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A review by katetay69
Growing Up Queer in Australia by Benjamin Law
4.0
READS LIKE A WARM HUG ON A COLD DAY
Another great book in the Growing Up series!
Growing Up Disabled in Australia got a 5 because I had a lot to learn and I found a higher number of the stories engaging. Whereas I already have a fairly sound knowledge base of LGBTQ issues. I also found some of the stories were too similar but it was still a 'cant put it down' kind of book. I do wish there were more Intersex and Asexual stories because they are the ones I see the least of in popular culture. I was expecting to have more ah ha moments! So I did feel a bit hungry for more.
Some of my favourite chapters were of course on bisexuality;
HOW TO BE BOTH-Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen:
"I only ever saw myself with a man. I came to realise this as a symptom of internalised homophobia"
"I realised I wasn't straight but felt pressured to force my romantic life to be binary".
"I could be soft behind closed doors, perform a role I'd never known before, but in public, in a relationship, I had to seem like I was straight"
"Sometime I feel like I don't know how to be bisexual, as if there's a proper way, as if there's any milestone I have to reach before I'm allowed to carry the card"
ROB, AND QUEER FAMILY - Nayuka Gorrie on hookup culture:
"Something we don't necessarily talk about is that it can be much easier to treat men like they are disposable" "At least with men there seemed to be a mutual disrespect - no one expected to see each other again. It was easy to get sex from men, even if it was uneventful".
ST LOUIS - Oliver Reeson
" I want to tell people all the time ; there is no deadline for growing up , no submission date for your life's narrative. You can work it out now or later. You can reveal yourself in parts, or as a whole, and make revisions". "How could I grow up as a non-binary person when I did not even know the concept until I was already an adult"?
BOOBS, RAGS and JUDY BLUME - Phoebe Hart
- Phoebe talks about being a late bloomer, they wonder when they will get their period as all their friends have them. They ask their mum and she says, "Phoebe you'll never get your period because you don't have a uterus". Phoebe is told not to tell anyone (theyre 12 when this happens). This is when they first find out they are Intersex. This story reminded me how Intersex is shrouded in secrecy and their is so much shame and stigma surrounding it. I would love to see more representation of Intersex people's stories.
THE MOST NATURAL OF THINGS - Justine Hyde
I laughed so hard reading about them having sex in a backyard and getting caught by the neighbour, and then finishing off in a water bed and then discovering there was dog vomit on their arms. Too funny.
BINARY SCHOOL - Roz Bellamy
Roz talks about prayers in Jewish school, I don't want to shit on religion but I was a bit shocked the boys morning prayer was 'blessed you are god, that you did not make me a woman' and the girls was 'blessed are you, god, that you made me according to your will'. There is some serious gender dynamics to unpack here.
WHY I'VE STOPPED COMING OUT TO MY MUM - Vivian Quynh Pham
Vivian talks about how there was no word for girl that is my romantic partner in Vietnamese. This reminded me of my privileges'. It serves as a reminder to me that language is so important and how difficult it can be with the absence of it. She talks about how being a minority and coming out, the closet can be the safest place to be.
MEINMASHA - Atul Joshi
" I became a slut, I figured there was wisdom in numbers. And there was; those years showed me that we're all different colours, sizes, shapes. It was a revelation I enthusiastically embraces, and much of the shame melted away" I love and agree with this.
JACK AND JILL AND ME - Stephanie Convery
"The truth is, being bisexual means being invisible, especially if you are in a monogamous relationship, whether you paint yourself rainbow or a white picket fence".
Another great book in the Growing Up series!
Growing Up Disabled in Australia got a 5 because I had a lot to learn and I found a higher number of the stories engaging. Whereas I already have a fairly sound knowledge base of LGBTQ issues. I also found some of the stories were too similar but it was still a 'cant put it down' kind of book. I do wish there were more Intersex and Asexual stories because they are the ones I see the least of in popular culture. I was expecting to have more ah ha moments! So I did feel a bit hungry for more.
Some of my favourite chapters were of course on bisexuality;
HOW TO BE BOTH-Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen:
"I only ever saw myself with a man. I came to realise this as a symptom of internalised homophobia"
"I realised I wasn't straight but felt pressured to force my romantic life to be binary".
"I could be soft behind closed doors, perform a role I'd never known before, but in public, in a relationship, I had to seem like I was straight"
"Sometime I feel like I don't know how to be bisexual, as if there's a proper way, as if there's any milestone I have to reach before I'm allowed to carry the card"
ROB, AND QUEER FAMILY - Nayuka Gorrie on hookup culture:
"Something we don't necessarily talk about is that it can be much easier to treat men like they are disposable" "At least with men there seemed to be a mutual disrespect - no one expected to see each other again. It was easy to get sex from men, even if it was uneventful".
ST LOUIS - Oliver Reeson
" I want to tell people all the time ; there is no deadline for growing up , no submission date for your life's narrative. You can work it out now or later. You can reveal yourself in parts, or as a whole, and make revisions". "How could I grow up as a non-binary person when I did not even know the concept until I was already an adult"?
BOOBS, RAGS and JUDY BLUME - Phoebe Hart
- Phoebe talks about being a late bloomer, they wonder when they will get their period as all their friends have them. They ask their mum and she says, "Phoebe you'll never get your period because you don't have a uterus". Phoebe is told not to tell anyone (theyre 12 when this happens). This is when they first find out they are Intersex. This story reminded me how Intersex is shrouded in secrecy and their is so much shame and stigma surrounding it. I would love to see more representation of Intersex people's stories.
THE MOST NATURAL OF THINGS - Justine Hyde
I laughed so hard reading about them having sex in a backyard and getting caught by the neighbour, and then finishing off in a water bed and then discovering there was dog vomit on their arms. Too funny.
BINARY SCHOOL - Roz Bellamy
Roz talks about prayers in Jewish school, I don't want to shit on religion but I was a bit shocked the boys morning prayer was 'blessed you are god, that you did not make me a woman' and the girls was 'blessed are you, god, that you made me according to your will'. There is some serious gender dynamics to unpack here.
WHY I'VE STOPPED COMING OUT TO MY MUM - Vivian Quynh Pham
Vivian talks about how there was no word for girl that is my romantic partner in Vietnamese. This reminded me of my privileges'. It serves as a reminder to me that language is so important and how difficult it can be with the absence of it. She talks about how being a minority and coming out, the closet can be the safest place to be.
MEINMASHA - Atul Joshi
" I became a slut, I figured there was wisdom in numbers. And there was; those years showed me that we're all different colours, sizes, shapes. It was a revelation I enthusiastically embraces, and much of the shame melted away" I love and agree with this.
JACK AND JILL AND ME - Stephanie Convery
"The truth is, being bisexual means being invisible, especially if you are in a monogamous relationship, whether you paint yourself rainbow or a white picket fence".