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Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter?
Goes beyond transgender to question the need for gender classification
Beyond Trans pushes the conversation on gender identity to its limits: questioning the need for gender categories in the first place. Whether on birth certificates or college admissions applications or on bathroom doors, why do we need to mark people and places with sex categories? Do they serve a real purpose or are these places and forms just mechanisms of exclusion? Heath Fogg Davis offers an impassioned call to rethink the usefulness of dividing the world into not just Male and Female categories but even additional categories of Transgender and gender fluid. Davis, himself a transgender man, explores the underlying gender-enforcing policies and customs in American life that have led to transgender bathroom bills, college admissions controversies, and more, arguing that it is necessary for our society to take real steps to challenge the assumption that gender matters.
He examines four areas where we need to re-think our sex-classification systems: sex-marked identity documents such as birth certificates, driver's licenses and passports; sex-segregated public restrooms; single-sex colleges; and sex-segregated sports. Speaking from his own experience and drawing upon major cases of sex discrimination in the news and in the courts, Davis presents a persuasive case for challenging how individuals are classified according to sex and offers concrete recommendations for alleviating sex identity discrimination and sex-based disadvantage.
For anyone in search of pragmatic ways to make our world more inclusive, Davis' recommendations provide much-needed practical guidance about how to work through this complex issue. A provocative call to action, Beyond Trans pushes us to think how we can work to make America truly inclusive of all people.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
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April 10, 2020
This is the book on transgender rights, gender identity and expression, and policy that you never knew you wanted.
Welcome to the latest instalment of “$#A$^% am I ever behind at reviewing my NetGalley books”. Today I review Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter?, out at the beginning of June from New York University Press. To summarize Heath Fogg Davis’ thesis in one sentence in his own words: “I show why it is in the best interests of organizations of all kinds to minimize their administration of sex”. What follows is a careful, methodical, logical, but heartfelt analysis of specific areas of Western society in which categorization, segregation, or discrimination on the basis of sex/gender is, in Davis’ opinion, unnecessary. Moreover, Davis goes beyond pointing out problems and actually suggests practical, workable solutions that involve breaking down gender barriers and gender binaries rather than—as he phrases it—using assimilation and accommodation to fit trans people into those binaries.
Before we go on, a quick disclaimer:I am cis (Update 3 years in the future—life comes at you pretty fast, turns out I am not cis. Still, I wrote this review back when I thought I was.) and so can only review this book from that perspective. I can’t tell you if it provides a good representation of the views of various trans people. Davis himself is a trans man. Also, I appreciate how he quotes a variety of transgender and non-binary people, not all of whom necessarily share his views; Davis is careful not to represent trans communities as monolithic in their desires or views on gender. Finally, Davis acknowledges that while he has experienced the oppression, marginalization, and fear that comes with being transgender, he also has privileges of class, and he does not appear “visibly” transgender, so he has male privilege that he did not have prior to his transition.
Beyond Trans is not actually as controversial as some of the marketing might make it seem. I was a little wary because of the title and the first lines of the description. Was Davis going to make some kind of argument about how gender doesn’t matter, how we should all be blind? No—if anything, it’s the opposite. Davis says that your gender matters, and that it matters so much to your identity that the government and other organizations should stop policing it in silly, contradictory, unenforceable ways.
Really, libertarians should be all about this book. (Disclaimer: I am not a libertarian either, so I guess I shouldn’t speak for them.) It always amuses me how there is this overlap, at least in the States, between people who call for smaller government and people who want the government to legislate what people can do with regards to their sexual and gender orientations and identities. Much of Davis’ argument is classically libertarian: the government has no business regulating sex and gender. Indeed, one of Davis’ chief criticisms of government regulation is its inconsistent and often absent definition of sex or gender. Various laws and regulations just use these words, often interchangeably, without offering proper legal definitions, leaving it up to the courts to decide what was actually meant by the law.
Davis also points out that existing attempts to be inclusive have major shortcomings. He cites, for example, the movements to add “other” categories to the sex checkboxes on many official forms. It’s well-intentioned and better than nothing, but it also creates confusion. Ultimately, he argues the collection of sex/gender information from people happens in situations where it is entirely irrelevant. For gender-conforming individuals, this isn’t a big deal; we don’t get called on it. For non-conforming people, though, it puts amazing power in the hands of administrative authority that can, in some cases, lead to violence.
I used the terms “gender-conforming/non-conforming” for a reason, because Davis asserts that the superfluous collection of and segregation by gender harms cis people as well as trans people. He gives the example of a lesbian woman kicked out of a New York restaurant for using the women’s washroom: the bouncer didn’t believe she was a woman. Since her gender expression didn’t conform to his personal beliefs for what matches “woman” in our society, he felt it was within his power to police her gender and her access to essential facilities.
Along the same lines, Davis points out that the strategy to accommodate and assimilate trans people essentially erases non-binary people, agender people, etc. It’s all well and good to let a trans person change their sex on official documents from male to female or vice versa—but what about people who want to change from male to … nothing? Or female to non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, neutrois, or so on? Amendments and improvements to laws that focus on removing the barrier to changing one’s sex within the existing binaries can’t fix the fact that the entire idea of a sex or gender binary is itself a flawed and broken one and should be demolished post-haste.
Beyond Trans looks at sex markers on official documents, sex-segregated washrooms, single-sex admissions policies at colleges, and sex-segregated sports. In each case, Davis examines why these policies are harmful, unnecessary, and ill-advised. He then suggests how to fix them, whether it involves dismantling them altogether or going a different route. He emphasizes how this approach doesn’t just benefit trans people or gender non-conforming people but everyone. For example, on the subject of sex-segregated washrooms, he points out that “bathroom bills” as they are so-called in the United States cannot possibly accomplish their purported goals, because truly dangerous people will follow someone into a washroom no matter what the sign on the door says. More open-plan washrooms, with floor-to-ceiling individual stalls, would be a huge step forward in both safety and gender inclusiveness.
Later, when addressing sex-segregated sports, Davis unpacks the contradictory approaches to policing men’s and women’s sports. There is a greater emphasis, he argues, on “catching” men who are “pretending” to be women to gain an unfair advantage, whereas few people seem as concerned about women masquerading as men. He points out how this “trans misogyny” is in fact harmful to society at large: “this kind of misogyny is an extension of the general assumption that ‘femaleness and femininity are inferior to, and exist primarily for the benefit of, maleness and masculinity’.”
I love this. And this is why my feminism will always include trans people, and why my feminism will always fight for trans women to be treated as the real women they are. Drawing a line in the sand is not only arbitrary but damaging and harmful in the very way that people drawing that line are often themselves oppressed and marginalized. Why inflict that on another?
In case you can’t tell from my effusive encomium of the arguments in Beyond Trans, I loved this book. I can’t think of a single criticism of it, except perhaps that it is very focused on American society and policy. Yet a much broader survey would probably be very long, and I also appreciate that this book is short. Even so, it manages to accomplish a lot in this brief length: multiple case studies, and an appendix with practical suggestions for companies who want to do a “gender audit” on their policies.
Last time I requested a book from NetGalley on trans issues I got burned, badly. Beyond Trans is a salve to that burn: it’s #ownvoices, acknowledges diverse points of view, and has impeccable logical, ethical, and moral arguments. This is an academic book, with all sorts of great references and sources—but Davis’ style is very accessible and easy for a layperson to read. If you are interested in gender, or particularly gender and its intersections with social policy, I highly recommend this book. It will get you thinking.
Welcome to the latest instalment of “$#A$^% am I ever behind at reviewing my NetGalley books”. Today I review Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter?, out at the beginning of June from New York University Press. To summarize Heath Fogg Davis’ thesis in one sentence in his own words: “I show why it is in the best interests of organizations of all kinds to minimize their administration of sex”. What follows is a careful, methodical, logical, but heartfelt analysis of specific areas of Western society in which categorization, segregation, or discrimination on the basis of sex/gender is, in Davis’ opinion, unnecessary. Moreover, Davis goes beyond pointing out problems and actually suggests practical, workable solutions that involve breaking down gender barriers and gender binaries rather than—as he phrases it—using assimilation and accommodation to fit trans people into those binaries.
Before we go on, a quick disclaimer:
Beyond Trans is not actually as controversial as some of the marketing might make it seem. I was a little wary because of the title and the first lines of the description. Was Davis going to make some kind of argument about how gender doesn’t matter, how we should all be blind? No—if anything, it’s the opposite. Davis says that your gender matters, and that it matters so much to your identity that the government and other organizations should stop policing it in silly, contradictory, unenforceable ways.
Really, libertarians should be all about this book. (Disclaimer: I am not a libertarian either, so I guess I shouldn’t speak for them.) It always amuses me how there is this overlap, at least in the States, between people who call for smaller government and people who want the government to legislate what people can do with regards to their sexual and gender orientations and identities. Much of Davis’ argument is classically libertarian: the government has no business regulating sex and gender. Indeed, one of Davis’ chief criticisms of government regulation is its inconsistent and often absent definition of sex or gender. Various laws and regulations just use these words, often interchangeably, without offering proper legal definitions, leaving it up to the courts to decide what was actually meant by the law.
