A review by finnthehuman217
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton

4.0

This book took me a while to get through. I’m really good with theory but some academic work is inaccessible if you’re not up on the words. I did find the 3rd part fascinating. Especially when the author talked about the Christine Jorgensen doubles and how the black press vilified black trans women while Jorgensen was revered for her transition. It’s all very weird. I also liked the discussion of the erasure of black identity regarding the story of Phillip Devine and Brandon teena. Very insightful. One of the more gruesome chapters was that on the mothers of modern Gynecology.