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No Man of Woman Born
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I finished Black Tides of Heaven a few days ago. I loved that the author Jy Yang purposed this concept for their world:Children were given the pronoun of they/their until they reached a majority. Some can determine and insist upon a specific pronoun earlier, but most wait until they reach 16 or older. It was mentioned, but it seemed like there were specific colors/wardrobe for specific genders or maybe craftsman, but children under their majority all wore the same gear and all had their had shaved short.
This was beautifully portrayed and gave rise to how much sexism is involved in our world. A child was describing their art and talent for architecture and there was no concern over their gender, only over the child's future potential. The world building continues with the protagonists as they age; the decision to confirm to an identity. their evolving sexuality etc. There is mention of a surgery to make the choice stick (and also to give you hair extensions/ beards) which was interesting.
It wasn't super clear if this practice was something only for the upper echelons of the society or for the population in general, but maybe something that becomes clear in later installments.
World Building: Amazing...
Story: Very quick. I read that this was something of a prologue or introduction novella. Apparently the real story takes off in Book 3 of the series
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Children were given the pronoun of they/their until they reached a majority...."
Sounds interesting, especially in connection with socialization, gender norms, but also bodily integrity and stuff...
Young people in identical clothing with their heads shaved? Expressing your individuality is an important part of growing up; any young person who is deprived of that opportunity is horribly oppressed, in my opinion.
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Expressing your individuality is an important part of growing up; any young person who is deprived of that opportunity is horribly oppr..."
A lot of societies used to give children specfic clothing to mark them as children, yeah, the head-shaving is a bit extreme.
What I find much more extreme is the decision they have to make about choosing an identity (and surgery) with which they have to stick.
Keep in mind that the author for these tales identifies as queer and non-binary, themselves. This was their vision for their story. But I highly recommend you reading it! Maybe I read too much or too little into it? Also individualism is a very Western ideal. In the East, specifically in China, it's not a major priority. Perhaps Yang was playing with the concept in their story?
The best book I've ever read and definitely deals with the theme of marginalization.Time of the Unicorn
James wrote: "The best book I've ever read and definitely deals with the theme of marginalization.Time of the Unicorn"
Interesting James.
Does Time of the Unicorn have trans men or trans women characters? This specific thread was created as a way of reading more stories regarding these individuals.
Some more books with trans characters. Fair warning: I have not read any of these, but they were found on Goodreads's Listopia. (You can find Listopia under the Browse Tab under "Lists" if you are on the website. No clue how to find it on the phone app)Interesting note: Listopia functions off of Goodread's shelves or how users group their books by theme or material. There are not many shelves for books with trans characters. Many of them are listed under LGBT or the various variations of the pride community. So it is very possible given my limited search that there are many, many more books out there.
Just as it's a sure item that if we want to bring representation to this group we should also begin to add No Man of Woman Born or others to a specific LGBT - trans character / Trans gender shelf as it may help others find these specific character's stories.
Showers, Flowers, and Fangs
The Shape of My Name
Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir
Mod
I never really searched with Listopia yet. Interesting how that curates the lists.
And thank you for doing all the work and looking for them:)
Not a book, But I have to rave about this character in a video game. Cremisius Aclassi, aka Krem, a Lieutenant in a mercenary band who has a sharp wit and a keen eye for helping.
So full disclosure, I love Bioware's Dragon Age games. The have a full and beautiful awareness that good story telling makes for lasting games. The story arcs, the lore, and more importantly... the characters. They take time to pull threads from classic fantasy archetypes without making them cliches, transporting an idea into a well rounded and beloved personality.
Krem is a secondary character whose role revolves around him supporting another NPC, but as Patrick Weeks, writer on Dragon Age Inquisition explains, a lot of thought and detail went into his creation.
"A couple years ago, BioWare did a BioWare Base panel on LGBTQ representation in our games at PAX. We heard concerns, praise, and a lot of heartfelt discussion about how we present characters from the LGBTQ community. One of the most repeated requests was for representation of transgender and/or genderqueer characters in a way that did not make them either a monster or a joke. When the panel was over, some of us kicked around ideas about what we could do."
Read more here
http://blog.bioware.com/2014/12/04/bu...
https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Cre...
Also found this list of amazing go to goodness: novels by trans authors with trans protagonists!https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Our Marginalized Relations
Books mentioned in this topic
The Complete History of Kastelir (other topics)Showers, Flowers, and Fangs (other topics)
The Shape of My Name (other topics)
Time of the unicorn (other topics)
Time of the unicorn (other topics)
More...
Goodreads recommends these: (I haven't read them yet myself, but they have been added to the stack)
The Black Tides of Heaven
A Dance of Water and Air
Do you have any others?