Davis also points out that existing attempts to be inclusive have major shortcomings. He cites, for example, the movements to add “other” categories to the sex checkboxes on many official forms. It’s well-intentioned and better than nothing, but it also creates confusion. Ultimately, he argues the collection of sex/gender information from people happens in situations where it is entirely irrelevant. For gender-conforming individuals, this isn’t a big deal; we don’t get called on it. For non-conforming people, though, it puts amazing power in the hands of administrative authority that can, in some cases, lead to violence.
I used the terms “gender-conforming/non-conforming” for a reason, because Davis asserts that the superfluous collection of and segregation by gender harms cis people as well as trans people. He gives the example of a lesbian woman kicked out of a New York restaurant for using the women’s washroom: the bouncer didn’t believe she was a woman. Since her gender expression didn’t conform to his personal beliefs for what matches “woman” in our society, he felt it was within his power to police her gender and her access to essential facilities.
Along the same lines, Davis points out that the strategy to accommodate and assimilate trans people essentially erases non-binary people, agender people, etc. It’s all well and good to let a trans person change their sex on official documents from male to female or vice versa—but what about people who want to change from male to … nothing? Or female to non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, neutrois, or so on? Amendments and improvements to laws that focus on removing the barrier to changing one’s sex within the existing binaries can’t fix the fact that the entire idea of a sex or gender binary is itself a flawed and broken one and should be demolished post-haste.
Beyond Trans looks at sex markers on official documents, sex-segregated washrooms, single-sex admissions policies at colleges, and sex-segregated sports. In each case, Davis examines why these policies are harmful, unnecessary, and ill-advised. He then suggests how to fix them, whether it involves dismantling them altogether or going a different route. He emphasizes how this approach doesn’t just benefit trans people or gender non-conforming people but everyone. For example, on the subject of sex-segregated washrooms, he points out that “bathroom bills” as they are so-called in the United States cannot possibly accomplish their purported goals, because truly dangerous people will follow someone into a washroom no matter what the sign on the door says. More open-plan washrooms, with floor-to-ceiling individual stalls, would be a huge step forward in both safety and gender inclusiveness.
Later, when addressing sex-segregated sports, Davis unpacks the contradictory approaches to policing men’s and women’s sports. There is a greater emphasis, he argues, on “catching” men who are “pretending” to be women to gain an unfair advantage, whereas few people seem as concerned about women masquerading as men. He points out how this “trans misogyny” is in fact harmful to society at large: “this kind of misogyny is an extension of the general assumption that ‘femaleness and femininity are inferior to, and exist primarily for the benefit of, maleness and masculinity’.”
I love this. And this is why my feminism will always include trans people, and why my feminism will always fight for trans women to be treated as the real women they are. Drawing a line in the sand is not only arbitrary but damaging and harmful in the very way that people drawing that line are often themselves oppressed and marginalized. Why inflict that on another?
In case you can’t tell from my effusive encomium of the arguments in Beyond Trans, I loved this book. I can’t think of a single criticism of it, except perhaps that it is very focused on American society and policy. Yet a much broader survey would probably be very long, and I also appreciate that this book is short. Even so, it manages to accomplish a lot in this brief length: multiple case studies, and an appendix with practical suggestions for companies who want to do a “gender audit” on their policies.
Last time I requested a book from NetGalley on trans issues I got burned, badly. Beyond Trans is a salve to that burn: it’s #ownvoices, acknowledges diverse points of view, and has impeccable logical, ethical, and moral arguments. This is an academic book, with all sorts of great references and sources—but Davis’ style is very accessible and easy for a layperson to read. If you are interested in gender, or particularly gender and its intersections with social policy, I highly recommend this book. It will get you thinking.
March 23, 2022
4.5 stars - Direct, well-organized, and full of really strong arguments. I wish this book got more attention outside of trans studies spaces, I think it provides really wonderful and actionable ideas for many gender “problems.” Really benefits from being written by a Black trans person, as it also incorporates multiple dimensions past gender, which was definitely necessary in multiple sections. I’d definitely recommend this to a lot of people, and I think it’s very readable for a more general audience. It’s only not a five-star read because I found the overall writing slightly dry (but not at all to a detrimental extent) and i do wish there had been slightly more discussion of both disability justice and nonbinary trans identities.
December 31, 2017
I liked the book more and more when reading it. It started with very straightforward things, SEPTA buses having a gender specific passes. Constant questions and harassment happen to anyone that wasn't very clearly in the right gender. The original reason was to prevent fraud (husbands and wives sharing the pass, even women could share with other women). In so many cases we have to state our gender, or our gender assigned at birth, and there are cases that for Trans people it is impossible, since their documentation is contradicting (even birth certificate vs driver's license for example).
The book continued to male/female public bathrooms. And again, I hope we all understand that issues around that, and how important they are. These were created to keep the safety of women, and sometimes give a false sense of safety, since these are still public areas.
I got totally hooked up when they talked about universities that are female only. Where the selling points for these schools were: Females are more successful and have more opportunities when there are only women. Oh, da, you have only women, so there will be women leaders, and more opportunities for women. The author gave so many examples of how the man only universities create a path in life where they are becoming the strong people in the city etc, because of networking, connections and appreciation for the institutes that they all graduate from.
And then it got to sports. A huge area that is problematic. How to decide who should be able to compete or be included in a team. Athletics went through humiliating processes, including having their genitals examined. Women that look more muscular ( including famous tennis players) are getting constant comments about their looks, gender, and everything else. That part brought me to complete rage
Davis suggests to add gender as an optional in all the forms, like we do with race today. In most cases it really shouldn't make a difference. 4 stars.
Also, I recommend to read Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock. It gives more of the personal feel of what Trans women go through.
The book continued to male/female public bathrooms. And again, I hope we all understand that issues around that, and how important they are. These were created to keep the safety of women, and sometimes give a false sense of safety, since these are still public areas.
I got totally hooked up when they talked about universities that are female only. Where the selling points for these schools were: Females are more successful and have more opportunities when there are only women. Oh, da, you have only women, so there will be women leaders, and more opportunities for women. The author gave so many examples of how the man only universities create a path in life where they are becoming the strong people in the city etc, because of networking, connections and appreciation for the institutes that they all graduate from.
And then it got to sports. A huge area that is problematic. How to decide who should be able to compete or be included in a team. Athletics went through humiliating processes, including having their genitals examined. Women that look more muscular ( including famous tennis players) are getting constant comments about their looks, gender, and everything else. That part brought me to complete rage
Davis suggests to add gender as an optional in all the forms, like we do with race today. In most cases it really shouldn't make a difference. 4 stars.
Also, I recommend to read Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock. It gives more of the personal feel of what Trans women go through.
June 5, 2018
An important book pointing out all the issues caused by having gender specifications.
I think that this book is one of those book that points out a lot of issues that a lot of people struggle with.
Why do we need to give our sex to apply for a job?
Why is there a necessity to state your sex when applying for a school/university?
Why do we need sex specific clubs/schools/organisations?
Why is there are need to specify that "female and other minorities are allowed" too? (also just WHAT?)
Why can't everyone play the sport they want to no matter what their sexuality is?
What does our sexuality play a role in how we define, live and how other people see us?
So many more questions are being asked and talked about in this book, and its wonderful to see that!
Its clearly humiliating if you are told you can't do or are not allowed to do something because of your sex.
This book is eye opening even for everyone that already is aware of a lot of issues, since it really discusses a huge variety of different issues -i personally for example- never thought about (bathrooms! I never even thought about that, but where is a transgender person supposed to go without someone getting offended -which is another issue all together because what the heck we are all doing the same thing in a bathroom! Who cares as long as you are not standing there starring at me while i pee! I mean come on people, get your acts together!)
Its a very important book and i think its wonderful that more book like this one come into publication and are becoming more read and talked about because it shows us all the issues we all still have to work on to make everyones life better and easier!
The only "Issue" i had with this book is the writing style itself.
Its very dry. Its feels like an academic paper, its drags on sometimes, its very fact driving and straight to the point.
Not a huge issue for me personally but i know that a lot of readers will not enjoy reading this book and if they struggle with that many readers will not finish this book.
So i wish Davis would have ask someone to help write this in a way that more readers would easily enjoy this, so that it really is one of those books that you can press into everyones hand and say -read it! Its not only important but so easy to read and understand that you will enjoy it and learn something!
Sadly that isn't the case with this book.
I still think that its defiantly worth a read and worth to read and i learnt quiet a bit reading it!
*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review!*
I think that this book is one of those book that points out a lot of issues that a lot of people struggle with.
Why do we need to give our sex to apply for a job?
Why is there a necessity to state your sex when applying for a school/university?
Why do we need sex specific clubs/schools/organisations?
Why is there are need to specify that "female and other minorities are allowed" too? (also just WHAT?)
Why can't everyone play the sport they want to no matter what their sexuality is?
What does our sexuality play a role in how we define, live and how other people see us?
So many more questions are being asked and talked about in this book, and its wonderful to see that!
