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A review by hidingincorners
Pride: An Inspirational History of the LGBTQ+ Movement by Stella Caldwell, Grace Stewart
4.0
This was a decent overview book and I learned a few new things. However, there were parts of it that felt like a miss.
1) Using "identifies as" in the bio sections is very 2010s.
2) Calling it "gender reassignment surgery" is incorrect. It's more commonly referred to as "gender confirmation/affirmation surgery" or I've heard it called "gender harmonization surgery." I understand this was referring to historical events, but we would all understand what it is if the current, more inclusive term were used.
3) The framing of the narrative tends to support a view that "The West" is more progressive about LGBTQ rights than the rest of the world. Barely any mention is given to how Indigenous cultures had their own gender systems and views on sexuality, which were often more expansive and accepting than the cultures that colonized them. There was no mention of Two Spirit people or any Indigenous genders. Furthermore, there was no discussion of TERFs, which, given that the author is from the UK, a country where TERFs are regularly platformed in the media and try to dominate discussions of women's rights and LGBTQ issues, seems like a glaring oversight. If you're going to talk about backlash to progress, that would be a very current and necessary issue to discuss. Unless your narrative is that, "Things are good now in my country. It's those other, backwards countries that need to catch up." I don't think that's what she was going for, which is why I'm rating this book 4 stars.
1) Using "identifies as" in the bio sections is very 2010s.
2) Calling it "gender reassignment surgery" is incorrect. It's more commonly referred to as "gender confirmation/affirmation surgery" or I've heard it called "gender harmonization surgery." I understand this was referring to historical events, but we would all understand what it is if the current, more inclusive term were used.
3) The framing of the narrative tends to support a view that "The West" is more progressive about LGBTQ rights than the rest of the world. Barely any mention is given to how Indigenous cultures had their own gender systems and views on sexuality, which were often more expansive and accepting than the cultures that colonized them. There was no mention of Two Spirit people or any Indigenous genders. Furthermore, there was no discussion of TERFs, which, given that the author is from the UK, a country where TERFs are regularly platformed in the media and try to dominate discussions of women's rights and LGBTQ issues, seems like a glaring oversight. If you're going to talk about backlash to progress, that would be a very current and necessary issue to discuss. Unless your narrative is that, "Things are good now in my country. It's those other, backwards countries that need to catch up." I don't think that's what she was going for, which is why I'm rating this book 4 stars.