Every Thug Is A Lady: Adventures Without Gender

by Julia Eff

Julia Eff's 68-page book Every Thug is a Lady begins with a co-opting of a Jay-Z quote: "I've got 99 problems but a gender ain't one." Julia's book deals with the concept of "neutrois," in which an individual has no gender and does not identify as either male or female. Says Julia, "Many have gender dysphoria very much like that of trans people. It is often denoted with the 'null' symbol meaning 'empty set.'" This look into the realm of non-gender is heavy illustrated, good-hearted, and dashed with a strong, youthful sense of humor. This is Julia's look at life as one free of gender (though still coming to terms with it; Julia's in the trenches, knockin' around while the bullets fly). Julia writes, "I see my gender in the way people say things--it's not a tangible object or even a thing that can be described with a giant dictionary." This spirited, adventurous, gothy little book is something special. Don't miss out.

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Matte Resist · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Julia focuses on Neutrois which ‘refers to an individual who has no gender and does not identify as male or female. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve read anything about this. I’ve done some reading to better understand trans individuals, but I didn’t know anything about Neutrois. They write about dysphoria, feeling out of place in their own body, and the people they interact with in daily life that makes it even worse. About the struggle of not wanting to be referred to as the incorrect gender (any gender) but also not wanting to be an inconvenience or feeling obligated to explain themselves. At times the book seems to contradict itself, but it makes sense to me. My own thought life can be pretty incongruous at times*. How do you deal with wanting someone to understand you, when you don’t quite understand yourself? They write in a way that is sometimes biting and sometimes humorous, but always youthful. (In fact, youthful enough that I had to look up some acronyms I didn’t know.) You get to read about the heartbreak and confusion, but you also get to read about the amazing breakthroughs. I also love that it’s handwritten and profusely illustrated and collaged. I also love that it’s pocket-sized! Now my only dilemma is figuring out who I’m going to pass this along to first.

*ie: Resist #47 had an article about how much I hate winter biking, and Resist #48 was ALL about winter biking.

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was life-changing for me, and remains my all-time favorite zine.

[Katie Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a very powerful zine. it's raw, honest, vulnerable, and moved me to anger several times. every description I've been given of dysphoria pales in comparison to Julia's writing about/during attacks.
the directions to remove pronouns from your Facebook profile is brilliant...which makes you wonder why it should be so hard.
Please read it.

[Muz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this zine is one here without me adding it manually. We have a zine collection at work, so I picked this one up at random. Well, not random. Because of the title.

Adventures without Gender is a zine that explores life as neutrois - considering yourself not male or female but without gender - the struggle, the pain, the acceptance. Like most zines, it is a photocopy of handwritten text, drawings, cutouts, etc. So i know that some people won't like the format, but I love it. The words sprawling across the page make me feel like I can hear the author telling me the stories, rambling through the rambles. The zine format is good for that.

I love it. I want to hug the author and tell them it's ok and that the people they see every day are worthless sucky stupid people who don't matter in the long run. You matter. Gender is made up. And then they come to acceptance and I smile and kind of want to cry.

I recommend this to everyone. You can email the author for a copy. Not just people who are feeling genderless, gender confused, trans, etc. But all people so they can see the human inside the people around them.

Also - read more zines.

[Kit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw a lot of myself in this zine, particularly about how you can argue about Guns N Roses or tell others to fight for themselves but question if you should do it for yourself. Good zine.