Its clearly humiliating if you are told you can't do or are not allowed to do something because of your sex.
This book is eye opening even for everyone that already is aware of a lot of issues, since it really discusses a huge variety of different issues -i personally for example- never thought about (bathrooms! I never even thought about that, but where is a transgender person supposed to go without someone getting offended -which is another issue all together because what the heck we are all doing the same thing in a bathroom! Who cares as long as you are not standing there starring at me while i pee! I mean come on people, get your acts together!)
Its a very important book and i think its wonderful that more book like this one come into publication and are becoming more read and talked about because it shows us all the issues we all still have to work on to make everyones life better and easier!
The only "Issue" i had with this book is the writing style itself.
Its very dry. Its feels like an academic paper, its drags on sometimes, its very fact driving and straight to the point.
Not a huge issue for me personally but i know that a lot of readers will not enjoy reading this book and if they struggle with that many readers will not finish this book.
So i wish Davis would have ask someone to help write this in a way that more readers would easily enjoy this, so that it really is one of those books that you can press into everyones hand and say -read it! Its not only important but so easy to read and understand that you will enjoy it and learn something!
Sadly that isn't the case with this book.
I still think that its defiantly worth a read and worth to read and i learnt quiet a bit reading it!
*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review!*
April 15, 2021
Short and sweet, so well argued and thought-provoking. There's so much we can do to dream up better ways to serve everyone's needs around gender in society.
I’ve given a ton of thought to gender and how it operates in society, but Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? by Heath Fogg Davis was still radically thought-provoking, informative, and I basically can’t stop thinking about it. Davis makes many carefully crafted and cogent arguments in this slim volume, and he discusses complex issues with such nuance, I’m definitely not going to do it justice here. His basic argument is about rethinking how gender is used (or not) in a multitude of spaces. E.g. it’s becoming possible for trans people to change their gender marker on their ID documents, but is it really necessary to collect and associate that piece of information with our IDs at all in the first place? He argues that gender/sex markers in documents and segregated spaces creates the opportunity for sex identity discrimination, empowering enforcers to use their own judgement in determining whether the person in question belongs to the designated gender. Thus trans and cis people both are subject to scrutiny if they fail to meet others' subjective gender expression expectations. He discusses the examples of IDs and the segregation of sports, bathrooms, and women’s/men’s colleges, and offers innovative thinking in dreaming new ways to approach the legitimate policy drivers like fairness, safety, privacy, and anti-fraud that currently employ gender as an often flawed way to meet those needs. Another strong takeaway for me is thinking about the way individual organizations use and discuss gender. For example, he challenges requests for sex/gender information on forms to be transparent about both why that information is being requested and what definition should be used in answering, and offers ideas about better questions to use for the situation (e.g. if a medical study is monitoring for different results based on whether the participant has a uterus, actually ask the specific question of ‘do you have a uterus?’) I think everyone involved in any kind of policy decisions, no matter the scale, should be thinking about how to be thoughtful and intentional about inclusion, and this book is an exciting place to start or continue that conversation.
I’ve given a ton of thought to gender and how it operates in society, but Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? by Heath Fogg Davis was still radically thought-provoking, informative, and I basically can’t stop thinking about it. Davis makes many carefully crafted and cogent arguments in this slim volume, and he discusses complex issues with such nuance, I’m definitely not going to do it justice here. His basic argument is about rethinking how gender is used (or not) in a multitude of spaces. E.g. it’s becoming possible for trans people to change their gender marker on their ID documents, but is it really necessary to collect and associate that piece of information with our IDs at all in the first place? He argues that gender/sex markers in documents and segregated spaces creates the opportunity for sex identity discrimination, empowering enforcers to use their own judgement in determining whether the person in question belongs to the designated gender. Thus trans and cis people both are subject to scrutiny if they fail to meet others' subjective gender expression expectations. He discusses the examples of IDs and the segregation of sports, bathrooms, and women’s/men’s colleges, and offers innovative thinking in dreaming new ways to approach the legitimate policy drivers like fairness, safety, privacy, and anti-fraud that currently employ gender as an often flawed way to meet those needs. Another strong takeaway for me is thinking about the way individual organizations use and discuss gender. For example, he challenges requests for sex/gender information on forms to be transparent about both why that information is being requested and what definition should be used in answering, and offers ideas about better questions to use for the situation (e.g. if a medical study is monitoring for different results based on whether the participant has a uterus, actually ask the specific question of ‘do you have a uterus?’) I think everyone involved in any kind of policy decisions, no matter the scale, should be thinking about how to be thoughtful and intentional about inclusion, and this book is an exciting place to start or continue that conversation.
February 25, 2020
This book explores whether gender identity, or sex identity as Heath Fogg Davis uses and argues for in the book (I did not see the argument until the conclusion, but I am pretty sure he must have stated before this in the book), should be included in various forms and organizations. He specifically looks at identity documents such as birth certificates and driver's licenses, bathrooms, single sex colleges (mainly women's), and sports. At the end of each section he gives concrete recommendations on how to make gender (sex) independent of the cases he explores.
He makes his case very well. I was hesitant in whether these ideas were good and how in the world he would suggest changing anything if it really needed to be changed. I am convinced of the correctness of what he argues about in these cases. And even lean toward the possibility that these things can become less gender oriented. I hold out a good deal of skepticism (cynicism) that these suggests will actually be enacted any time soon if at all. But, I believe they could work.
The suggestions in this book are not just good for transgender individuals, but all concerned, including cisman and ciswoman. I can therefore recommend this book for everyone, especially those with a stake in the issues, with the exceptions of bigots who would remain unconvinced in my opinion.
He makes his case very well. I was hesitant in whether these ideas were good and how in the world he would suggest changing anything if it really needed to be changed. I am convinced of the correctness of what he argues about in these cases. And even lean toward the possibility that these things can become less gender oriented. I hold out a good deal of skepticism (cynicism) that these suggests will actually be enacted any time soon if at all. But, I believe they could work.
The suggestions in this book are not just good for transgender individuals, but all concerned, including cisman and ciswoman. I can therefore recommend this book for everyone, especially those with a stake in the issues, with the exceptions of bigots who would remain unconvinced in my opinion.
September 8, 2022
In my journey of educating myself I really try to read diverse books by diverse authors. Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? seemed like the perfect book for me, as a cisperson, to learn more about gender expression.
This will be the perfect book to reference in discussions about gender, as it was so full of statistics and facts, however I unfortunately think that this is where the book didn't live up to my expectations. I wanted more heart. Heath Fogg Davis did a great job in hitting us with the answers to why inclusivity matters and what role our gender identity plays in our life, to me the writing just lacked personality. After a while, it was just question, answer, question, answer - and even if all these were interesting as well as important, it could have been written with more emotion.
Even if Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? didn't leave that big of an impression on me, I will still be recommending this, especially for those people that question transpeople.Fogg Davis has the answers, and very objective and research based ones for the most thickheaded people out there.
This will be the perfect book to reference in discussions about gender, as it was so full of statistics and facts, however I unfortunately think that this is where the book didn't live up to my expectations. I wanted more heart. Heath Fogg Davis did a great job in hitting us with the answers to why inclusivity matters and what role our gender identity plays in our life, to me the writing just lacked personality. After a while, it was just question, answer, question, answer - and even if all these were interesting as well as important, it could have been written with more emotion.
Even if Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? didn't leave that big of an impression on me, I will still be recommending this, especially for those people that question transpeople.Fogg Davis has the answers, and very objective and research based ones for the most thickheaded people out there.
December 31, 2017
This book is written by a trans man and activist. His argument is that we as a society do not need to and should not divide the world into the binary we know as gender. He tackles four topics: gender markers on documents, sex-segregated bathrooms, all male and all female colleges, and sex-segregated sports. He provides many examples and a number of interesting arguments for why such practices should be abolished. One highlight of the book is that he makes clear recommendations for how to end sex identity discrimination. However, I felt he often belabored his points and I found my self skipping pages which is never a good sign.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy.
September 8, 2020
Rating: 3.5 stars
A lot of interesting points that make you think about the questionable necessity of sex segregation in different fields such as bathrooms, education and sports.
The text is very academic, so take that into account when picking the book up. At times it is challenging to keep up with all the jargon and statistics.
Each chapter begins with a thesis statement for the chapter and ends in a summary, which can feel repetitive, especially if you are listening to the book on audio (which I was), but is pretty standard in academic writing.
I would recommend this.
A lot of interesting points that make you think about the questionable necessity of sex segregation in different fields such as bathrooms, education and sports.
The text is very academic, so take that into account when picking the book up. At times it is challenging to keep up with all the jargon and statistics.
Each chapter begins with a thesis statement for the chapter and ends in a summary, which can feel repetitive, especially if you are listening to the book on audio (which I was), but is pretty standard in academic writing.
I would recommend this.
