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alexgo 's review for:
When Women Were Dragons
by Kelly Barnhill
I felt myself attached to this book, savoring it as slowly as I could while still racing through even time I opened it’s pages. What an incredibly beautiful rendition of rage, fear, insecurity, and love. Each of us have had a metamorphosis, in a way, and some of us have many. The ways we change after trauma, after love, after loss, and after success and hopes fulfilled, are reflected here in full color. This book has so many standout parts, it’s hard to decide what to include here- one of my favorites was the queer polycule, one of many versions of family depicted in this book that look more like mine than any book I’ve read yet.
Another favorite moment were the “dragons that were women by choice, and by the great yearnings of their hearts. They were not labeled as women at birth, and yet are women all the same. They dragoned too, just as their sisters did.”
The phrasing “women by choice” at first read seemed to minimize trans identities, but after a more thorough exploration, I think was meant to liken transitioning into one’s true gender to metamorphosing into a dragon. How many heard the call, but could not answer, or chose not to in order to remain in the lives they lead, trapped in skin that didn’t fit? How many people have lived their whole lives in their birth gender, never transitioning due to fear, or lack of access, or political, religious, or family pressure? I remember many moments before my own transition, where I felt the same shadows of wings and shook them off, forced myself to look down and try to fit into my life as it was, hoping to push away my true self by sheer force. While I’m sure dragoning was not meant to be a direct metaphor for transgender transitioning, it surely fit well, for me. I loved this book, to say the least.
Another favorite moment were the “dragons that were women by choice, and by the great yearnings of their hearts. They were not labeled as women at birth, and yet are women all the same. They dragoned too, just as their sisters did.”
The phrasing “women by choice” at first read seemed to minimize trans identities, but after a more thorough exploration, I think was meant to liken transitioning into one’s true gender to metamorphosing into a dragon. How many heard the call, but could not answer, or chose not to in order to remain in the lives they lead, trapped in skin that didn’t fit? How many people have lived their whole lives in their birth gender, never transitioning due to fear, or lack of access, or political, religious, or family pressure? I remember many moments before my own transition, where I felt the same shadows of wings and shook them off, forced myself to look down and try to fit into my life as it was, hoping to push away my true self by sheer force. While I’m sure dragoning was not meant to be a direct metaphor for transgender transitioning, it surely fit well, for me. I loved this book, to say the least.