humility, and a willingness to understand that we are each the experts on our own lives.'
- p. 42 'I don't have to know every why of who I am to know the truth of my existence, and know that I can only find happiness by embracing that truth.'
- p. 44 'I don't understand how being true to my nature goes against it. I can't square that circle.'
- p. 45 'We hold off our transitions until it is transition or die. We are encouraged to do so. And some of us die. many of us who live have tried to.'
- p. 46 'I know myself, but not all that I could become.'
- p. 56 'Just listen to trans people and what we know of our own lives. We have been speaking this truth for a long time.' 'Revealing the body already felt to be there.'
- p. 58 'hoping for the basic right to breathe freely in our own bodies.'
- p. 61 'Is it possible to consider the body as something neutral that exists apart from the sexed and gendered terms we use to describe it?' 'Sex is a vast, infinitely malleable continuum.'
- p. 68 'As with many other things labelled 'unnatural' by our society, a better explanation of that particular usage would be 'something I do not approve of'.'
- p. 71 'It's not wanting a different body: it's knowing how your body should be, and living with the continuual pain of discord, as wrong as a broken bone.'
- p. 84 'A majority of trans adults became aware of their transness at a young age, an average of eight years old, they were also aware that knowledge was shameful and needed to be hidden away from their friends and families.'
- p. 86 'We have the chance to end that pattern of isolation and self-loathing, to make the experience of being unconditionally loved the norm, rather than the exception.'
- p. 94 'without being anything but the physical embodiment of something far greater and more beautiful than I could ever hope to be - this is who I am at the core.' 'Being trans is not a fate anyone needs saving from.'
- p. 107 'your life makes my life better - thank you for being here.'
- p. 112 'I found pride in presenting myself in a way that felt congruent with my inner self, in learning the exact things that made me feel happy and at home.'
- p. 114 'if someone loves a certain image of you - an image which misses your true self - then the actuality of who you are will never be enough.'
- p. 134 'We can be more than we were taught we could be. What other people say about us does not translate into who we are. There are many different paths to happiness, and even more ways in which to travel them.'
- p. 165 'in our interlockings, our intersections, there is power, hope, a path to something better.'
- p. 169 'something must exist in order for it to be suppressed.'
- p. 173 'We could take the best - the empathy and solidarity - and try to add to it, to pass that legacy down to the people who come after us. Not just as activists, but as individuals, we could do better in community than in division.'
- p. 188 'It was not hard, or threatening, to learn from one anothers' experiences: it was a gift.'
- p. 199 'her very existence a threat to be exterminated.'
- p. 206 'to build a better future we must first be able to imagine it.'
- p. 210 'when we assume that the arc of history will bend towards justice, we stop working to make it so.'
- p. 214 'a future in which our possibilities are limitless and our differences the links in a chain that join us in a common humanity.'