Read
August 13, 2017(I want to write a proper review of this, maybe over the weekend IY"H? Several people asked me about this book)
September 29, 2022
4 stars for content, 3 stars for enjoyment. look, this book made POINTS. there is next to nothing* here that i disagree with. davis's overarching point is that the vast majority of sex categorizations (such as having to click M or F on college applications, or having sex markers on public transport passes) are completely unnecessary and lend themselves to acts of transphobia--rather than trying to make it easier for trans people to get their sex markers changed, we ought to try to take away sex markers altogether, except in situations where they are distinctly necessary (and of course, even in medical settings, "people with uteruses" or "people with high levels of testosterone" might be more relevant labels than a blanket "male" or "female," etc etc etc). i agree with this completely, and i think this book is full of excellent research on the topic, and generally i agree with everything davis is saying! that said, the writing itself tended to get repetitive; there were a few places where paragraphs seemed almost literally copy-pasted from other sections. + i think davis takes for granted that his audience is up-to-date on trans politics, and, like, yeah, i am, but i'm not sure how this book would hold up to people who aren't as far left as i am. there are also places (such as the issue of male versus female "socialization") where i wish issue discussion went deeper--again, davis seems to take his audience for granted.
that said, i'm still rating this four stars because... he said what he said and he was fucking correct. recommended if you're interested in the issue, as it's a great jumping-off point to research & discussion about this sort of thing!
*i'm not sure how i feel about the idea of turning womens'-only colleges to "historically womens' colleges"--i do think it's rational that women might want a space without their oppressors, but then, maybe a college shouldn't be that place, especially since transgender students (trans women especially) so often get the short end of the stick in application cases there. idk this is something to which i need to devote more thought
that said, i'm still rating this four stars because... he said what he said and he was fucking correct. recommended if you're interested in the issue, as it's a great jumping-off point to research & discussion about this sort of thing!
*i'm not sure how i feel about the idea of turning womens'-only colleges to "historically womens' colleges"--i do think it's rational that women might want a space without their oppressors, but then, maybe a college shouldn't be that place, especially since transgender students (trans women especially) so often get the short end of the stick in application cases there. idk this is something to which i need to devote more thought
June 1, 2017
This book was fantastic -- it's intersectional, radical, and incredibly thought-provoking. Fogg Davis doesn't just point out flaws and discriminatory practices when it comes to gender definitions/markers (whether talking about government-issued IDs or college admissions or sports team qualifications), he makes a case that removing bureaucratic administration of gender is the only way to achieve gender equality. Then, he actually presents tangible solutions and ways to do so, complete with resources for businesses, schools, non-profits, etc. Can't recommend this book highly enough.
June 4, 2017
It took me a week to read Beyond Trans because whenever I stole a few moments to read I would inevitably stumble over some fascinating viewpoint and message my feminist sounding board.
And really, I'm not sure if I can give this book higher praise. An easy to jump into case study on sex segregation, sex markers, sex identity and gender expression. I've considered ideas that I (as someone who identifies as a cisgendered woman) had never considered before. Not because they don't make sense, many of them do, but because I've never had to.
So while the ideas and conclusions may not always be ideal or easy to enact, while they won't work for everyone, they did get me thinking and talking. I'm motivated in ways I wish I had been in my youth and provided with examples of a way to go.
I've been giving a starting point...
You can also feel that Davis has faced at the hands of TERFs. The radical feminists who believe trans folks are either pandering to privilege or are not entitled to our spaces because they haven't suffered as AFAB folks have.
The book also highlights how important intersectionality is. That the people most frequently harmed by... everything, life, the whole shebang are not white folks or people who can pass as white, but POC.
Because of these two facts, it is my belief that Beyond Trans does something important to disassemble this harmful and terrifying mentality. It reminds us that unless your equality includes everyone, then it includes no one.
And really, I'm not sure if I can give this book higher praise. An easy to jump into case study on sex segregation, sex markers, sex identity and gender expression. I've considered ideas that I (as someone who identifies as a cisgendered woman) had never considered before. Not because they don't make sense, many of them do, but because I've never had to.
So while the ideas and conclusions may not always be ideal or easy to enact, while they won't work for everyone, they did get me thinking and talking. I'm motivated in ways I wish I had been in my youth and provided with examples of a way to go.
I've been giving a starting point...
You can also feel that Davis has faced at the hands of TERFs. The radical feminists who believe trans folks are either pandering to privilege or are not entitled to our spaces because they haven't suffered as AFAB folks have.
The book also highlights how important intersectionality is. That the people most frequently harmed by... everything, life, the whole shebang are not white folks or people who can pass as white, but POC.
Because of these two facts, it is my belief that Beyond Trans does something important to disassemble this harmful and terrifying mentality. It reminds us that unless your equality includes everyone, then it includes no one.
December 10, 2017
Beyond Trans by Heath Fogg Davis, a transgender man, pushes the 'gender question' to its very limits. Who decides whether we get labelled with an 'M' or 'F' on our birth certificates. And why is this not mutable, like other aspects of our characters our. Why someone else gets to label us as male or female - and the very key difference between sex and gender. Calling us to reclaim our identities, Davis explores these topics in detail throughout the book, starting with the very essence of what sex and gender actually mean, as opposed to what people think they mean (many people believe them to be one and the same).
There are four key case studies: sex-marked ID (birth certificates, passports, driving licenses); single-sex bathrooms; single-sex colleges; and sexually segregated sports. Through each, there are very personal case studies identifying trans people, gay people, and sometimes cis people who have fallen prey to the world's assumptions. Some are quite shocking to read; particularly the case of Charlene Arcila, an African American transgender woman living in Philadelphia. She was refused entry onto the bus because the bus driver simply did not believe that the sex marker on her identification matched what he was seeing. She purchased a female-marked pass and was similarly rejected: there was no way that she was going to be able to settle this without a battle in court. Davis deals with each case sensitively, not so that you feel sorry for the people, but that you feel righteous anger and indignation on their behalf. This, I think is much more valuable in moving times forwards.
There was a similarly humiliating case in the chapter on sex-segregated rest-rooms where Khadijah Farmer, her girlfriend and a friend decided to go for a meal in New York City after spending the day at the city's LGBT Pride celebration. Farmer, an African-American out-Lesbian, went to use the restroom where she was told that she was in the wrong place. After assuring the other woman that she was in the right restroom, she went into the stall to do her business, only to have a male bouncer enter the room having heard there was 'a man in the woman's restroom.' Farmer showed the bouncer her ID but (exact quotation), his reply was: 'Your ID is neither here nor there.' She was forced to leave the premises.
As well as these awful individual stories (also touching on the well-published female athlete Caster Semenya who became so used to being asked to 'prove' to her fellow racers that she was female, would willingly go into a restroom and show them; and the Williams sisters being described as 'apes' and 'man-like), Heath, offers clear thoughts on each of these problems. The chapters are structured to start with a case study, then some delving into history and legal things, as well as some philosophy, before offering a 'Conclusion' to each chapter, proffering some sort of solution. These solutions aren't perfect, as Davis recognises; in some ways they are more idealistic thinking that is unlikely to come to fruition. The idea of non sex-segragated sports, for example, I think will be incredibly contentious. And I'm not sure that Davis really offers a solution that will work for the majority of people. Although I recognise his points - woman with higher tester one levels can be banned from women's sports and occasionally allowed entry to men's sports, whereas men with low testosterone levels are not allowed to compete against women - this is something that I think people will fight about more than the others - even sex-segregated bathrooms. I don't know for certain, but it's a feeling I have.
As a book to read, it was interesting, but quite hard going. The heavy referencing was quite cumbersome at times, and although I was interested in what Davis had to say, I have read better books on the subject.
'Beyond Trans' is a good book - it gets people asking questions, it gets people thinking - but, ultimately, it wasn't brilliantly written, and I found it very slow. If you are interested in reading about transgender rights or LGBTQ ideas for a more inclusive future, I think there are other books that are more accessible. Still, Davis has produced an extremely well-researched book, and I give him all credit for that.
There are four key case studies: sex-marked ID (birth certificates, passports, driving licenses); single-sex bathrooms; single-sex colleges; and sexually segregated sports. Through each, there are very personal case studies identifying trans people, gay people, and sometimes cis people who have fallen prey to the world's assumptions. Some are quite shocking to read; particularly the case of Charlene Arcila, an African American transgender woman living in Philadelphia. She was refused entry onto the bus because the bus driver simply did not believe that the sex marker on her identification matched what he was seeing. She purchased a female-marked pass and was similarly rejected: there was no way that she was going to be able to settle this without a battle in court. Davis deals with each case sensitively, not so that you feel sorry for the people, but that you feel righteous anger and indignation on their behalf. This, I think is much more valuable in moving times forwards.
There was a similarly humiliating case in the chapter on sex-segregated rest-rooms where Khadijah Farmer, her girlfriend and a friend decided to go for a meal in New York City after spending the day at the city's LGBT Pride celebration. Farmer, an African-American out-Lesbian, went to use the restroom where she was told that she was in the wrong place. After assuring the other woman that she was in the right restroom, she went into the stall to do her business, only to have a male bouncer enter the room having heard there was 'a man in the woman's restroom.' Farmer showed the bouncer her ID but (exact quotation), his reply was: 'Your ID is neither here nor there.' She was forced to leave the premises.
