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189th out of 207 books
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132 voters
Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation
In the 15 years since the release of Gender Outlaw, Kate Bornstein’s groundbreaking challenge to gender ideology, transgender narratives have made their way from the margins to the mainstream and back again. Today's transgenders and other sex/gender radicals are writing a drastically new world into being. In Gender Outlaws, Bornstein, together with writer, raconteur, and t...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
August 31st 2010
by Seal Press
(first published August 24th 2010)
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This book is a kind of sequel to Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us, published in 1994. Gender Outlaw, which has become a staple in Queer Studies classrooms, questions the fundamental necessity of dividing the human race into only two genders assumed to be "natural" and mutually exclusive. Gender oppression, in Bornstein's view, is not only a form of inequality imposed on the value-neutral categories of "male" and "female," but is intrinsic to them. As a charismatic...more
In 1995, Kate Bornstein wrote Gender Outlaw. It was a book about her own M to F transition, and a treatise on gender. It helped a lot of trans people get through their lives. Now, 15 years later, she and co-author/editor Bergman have produced a collection of essays, comics and poems, all from members of the trans community. While the average person thinks of the trans community as made up of drag queens and people who surgically and hormonally transition from one set of genitals to the other, it...more
Gender Outlaws is a series of poems, essays, comic strips, etc. which offers insight into a variety of trans* issues. o many different perspectives are presented in this text; however, intersectionality drove many essays in the book. Focusing on the vast space between in the gender binary, these essays are quite unique despite the commonality. Gwendolyn Ann Smith's essay, "We're All Somebody's Freak", resonated with me as encapsulating the primary theme throughout the text. She writes:
"We live...more
"We live...more
I love some of the essays, I abhor some of the essays. So, it's solidly worth reading to see what to major queer editors think of what's being written on the topic these days, but .... nothing can live up to the happy nostalgia I have for "GenderQueer" and, seriously, I think I doodled most of those cartoon in the margins of my notebooks fifteen years ago, and they weren't profound or funny then either. Oh, ouch - I am a cranky snob. :)
I wish I could give this a 3.5. Collections of essays by people who are not professional writers or speakers often assume that personal experience is automatically meaningful. At this point, enough has been written about gender variance that most of the essays in this book didn't say much new. I appreciated the essays that were more reflective or focused on a very specific aspect of gender that I hadn't read about as much. The two best, for me, were j wallace writing about how we could re-envisi...more
I started this thinking that I would end up skimming most of the essays. I was wrong. I became completely engrossed even rereading several of the essays as I went. As someone of the previous generation, I have consciously stayed outside of the trans discussions. If I have thought about it at all it has been from a purely academic standpoint, keeping the personal out of it. One essay in particular, blew this all up for me. The author vividly talked about the need to have discussions based on gend...more
Jan 28, 2013
Mirrordance
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
essay,
archivi,
digital,
ftm,
gender,
gender-identities,
identities,
identità,
lgbtiq,
queer,
saggio,
transessualità,
transgender
Fifteen years after, this new book is the natutal prosecution of "Gender Outlaws". While in the first book Kate Bornstein spoke mostly in the first person and "narrated" the experiences and feelings of being a gender outlaw, in this second volume the editors leave space to the voices of all gender outlaws willing to speak for themselves. The result is a unique collection of stories, essays, testimonies, poetry, comics...lives. The demonstration of the continuous and fluid flowing of gender, of t...more
I struggle with my own prejudice around transgendered people. I find it frustrating to deal with new pronouns and still can't wrap my head around non-binary gendering - which is not to say I don't see gender as a spectrum, but I see it as a spectrum between 2 choices. I read this book in part to force myself to open my mind to these other ways of looking at gender and gender identity.
Like any collection of essays, some items were strong or more relate-able than others. I heard of this book becau...more
Like any collection of essays, some items were strong or more relate-able than others. I heard of this book becau...more
It is really really a crap-shoot what I will actually be able to focus on and more importantly, keep picking up, these days. With this book, I was able to do both, and I feel like that was enough. A collection of short essays that are basically a snapshot of where the transgender/genderqueer/etc movement is now, with lots of different views, lots of very personal writing styles, lots of insights into the trans experience that I had never thought of and did find interesting -- some real standouts...more
An eclectic group of essays that just about capture all the variance within a tumultuously changing community. The quality ranged from dry to spectacular, hilarious to heart-breaking, and serious to nonsense. This book speaks to many different facets of trans' peoples lives. An excellent "update" on its predecessor penned by Kate Bornstein.
