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A review by peachprince
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community by
3.0
I am nearly 150 pages from the end of this book but I feel that I've read enough to review it, since it isn't meant to be read cover-to-cover anyway.
I would have been very impressed with this book had I read it in 2012. But unfortunately, it wasn't published until 2014, and I didn't read it until 2021.
There is a second edition set to come out later this year, and had I known that before I started reading I might have waited. I look forward to seeing how the authors improve upon the original.
I honestly expected a lot more from this book based on the praise it gets, not just from other goodreads users who I don't know, but from trans people I've met in real life. But the truth is that much of the information in this book is stuff I learned on my own just from existing as a trans person for the past decade.
What is gender identity? Expression? What pronouns can you choose from? Do all trans people agree about trans-related topics and issues? What options do you have for social and medical transition? How do you date as a trans person? How do you have sex?
None of these were questions I still had in 2021.
And even more disappointing, the information feels lacking in several areas. Ace bandages are mentioned as a binding method and not condemned for their danger nearly as strong enough as they should have been, and this method's propensity to break ribs and disfigure torsos has been common knowledge among transmasculine people at least since 2013. "The Vagina Bible", a book on gynecology for cis women, contains more vital information in its single brief chapter on trans vaginas, such as the effects of taking testosterone on pap tests, than TBTS contains in its entire medical section.
How do you come out to your doctor? Well if you're an adult, you simply choose a doctor who isn't transphobic. If you're a minor you ask to speak to your family doctor privately. What if you're coming out to an established doctor as an adult? What if your doctor is transphobic? What if you live in conservative BFE and there are no trans-friendly doctors to be found? TBTS offers no hints for you. Which is frustrating, that was the one thing I really hoped to learn from this book.
The language also feels dated, but that was bound to happen and just makes it an interesting artifact of trans history, in my opinion. If there were no 2nd edition in the works I might have more of a problem with the language. Won't it be interesting to see how the 2nd edition dates itself by the time the authors are ready to publish a 3rd?
As for the good: I really liked the snippets from trans people from various backgrounds. The writings from trans people from the global south were of particular interest to me, because their voices are seldom platformed in white-majority, USAmerican spaces. I was also intrigued to learn that the loss of bone density from puberty blockers, something transphobes have been fear-mongering about in recent years, is completely reversible. We've known this since before this book was published and yet the public discourse is still going "Well bone density is just a sacrifice we have to make for these kids," when it isn't even being sacrificed!
I expected this book to be revelatory. Instead it wasn't much more than a foundation for what might in later years be an invaluable resource, with a few interesting tidbits throughout.
I would have been very impressed with this book had I read it in 2012. But unfortunately, it wasn't published until 2014, and I didn't read it until 2021.
There is a second edition set to come out later this year, and had I known that before I started reading I might have waited. I look forward to seeing how the authors improve upon the original.
I honestly expected a lot more from this book based on the praise it gets, not just from other goodreads users who I don't know, but from trans people I've met in real life. But the truth is that much of the information in this book is stuff I learned on my own just from existing as a trans person for the past decade.
What is gender identity? Expression? What pronouns can you choose from? Do all trans people agree about trans-related topics and issues? What options do you have for social and medical transition? How do you date as a trans person? How do you have sex?
None of these were questions I still had in 2021.
And even more disappointing, the information feels lacking in several areas. Ace bandages are mentioned as a binding method and not condemned for their danger nearly as strong enough as they should have been, and this method's propensity to break ribs and disfigure torsos has been common knowledge among transmasculine people at least since 2013. "The Vagina Bible", a book on gynecology for cis women, contains more vital information in its single brief chapter on trans vaginas, such as the effects of taking testosterone on pap tests, than TBTS contains in its entire medical section.
How do you come out to your doctor? Well if you're an adult, you simply choose a doctor who isn't transphobic. If you're a minor you ask to speak to your family doctor privately. What if you're coming out to an established doctor as an adult? What if your doctor is transphobic? What if you live in conservative BFE and there are no trans-friendly doctors to be found? TBTS offers no hints for you. Which is frustrating, that was the one thing I really hoped to learn from this book.
The language also feels dated, but that was bound to happen and just makes it an interesting artifact of trans history, in my opinion. If there were no 2nd edition in the works I might have more of a problem with the language. Won't it be interesting to see how the 2nd edition dates itself by the time the authors are ready to publish a 3rd?
As for the good: I really liked the snippets from trans people from various backgrounds. The writings from trans people from the global south were of particular interest to me, because their voices are seldom platformed in white-majority, USAmerican spaces. I was also intrigued to learn that the loss of bone density from puberty blockers, something transphobes have been fear-mongering about in recent years, is completely reversible. We've known this since before this book was published and yet the public discourse is still going "Well bone density is just a sacrifice we have to make for these kids," when it isn't even being sacrificed!
I expected this book to be revelatory. Instead it wasn't much more than a foundation for what might in later years be an invaluable resource, with a few interesting tidbits throughout.