As well as these awful individual stories (also touching on the well-published female athlete Caster Semenya who became so used to being asked to 'prove' to her fellow racers that she was female, would willingly go into a restroom and show them; and the Williams sisters being described as 'apes' and 'man-like), Heath, offers clear thoughts on each of these problems. The chapters are structured to start with a case study, then some delving into history and legal things, as well as some philosophy, before offering a 'Conclusion' to each chapter, proffering some sort of solution. These solutions aren't perfect, as Davis recognises; in some ways they are more idealistic thinking that is unlikely to come to fruition. The idea of non sex-segragated sports, for example, I think will be incredibly contentious. And I'm not sure that Davis really offers a solution that will work for the majority of people. Although I recognise his points - woman with higher tester one levels can be banned from women's sports and occasionally allowed entry to men's sports, whereas men with low testosterone levels are not allowed to compete against women - this is something that I think people will fight about more than the others - even sex-segregated bathrooms. I don't know for certain, but it's a feeling I have.
As a book to read, it was interesting, but quite hard going. The heavy referencing was quite cumbersome at times, and although I was interested in what Davis had to say, I have read better books on the subject.
'Beyond Trans' is a good book - it gets people asking questions, it gets people thinking - but, ultimately, it wasn't brilliantly written, and I found it very slow. If you are interested in reading about transgender rights or LGBTQ ideas for a more inclusive future, I think there are other books that are more accessible. Still, Davis has produced an extremely well-researched book, and I give him all credit for that.
June 25, 2017
Read my discussion of Davis's points here!
June 12, 2017
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This is an excellent and thought-provoking discussion about the failings of a binary system to meet the needs of transgender, intersex and non gender-conforming individuals. By examining the effects of mandating binary gender identification on documents like drivers licenses, bus passes, college applications, FAFSAs, or in places like restrooms, or in sports participation, people with complex gender identity are placed in difficult (if not impossible) and sometimes even dangerous situations.
From the absurd unfairness of sex-marked bus passes to the unfairly personal demands of birth sex-mandated bathrooms, from women's colleges to sex-segregated sports, Beyond Trans takes us on a journey that probably just scratches the surface of what any transgendered, or non-gender conforming person has to endure.
One example Fogg Davis presents for our consideration is that of Coy, a five year old transgender girl who would like to use a girls bathroom in her elementary school. Told she can't or to use a teacher's bathroom, her family sues and wins. Now let's fast forward to puberty. To forestall development of secondary sex characteristics until legal adulthood, Coy's parents may allow her pediatrician to prescribe hormone blockers. (This will allow her to decide at age 18 what she wants to do about surgery, hormonal treatments, etc.) Now fast forward to age 18. In addition to making all these important personal medical decisions, imagine Coy wants to apply to a historic women's college like Smith or Mt Holyoke. Coy has lived 13 of her 18 years, virtually all of her life she will clearly recollect, as a female. Will she be admitted? Some schools might still refuse her. Some institutions like Mt Holyoke have sought to embrace individuals "identifying as female," albeit with a long list of clarifiers. But is this enough? (Indeed, this particular case made me contemplate just how long we expect someone to be female to be female and how ridiculously unfair it is.)
Just the idea that often someone has to complete radical surgery to be able to get "certified" as a sex different from that on their original birth certificates gives me pause. Having known a transgender woman who chose not to complete full transition surgery because she just isn't sure she wants more surgery, I just can't accept how unfair the situation is. Do we really need to know if she's 100% female because she has no trace of male genitalia? SMH. The argument for biometric identification on drivers licenses, metro passes and other documents in lieu of sex markers sounds like a good one to me, even with its potential risks. But, based on dinner table debates of the entire topic, many sadly have a long way to go before relinquishing their binary world view.
This is a slender volume of 192 pages of which only about 52% is discussion. An appendix offers a thorough Gender Audit for institutions. I happily bought a copy of the book to be able to share it.
This is an excellent and thought-provoking discussion about the failings of a binary system to meet the needs of transgender, intersex and non gender-conforming individuals. By examining the effects of mandating binary gender identification on documents like drivers licenses, bus passes, college applications, FAFSAs, or in places like restrooms, or in sports participation, people with complex gender identity are placed in difficult (if not impossible) and sometimes even dangerous situations.
From the absurd unfairness of sex-marked bus passes to the unfairly personal demands of birth sex-mandated bathrooms, from women's colleges to sex-segregated sports, Beyond Trans takes us on a journey that probably just scratches the surface of what any transgendered, or non-gender conforming person has to endure.
One example Fogg Davis presents for our consideration is that of Coy, a five year old transgender girl who would like to use a girls bathroom in her elementary school. Told she can't or to use a teacher's bathroom, her family sues and wins. Now let's fast forward to puberty. To forestall development of secondary sex characteristics until legal adulthood, Coy's parents may allow her pediatrician to prescribe hormone blockers. (This will allow her to decide at age 18 what she wants to do about surgery, hormonal treatments, etc.) Now fast forward to age 18. In addition to making all these important personal medical decisions, imagine Coy wants to apply to a historic women's college like Smith or Mt Holyoke. Coy has lived 13 of her 18 years, virtually all of her life she will clearly recollect, as a female. Will she be admitted? Some schools might still refuse her. Some institutions like Mt Holyoke have sought to embrace individuals "identifying as female," albeit with a long list of clarifiers. But is this enough? (Indeed, this particular case made me contemplate just how long we expect someone to be female to be female and how ridiculously unfair it is.)
Just the idea that often someone has to complete radical surgery to be able to get "certified" as a sex different from that on their original birth certificates gives me pause. Having known a transgender woman who chose not to complete full transition surgery because she just isn't sure she wants more surgery, I just can't accept how unfair the situation is. Do we really need to know if she's 100% female because she has no trace of male genitalia? SMH. The argument for biometric identification on drivers licenses, metro passes and other documents in lieu of sex markers sounds like a good one to me, even with its potential risks. But, based on dinner table debates of the entire topic, many sadly have a long way to go before relinquishing their binary world view.
This is a slender volume of 192 pages of which only about 52% is discussion. An appendix offers a thorough Gender Audit for institutions. I happily bought a copy of the book to be able to share it.
November 22, 2017
Check out my book blog for more book reviews and other bookish posts!
I received an ARC of Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? from NetGalley. I requested this non-fiction book, as I wanted to find out how Davis would discuss the four different issues and which solutions he would suggest.
This book is #ownvoices for transgender representation.
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I started this book expecting to be angry at the end of it, especially after reading the first chapter, which is very direct and full of shock value. I thought this was an interesting stylistic method, especially since it will grab the attention of many different people, including those who think that sexism isn’t a real issue in the world.
The book introduced me to a lot of different ideas and solutions, as well as explained quite well the shortcomings of the present situations. Even though the book’s research is based on the US, I thought that a lot of it was applicable to Germany and the UK.
The book also discusses sexism through an intersectional lens, thus explaining how sexism affects marginalised people differently.
The writing is very academic most of the time, which made this book a very slow read for me. I just couldn’t get into it at the beginning and I felt that at some times the arguments kept being repeated. It took me several weeks to finish reading it, as I had several breaks in between reading it.
One part I disagreed with is the statement that it is impossible to use a third person singular non-gendered pronoun due to English grammar rules, which is untrue. “They” is an option that is often used, and there are also several other neopronouns that could be used.
__
This book has taught me to start to look for the why, as in “why is it necessary to have sex classification in this situation”. The case studies are well-researched and well-explained, even though they are a bit too academic for leisure reading.
If you’re looking for an interesting non-fiction book that analyses the current conversation about gender identity, this is a good book to choose.
I received an ARC of Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? from NetGalley. I requested this non-fiction book, as I wanted to find out how Davis would discuss the four different issues and which solutions he would suggest.
This book is #ownvoices for transgender representation.
__
I started this book expecting to be angry at the end of it, especially after reading the first chapter, which is very direct and full of shock value. I thought this was an interesting stylistic method, especially since it will grab the attention of many different people, including those who think that sexism isn’t a real issue in the world.
The book introduced me to a lot of different ideas and solutions, as well as explained quite well the shortcomings of the present situations. Even though the book’s research is based on the US, I thought that a lot of it was applicable to Germany and the UK.
The book also discusses sexism through an intersectional lens, thus explaining how sexism affects marginalised people differently.
The writing is very academic most of the time, which made this book a very slow read for me. I just couldn’t get into it at the beginning and I felt that at some times the arguments kept being repeated. It took me several weeks to finish reading it, as I had several breaks in between reading it.
One part I disagreed with is the statement that it is impossible to use a third person singular non-gendered pronoun due to English grammar rules, which is untrue. “They” is an option that is often used, and there are also several other neopronouns that could be used.
__
This book has taught me to start to look for the why, as in “why is it necessary to have sex classification in this situation”. The case studies are well-researched and well-explained, even though they are a bit too academic for leisure reading.
If you’re looking for an interesting non-fiction book that analyses the current conversation about gender identity, this is a good book to choose.