I think, probably, my hopes were too high, going in, and I was disappointed, because I expected this to be something I knew it wasn't going to be. I would love to like this for what it is, but I'm too personally invested with what's being written about non-binary gender to be able to judge this on the merits of what it is as a book.
Dec 28, 2012
Jessa
added it
I read this for class. We only had to read a select few but I just kept going. I wouldn't call it a page turner, but because I'm so interested in the topic, I really enjoyed it. The best part was the way authors were able to describe their experiences based on more than just their gender identities.
I found this an engaging and interesting read, though I don't necessarily love the sparring/flirting between Bear and Kate. It's hard to carry off a conversational feeling in the kind of writing they've done, but there're a number of useful and clever portions of the book. Well worth a read, overall!
I tremendously enjoyed about half of it. The conversations between Bear and Kate were cute and I am really glad this "next generation" is getting to tell their stories. I didn't have any expectations going in, so I am neither overwhelmed nor disappointed. It's a decent collection.
3.5! this book had a great range of contributions...which was definitely a PLUS but also somewhat of a minus in which i would have loved to been able to travel more deeply into some of the areas explored. there were some framework shifting moments and also some "yes, and -- " moments. i especially appreciated the instant message dialogue between the collection's editors that was interspersed throughout.
If you are even slightly interested in gender, trans*, and queer stuff, you should read this book. It was so nice to sit with a book and spend time thinking about the ways people are exploding the binary and charting new pathways to liberation from gender oppression.
3.5 (I really wish Goodreads allowed us to use half stars.) Overall, a very good collection of thoughts and experiences. I wish I could rate individual essays, as Ryka Aoki's piece is worth 5 stars all by itself. Recommended reading for anyone curious about how it feels to be trans*.
Good collection of essays, some really outstanding ones. Favorite quote
"Whereas, if it were though it would be about loving your neighbor as you love yourself, problem is most people can't stand themselves"
"Whereas, if it were though it would be about loving your neighbor as you love yourself, problem is most people can't stand themselves"
I was really disappointed in this book, which makes too much of a point of being an outlaws' book. I was particularly enraged by page 22. Some of it is good though; that's how anthologies are.
Jul 30, 2011
M.c. Kelley
added it
This book is phenomenal. A really great collection of articles by some really awesome people. Definetly a different style than the original book. But just as good of a read.
Inspirational. Profound. Life-Affirming. Hilarious. Heart-breaking. Couldn't love this enough.
Very Important book for me. Helped shape me through my long road to transition.
I was kind of hoping for less political/philosophical stuff, but whatever. The format, style and dinkiness reminded me of the Vagina Monologues. Not a bad read though.
fascinating, creative, energizing, thoughtful--a great compilation of essays, poetry, graphics, etc.
I expected more fuck societies theme from this book but was pleasantly surprised by the positive gender and sexuality reading for the future of society. Definitely worth a read
Excellent. They should put one out every year with new editors.
I wish that I had been able to discern who the desired reader was. The information wasn't basic enough to use as introductory material for a reader interested in gender studies, but the collection also wasn't advanced enough to properly create a forum for discussion for those with a substantial base in the subject matter. On the upside, it was nice for the authors to have a place to share their voices, and some of the essays were quite interesting.
While some of the essays were difficult to read & enjoy, all-in-all, the book was wonderful. Maybe it's not professional and uses more personal reflection & anecdotes, but it's a great read to gain insight on gender issues as well as feel connected to people in a similar situation. As part if figuring out who I am in life and where I fall on the gender spectrum, this book made me feel more at ease and open to my journey.
The essays in the book are hugely inspiring!
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Kate Bornstein is a Jewish-American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist.
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“We can't ignore right-wing demagogues who insist that the word of the doctor who proclaims a child's sex at birth somehow holds more sway over the reality of the body than the word of the person who inhabits it. - Gwendolyn Ann Smith”
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3 people liked it
“When we talk about my gender as though it were a performance, we let the audience - with all their expectations, prejudices, and presumptions - completely off the hook. - Scott Turner Schofield”
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3 people liked it
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Jan 09, 2011 07:37pm