June 27, 2017
This short text is packed full of information. Davis writes with a clear and accessible voice. Even those unfamiliar with trans issues, like myself, will find his explanations and solutions understandable and practical.
Davis highlights the areas in which first- and second-wave feminism failed us as a society and offers the third-wave hope for change. He presents very thoughtful arguments against sex-segregation and sex-classification that made me think about our gendered social order in an entirely new way.
As a cis person, I'm insanely advantaged and lots of these problems are things I'm ashamed to admit I had never even considered. I've never been questioned in public bathrooms or confronted in public spaces about my right to exist there. I really appreciated Davis' critiques on both masculinity and femininity and how they contribute to transphobia as a collective system.
Gender does matter, individually and culturally. It just shouldn't matter so much. Sex-classification for the purposes administration proposes are often ill-advised and unnecessary. Policing gender markers is so damaging and cruel. Why can't people be themselves without fear of literal violence against them for being "different"?
I think this is an extremely important topic and I'm so glad I read this book. I highly recommend you do, too!
I was given a free ebook copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Davis highlights the areas in which first- and second-wave feminism failed us as a society and offers the third-wave hope for change. He presents very thoughtful arguments against sex-segregation and sex-classification that made me think about our gendered social order in an entirely new way.
As a cis person, I'm insanely advantaged and lots of these problems are things I'm ashamed to admit I had never even considered. I've never been questioned in public bathrooms or confronted in public spaces about my right to exist there. I really appreciated Davis' critiques on both masculinity and femininity and how they contribute to transphobia as a collective system.
Gender does matter, individually and culturally. It just shouldn't matter so much. Sex-classification for the purposes administration proposes are often ill-advised and unnecessary. Policing gender markers is so damaging and cruel. Why can't people be themselves without fear of literal violence against them for being "different"?
I think this is an extremely important topic and I'm so glad I read this book. I highly recommend you do, too!
I was given a free ebook copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 5, 2022
Providing an important, insightful, and very academic view into gender and sex identity, I closing all the ways it’s used in everything from birth certificates to public bathroom laws, and education opportunities, this was a fascinating read that isn’t afraid to ask tough questions. In fact, it relentlessly questions and picks at so many aspects of how society tries to make sex and gender identification institutional and mandatory, often without a just reason or cause for it.
Highlighting the ways equating and interchanging gender and sex can harm individuals and groups, and also tough questions about female colleges, feminist legacies, and public health and demographic information and tracking, few straightforward or easy answers are offered, and for good reason. The onus is on institutions to think through what their goals with these questions and information are, and how to execute on those goals appropriately.
Highlighting key laws, political trends, and evolving circumstances, this should be required reading in school across the country. The academic style and tone does make this perhaps not the more entertaining of reads, but nonetheless it’s well laid out, thought out, and executed to communicate issues affecting a critical point in time where we as a collective can choose to be better, more impactful, and better informed that it’s not really about ‘what’ we are — a man or woman as perceived and validated by others, but ‘WHO’ we want to be and identify as — as a personal and distinct decision, understanding it may change over time.
Highlighting the ways equating and interchanging gender and sex can harm individuals and groups, and also tough questions about female colleges, feminist legacies, and public health and demographic information and tracking, few straightforward or easy answers are offered, and for good reason. The onus is on institutions to think through what their goals with these questions and information are, and how to execute on those goals appropriately.
Highlighting key laws, political trends, and evolving circumstances, this should be required reading in school across the country. The academic style and tone does make this perhaps not the more entertaining of reads, but nonetheless it’s well laid out, thought out, and executed to communicate issues affecting a critical point in time where we as a collective can choose to be better, more impactful, and better informed that it’s not really about ‘what’ we are — a man or woman as perceived and validated by others, but ‘WHO’ we want to be and identify as — as a personal and distinct decision, understanding it may change over time.
November 27, 2017
This book raised a lot of interesting questions regarding the usefulness of sex-based classification in various arenas: administrative and government documents, public bathrooms, education, and sports. What I appreciated most greatly from this book was a nuanced exploration of the ways that discrimination can be based on either sex-identity or gender-identity. I am accustomed to thinking in terms of gender identity and expression and the ways discrimination arises based on that. Where this book differs is in its emphasis on sex-identity (namely, one's experienced or presumed/perceived 'biological' sex) as something separate from gender identity (which is also discussed). I would highly recommend this book for that fact alone. Additionally, the book was not only well-researched, but readable (unlike many genders studies works I've read). For especially anyone interested in challenging their own understanding if the role of sex in education, administration, and the impact of more about the impact of sex-identity discrimination against trans*, non-binary, and/or gender non-conforming people, it's a great and informative read.
August 29, 2017
Davis writes a strong argument for why the removal of gender markers in society will lead to more efficiency and less discrimination. This is a solid look into the world of gender and sex. While the language gets a little academic one can easily follow the point Davis is trying to make. Some of the examples are sad and heart breaking, one can not deny Davis puts forward a strong argument.
November 14, 2017
I learned a fair amount from this. More or less, accessible academic writing on gender, with a focus on arbitrary gender division in low-stakes sports, single stall restrooms, and government ID cards / doing away with statistical categories where there is no real reason for this type of data collection.
October 16, 2022
written before the current backlash against trans people the book argues that gender categories on legal documents and in many walks of life are discriminatory to trans, intersex, and non-gender conforming people. It was something to look at in 2o15 when trans became a news item now we are treading water as a political football in a right-wing culture war. Something for better times.
December 11, 2018
Very informative, especially about sex segregated sports and athletic competitions. Definitely gave me a different perspective on sex segregation in general.
Read
May 4, 2019Very interesting, especially the section on sports - since that is the area I have a lot of amateur/competitive/recreational experience. Interesting to think about what an coed structure might look like at different school levels and rec leagues v professional/elite levels. Also, poor Caster Semenya, I hope she gets justice.
January 4, 2021
As a cis woman, this book really opened my eyes to all the ways sex identifiers discriminate against, and limit the services and opportunities available to, trans folx.
July 7, 2022
This reads a bit dry and somewhat repetitive, but makes an excellent case for why we should restructure the way we as a society use and should not use gender, or assigned sex at birth as a marker.
I recommend it. It’s food for thought, and a case for change - not a fun beach read.
I recommend it. It’s food for thought, and a case for change - not a fun beach read.
July 1, 2021
as a no-op trans person who was able to get their gender marker changed due to a change to ACT standards combined with my various medical conditions... this book's point gives me complicated feelings. Like, states that refuse to correct gender markers... yeah, getting rid of gender markers is a bit of a necessary thing, but i have found that my gender marker being corrected has legitimized my social transition in like various office settings. it would be much better for forms to like explicitly say why they're collecting gender marker information because there are so many different facets...
however, a lot of forms are cissexist & cisbinary even when they include trans people. like i literally had a form ask me if i was female, transsexual, Or nonbinary. like, obviously whoever made that form did not understand trans people... on top of that, the extra work is about the complications of disability politics & balancing out the various needs.
that being said, i think a thing to be said about the segregation is that it's a form of separatism, a truce. we will have to deal with patriarchal assholes when we have a gender-neutralized facility. like that's why the "men" are the default in this, similar to how cisgender "western" white males are the default in medicine, partly due to a mixture of pericisheteropatriarchy's subjugation of other genders, sexes & gender systems, but also because of white nationalism.
like the chapter about sports, ...he brings up several times how it's functionally inspiration porn, how it definitely racializes at least black athletes as having to over come odds, and it's like yeah, racist spectacle is part of the ethos of sports. there's a reason why the focus on the white quarterback when most the team is black or of some other color, (although the authoritarian fever dream that is great man theory is a bit of a thing)... point being, this is very much involved in the movie that haunts my grade school youth "remember the titans". it was such a patriarchal movie, yet it was claimed to be an example of anti-racism & anti-segregation, even though women & queer people were segregated from that status... like, sons of bitches, the white nationalism involved in the spectacle of sports is probably why we have those gender segregations, because challenging the patriarchy in those places would be a lot more on the damn carotid artery. basically, the struggles we saw with white separatism in the 1970s such as the ones joe biden & donald trump & reagan & nixon, etc, were on board with is the essence of the patriarchal gender segregation.
point being, i see this sort of legal maneuver as promoting consumerism, because even though it gets rid of the gender marker & potentially the gender segregation, which disable trans & gender non-conforming people (that is abolishing the gender marker), i don't think we can expect gender segregation to go away just because it is de jure gone. we will still have to deal with the de facto bullshit we saw happen to people of color during integration. this book doesn't address that at all. like integration has largely failed so far, like we are still highly segregated as we were when these laws banning race discrimination came down.
like he literally mentions how a trans colleague was getting sexually harassed on the bus, and he didn't do anything to help her, even though he regrets it. he acknowledges how he was able to retreat into his privilege. now to be fair, a cis person should've also been stepping forward to help, and the people on the bus shouldn't have been sexually harassing a black trans woman via their transphobia & queerphobia & anti-blackness. so that's this dude's weak point, he's all able & willing to fight the de jure battle & be trying to deal with the institutional level discrimination & bigotry & such, but he didn't step up with anything to fight with in the de facto arena of social justice. we're left hanging to dry, hoping that the policy changes will change bigotry, which to be fair to him, abolishing gender markers & gender segregation is indeed a material change & the mind can only handle what the ass can stand. but we are still dealing with disenfranchised genders, gender categories, sexes, sex categories, racism & racialization of all of these... this shit ain't gonna work. it was called white plight & bombings...
the good news is we ended the draft by fragging our officers, and while gender separatism has had more viability than racial separatism (as crip4crip & care networks can help clarify), the fact that the genders are relatively already integrated to the point that we can frag the patriarchs viably, it's a thing. 2 things i want to say about fragging patriarchs: look up the abuse-to-prison pipeline, and look up how feminist murder ballads in country music took a sharp decline on country radio after keith hill declared in 2015, women to be "tomatos in the salad" of country music after obama's election in 2008 & 2012. Like let's be clear again, feminist murder ballads on country decreased after obama's election.
another thing to note about viability of gender separatism is that it is becoming increasingly illegible, especially when there are people who cannot abide by the separatist cispatriarchal treaty. so this author is right about that. and further the separatism based on my discussions with an elder lesbian is that they took their cues from HBCUs & business associations/alliances based on race & or ethnicity. The political lesbians ("radical feminism" as used by transphobes is an update of "radical lesbianism") were trying to build their own economy, but what ended up happening is they didn't have much money at all, and enough of them got usurped by capitalists (such as under white feminism to say the least).
i copied this from the english wikipedia article on "Women's liberation movement". i know it's not an academic source, but wikipedia is like consensus (however loaded that is due to who has the time & resources to participate & cite stuff for consensus), you can check the edit historym and you're supposed to look at the recommended reading anyways. now that i have that media literacy disclaimer out of the way, the quote:
- the notes are cited to be from: Willis, Ellen (Spring–Summer 1984). "Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism". The 60's Without Apology (9–10): 91–118. doi:10.2307/466537. ISSN 0164-2472. JSTOR 466537.
- note 209 from page 107
- note 210 from page 110
so again, what we're dealing with is the general anti-segregationist fight, like we see with race & disability. however, for the de facto praxis, we're going to need a lot more insight into disability politics, removed from the recuperation of transphobic fascist who try to sanitize both feminism & disability politics with "terf" & medical-reductionism of feminism. I have seen 2 books so far that look awesome in this regard to the disability politics we're going to need to perform in the de facto fight of desegregation:
- "The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition" by Sonya Renee Taylor
- "Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice" by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
There are other books on racial segregation, disability politics, etc, that will be important.
Basically a problem institutions & groups will have to grapple with is how to classify what susan stryker calls "morphology" in chapter 1 of her 2017 edition of "transgender history". basically there's a big discussion of whether "morphology" counts as gender or as sex.
the author takes the view that it's sex, which to be clear i do agree to at least some of the cases he says he prefers it in throughout the book "beyond trans: does gender matter". as a trans person who was taught feminism when i was 2 as the body parts being separate from the stereotypes, i figured out i was trans when i was only 2 years old. so again, i'm not represenative of the trans community. in my case the blessing i had of knowing when i was young, got squandered by a cissexist & transphobic institution & culture among the students, staff, medical staff, and my own family & friends. so i have a transnormative way of seeing the world as i knew at least i existed & that feminism upholds the existence of gender identity. the problem is the stereotypes are related to scams, especially of bourgeois dictatorship social reproduction. scams are related to power, not facts. the legitimacy of the state behind my legal transition, and my ability to sue is at least half the part that makes a gender marker part of the legitimization of my social transition while respecting my bodily autonomy to be no-op, or any status. like part of my reason against the commodification of transition is not only are trans people a captive market, but cis people such as athletes engage in these medical procedures & HRTs all the time, especially these days.
the author's tracing the history of why we have gender markers on our drivers licenses, to how marriage & viability for heterosexual marriage under a bourgeois dictatorship, pushed the obligation for permanence by lawmakers & record keepers. like drivers licenses were made before even cis women had legal rights at all. like as a woman, i couldn't have a bank account, credit, i basically would require marriage for similar reasons immigrants require greencard marriages. so that was probably my favorite part of the book. i want to quickly mention the glass ceiling will be in place for as long as we are under capitalism, because women started getting hired de facto because of that very paygap. to be fair, this is rather white centric since black women & other women of color were always expected to work. on top of that, in different sectors of the economy, women were workers too, like homemaking can be a very severe job that gets unpaid in the bourgeois patriarchial dictatorship (the racism should be implied with bourgeois because capitalism has required hierarchal racism in order to survive & thrive at our destruction).
so it's radical, but not enough.
however, a lot of forms are cissexist & cisbinary even when they include trans people. like i literally had a form ask me if i was female, transsexual, Or nonbinary. like, obviously whoever made that form did not understand trans people... on top of that, the extra work is about the complications of disability politics & balancing out the various needs.
that being said, i think a thing to be said about the segregation is that it's a form of separatism, a truce. we will have to deal with patriarchal assholes when we have a gender-neutralized facility. like that's why the "men" are the default in this, similar to how cisgender "western" white males are the default in medicine, partly due to a mixture of pericisheteropatriarchy's subjugation of other genders, sexes & gender systems, but also because of white nationalism.
like the chapter about sports, ...he brings up several times how it's functionally inspiration porn, how it definitely racializes at least black athletes as having to over come odds, and it's like yeah, racist spectacle is part of the ethos of sports. there's a reason why the focus on the white quarterback when most the team is black or of some other color, (although the authoritarian fever dream that is great man theory is a bit of a thing)... point being, this is very much involved in the movie that haunts my grade school youth "remember the titans". it was such a patriarchal movie, yet it was claimed to be an example of anti-racism & anti-segregation, even though women & queer people were segregated from that status... like, sons of bitches, the white nationalism involved in the spectacle of sports is probably why we have those gender segregations, because challenging the patriarchy in those places would be a lot more on the damn carotid artery. basically, the struggles we saw with white separatism in the 1970s such as the ones joe biden & donald trump & reagan & nixon, etc, were on board with is the essence of the patriarchal gender segregation.
point being, i see this sort of legal maneuver as promoting consumerism, because even though it gets rid of the gender marker & potentially the gender segregation, which disable trans & gender non-conforming people (that is abolishing the gender marker), i don't think we can expect gender segregation to go away just because it is de jure gone. we will still have to deal with the de facto bullshit we saw happen to people of color during integration. this book doesn't address that at all. like integration has largely failed so far, like we are still highly segregated as we were when these laws banning race discrimination came down.
like he literally mentions how a trans colleague was getting sexually harassed on the bus, and he didn't do anything to help her, even though he regrets it. he acknowledges how he was able to retreat into his privilege. now to be fair, a cis person should've also been stepping forward to help, and the people on the bus shouldn't have been sexually harassing a black trans woman via their transphobia & queerphobia & anti-blackness. so that's this dude's weak point, he's all able & willing to fight the de jure battle & be trying to deal with the institutional level discrimination & bigotry & such, but he didn't step up with anything to fight with in the de facto arena of social justice. we're left hanging to dry, hoping that the policy changes will change bigotry, which to be fair to him, abolishing gender markers & gender segregation is indeed a material change & the mind can only handle what the ass can stand. but we are still dealing with disenfranchised genders, gender categories, sexes, sex categories, racism & racialization of all of these... this shit ain't gonna work. it was called white plight & bombings...
the good news is we ended the draft by fragging our officers, and while gender separatism has had more viability than racial separatism (as crip4crip & care networks can help clarify), the fact that the genders are relatively already integrated to the point that we can frag the patriarchs viably, it's a thing. 2 things i want to say about fragging patriarchs: look up the abuse-to-prison pipeline, and look up how feminist murder ballads in country music took a sharp decline on country radio after keith hill declared in 2015, women to be "tomatos in the salad" of country music after obama's election in 2008 & 2012. Like let's be clear again, feminist murder ballads on country decreased after obama's election.
another thing to note about viability of gender separatism is that it is becoming increasingly illegible, especially when there are people who cannot abide by the separatist cispatriarchal treaty. so this author is right about that. and further the separatism based on my discussions with an elder lesbian is that they took their cues from HBCUs & business associations/alliances based on race & or ethnicity. The political lesbians ("radical feminism" as used by transphobes is an update of "radical lesbianism") were trying to build their own economy, but what ended up happening is they didn't have much money at all, and enough of them got usurped by capitalists (such as under white feminism to say the least).
i copied this from the english wikipedia article on "Women's liberation movement". i know it's not an academic source, but wikipedia is like consensus (however loaded that is due to who has the time & resources to participate & cite stuff for consensus), you can check the edit historym and you're supposed to look at the recommended reading anyways. now that i have that media literacy disclaimer out of the way, the quote:
While many women gained an awareness of how sexism permeated their lives, they did not become radicalized and were uninterested in overthrowing society. They made changes in their lives to address their individual needs and social arrangements, but were unwilling to take action on issues that might threaten their socio-economic status.[209] Liberationist theory also failed to recognize a fundamental difference in fighting oppression. Combating sexism had an internal component, whereby one could change the basic power structures within family units and personal spheres to eliminate the inequality. Class struggle and the fight against racism are solely external challenges, requiring public action to eradicate inequality.[210]
- the notes are cited to be from: Willis, Ellen (Spring–Summer 1984). "Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism". The 60's Without Apology (9–10): 91–118. doi:10.2307/466537. ISSN 0164-2472. JSTOR 466537.
- note 209 from page 107
- note 210 from page 110
so again, what we're dealing with is the general anti-segregationist fight, like we see with race & disability. however, for the de facto praxis, we're going to need a lot more insight into disability politics, removed from the recuperation of transphobic fascist who try to sanitize both feminism & disability politics with "terf" & medical-reductionism of feminism. I have seen 2 books so far that look awesome in this regard to the disability politics we're going to need to perform in the de facto fight of desegregation:
- "The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition" by Sonya Renee Taylor
- "Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice" by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
There are other books on racial segregation, disability politics, etc, that will be important.
Basically a problem institutions & groups will have to grapple with is how to classify what susan stryker calls "morphology" in chapter 1 of her 2017 edition of "transgender history". basically there's a big discussion of whether "morphology" counts as gender or as sex.
the author takes the view that it's sex, which to be clear i do agree to at least some of the cases he says he prefers it in throughout the book "beyond trans: does gender matter". as a trans person who was taught feminism when i was 2 as the body parts being separate from the stereotypes, i figured out i was trans when i was only 2 years old. so again, i'm not represenative of the trans community. in my case the blessing i had of knowing when i was young, got squandered by a cissexist & transphobic institution & culture among the students, staff, medical staff, and my own family & friends. so i have a transnormative way of seeing the world as i knew at least i existed & that feminism upholds the existence of gender identity. the problem is the stereotypes are related to scams, especially of bourgeois dictatorship social reproduction. scams are related to power, not facts. the legitimacy of the state behind my legal transition, and my ability to sue is at least half the part that makes a gender marker part of the legitimization of my social transition while respecting my bodily autonomy to be no-op, or any status. like part of my reason against the commodification of transition is not only are trans people a captive market, but cis people such as athletes engage in these medical procedures & HRTs all the time, especially these days.
the author's tracing the history of why we have gender markers on our drivers licenses, to how marriage & viability for heterosexual marriage under a bourgeois dictatorship, pushed the obligation for permanence by lawmakers & record keepers. like drivers licenses were made before even cis women had legal rights at all. like as a woman, i couldn't have a bank account, credit, i basically would require marriage for similar reasons immigrants require greencard marriages. so that was probably my favorite part of the book. i want to quickly mention the glass ceiling will be in place for as long as we are under capitalism, because women started getting hired de facto because of that very paygap. to be fair, this is rather white centric since black women & other women of color were always expected to work. on top of that, in different sectors of the economy, women were workers too, like homemaking can be a very severe job that gets unpaid in the bourgeois patriarchial dictatorship (the racism should be implied with bourgeois because capitalism has required hierarchal racism in order to survive & thrive at our destruction).
so it's radical, but not enough.
January 13, 2019
This book is especially useful for cisgender people (that is, people whose gender matches the designation on their original birth certificate.). It's especially useful as a compendium of a lot of conversations happening in feminist/trans spheres over the last ~4-5 years.
Trans friends: you probably know everything in this book already, but it might be helpful if you would like assistance with knowing how to talk to the cis powers that about systemic issues regarding gender.
The book also includes helpful concrete advice on how to make trans and gender nonconforming people more comfortable in one's organization. Most of the advice boils down to: do you really need a M/F tick box in your forms? Do you really need to separate people based on their genitals? Even if you think you might, could you achieve your aims through other means that don't involve forcing people to choose one category or another? Davis examines this question through the lens of 4 test cases: legal ID, restrooms, women's colleges, and athletics of all levels.
The brunt of his argument is that if you require people to be divided into two separate groups and be labeled as such, people will fail to clearly fall into one of those categories, both cis and trans people, and the result is that it makes people vulnerable to being interrogated about their identities in embarrassing and traumatic ways. The most egregious example Davis cites is SEPTA's former policy of requiring M or F stickers on all monthly passes, ostensibly for the purpose of ensuring that a man and a woman in a relationship are not sharing a single pass. Instead of solving the issue, the policy makes ticket sellers and bus drivers into arbiters of whether the person presenting the pass is "really" a man or a woman. The policy opened people, both trans and cis, to harassment and the unfair enforcement of a policy counter to why the policy was created.
I found Davis' writing to be very clear and very careful, especially on issues regarding sex vs. gender. The book is short and to the point with only a bit of repetition.
Trans friends: you probably know everything in this book already, but it might be helpful if you would like assistance with knowing how to talk to the cis powers that about systemic issues regarding gender.
The book also includes helpful concrete advice on how to make trans and gender nonconforming people more comfortable in one's organization. Most of the advice boils down to: do you really need a M/F tick box in your forms? Do you really need to separate people based on their genitals? Even if you think you might, could you achieve your aims through other means that don't involve forcing people to choose one category or another? Davis examines this question through the lens of 4 test cases: legal ID, restrooms, women's colleges, and athletics of all levels.
The brunt of his argument is that if you require people to be divided into two separate groups and be labeled as such, people will fail to clearly fall into one of those categories, both cis and trans people, and the result is that it makes people vulnerable to being interrogated about their identities in embarrassing and traumatic ways. The most egregious example Davis cites is SEPTA's former policy of requiring M or F stickers on all monthly passes, ostensibly for the purpose of ensuring that a man and a woman in a relationship are not sharing a single pass. Instead of solving the issue, the policy makes ticket sellers and bus drivers into arbiters of whether the person presenting the pass is "really" a man or a woman. The policy opened people, both trans and cis, to harassment and the unfair enforcement of a policy counter to why the policy was created.
I found Davis' writing to be very clear and very careful, especially on issues regarding sex vs. gender. The book is short and to the point with only a bit of repetition.
February 28, 2020
Now I know why feminists and trans women are not natural allies. This being said with a grain of salt because this is written by a man and may have gone over better without all the mansplaining.
All the information and perspective are very welcome and important. Knowing about septa bus passes, the scope of gender policing in sports, and other day to day difficulties is very helpful. What wasn’t welcome were the solutions which, I feel, will reverse rights women have fought hard for and put women in danger. As a trans man, Heath should not be speaking on the subjects that will primarily alter life for women. Example: Heath posits that having a gender neutral bathroom alongside gendered bathrooms is not enough. He wants all bathrooms to be gender free, to have floor length doors, and be group not individual. I do not believe that trans women are in anyway a danger to women, I do believe that men are, and I believe that all women (not just cis women) would suffer more assault in this kind of set up. According to Heath, women have won the fight and are now equal. He has forgotten why we established separate women’s leagues, why women needs their own spaces, why floor length doors could be dangerous to women. He thinks that we have reached gender equality and now we should have no gender or sex separation at all. He makes clear points against his own statements many times though. Why do women have separate leagues in basketball? Because the sport was designed for exceptional men, not to challenge both sexes. Women have also fought for bathrooms in boys clubs like congress and now he says that we’ve made it and we should do away with these. This is beneficial to men, not women (trans women ARE women). I dare say that integration will hurt trans women and non binary and androgynous the most with the exception perhaps of elite sporting events. Men are the issue for us all. Heath is speaking from a place of privilege and trying to align himself with a vulnerable population though he admittedly has always passed.
I’d like to hear this from a woman’s perspective. I guess for me, gender does matter.
All the information and perspective are very welcome and important. Knowing about septa bus passes, the scope of gender policing in sports, and other day to day difficulties is very helpful. What wasn’t welcome were the solutions which, I feel, will reverse rights women have fought hard for and put women in danger. As a trans man, Heath should not be speaking on the subjects that will primarily alter life for women. Example: Heath posits that having a gender neutral bathroom alongside gendered bathrooms is not enough. He wants all bathrooms to be gender free, to have floor length doors, and be group not individual. I do not believe that trans women are in anyway a danger to women, I do believe that men are, and I believe that all women (not just cis women) would suffer more assault in this kind of set up. According to Heath, women have won the fight and are now equal. He has forgotten why we established separate women’s leagues, why women needs their own spaces, why floor length doors could be dangerous to women. He thinks that we have reached gender equality and now we should have no gender or sex separation at all. He makes clear points against his own statements many times though. Why do women have separate leagues in basketball? Because the sport was designed for exceptional men, not to challenge both sexes. Women have also fought for bathrooms in boys clubs like congress and now he says that we’ve made it and we should do away with these. This is beneficial to men, not women (trans women ARE women). I dare say that integration will hurt trans women and non binary and androgynous the most with the exception perhaps of elite sporting events. Men are the issue for us all. Heath is speaking from a place of privilege and trying to align himself with a vulnerable population though he admittedly has always passed.
I’d like to hear this from a woman’s perspective. I guess for me, gender does matter.
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