Customer Reviews

Becoming a Visible Man

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I will highly recommend this book to my female to male transgendered psychotherapy clients and to those interested in learning about this phenomenon. It is an excellent blend of autobiographical, social and political topics. Mr. Green does a great job of taking the reader through his personal struggles with gender, sexual and social identification in an empowering and positive manner, an approach which I have found lacking in many other autobiographies of transgendered individuals. He triumphs over his difficulties of loss of contact with one of his children, shunning by his mother and rapid changes in his body as he attempts to match the outside with the inside of his identity, but allows the reader to know that these victories were not easy. He also provides the female socialized person in a newly male body with an impressive role model for how to learn about male socialization, which I also have not encountered in most works on this subject. Mr. Green does not profess to be an academician, but he obviously has done background reading on this subject, spanning at least 25 years and attempts to use his life stories to support and negate a great deal of medical and mental health literature on the subject of transgenderism and transsexualism. As an individual who started out believing that the journey from female to male bodied would be solely his personal journey, he reminds us of how one person, who becomes inspired to help others, can make such a large difference, clearly beyond what he would have ever anticipated. Max E. Fuhrmann, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist

Jamison Green's book Becoming a Visible Man is easily among my current top choices of trans-related texts. Not only does Green give readers pieces of his own personal experiences (following the trend of many other trans texts), but he also offers accessible, educational, and nuanced arguments around trans issues. In this way, Becoming a Visible Man is not only the story of Green's own personal becoming, but also, and perhaps more importantly, the story of the structures, institutions, and other forces that circumscribe, shape, and color all our becomings. In this vein, I'm confident that this book would appeal to transpeople and non-transpeople alike, both those with none or very little knowledge of trans issues, as well as those with much experience in this area.

While I haven't had the fortune (yet) to be familiar with Green's writings in the FTM Newsletter, I have no doubt that he provided much help and wisdom to its breadth of readers. His writing is balanced and aware of its biases, always mindful of questioning the existing structures of power, and responsible to those with whom he seems himself in community and alliance. By no means does this mean that Green attempts to speak for or about all transpeople or all transmen, or that he understands all transpeople or their experiences to be the same. Rather, Green is quite adamant about the differences between and among transpeople, at the same time that he is clear that we must come together in all our differences to effect true social change. And to his credit, through this all, his author's voice is calm and poetic; a great combination indeed of form and context!

I really could go on at length about the merits of this text...there isn't one thing I didn't like or find useful in its 231 pages. But, I'll settle for highlighting some of my most favorite passages:

(68) "I realized that if I could live in a way that declared my own self-acceptance--that is, not to broadcast my history every minute of the day, but to speak up honestly when it was appropriate, not necessarily with anger or even impatience, but with the compassion that I was finding within myself, to dispel myths and stereotypes that people cling to about us--that it would show others they could do it, too. Together we could change the conditions that generated our fears."

(78) "Politics is the art of negotiation among divergent goals, and cooperation is difficult when people are unaware of their motives or goals, or unable or unwilling to reveal them."

(89) "Being a transsexual is not something we do in the privacy of our own bedrooms; it affects every aspect of our lives, from our driver's licenses to our work histories, from our birth certificates to our school transcripts to our parents' wills, and every relationship represented by those paper trails."

(127) "For some people, the consequences of a transperson's assertion of his or her identity are simply too frightening because it threatens their own position within a particular community of ideology or faith."

(128) "My brother was not exactly disapproving of my sexual orientation, nor was he resentful of my ability to pitch in with his friends on construction projects or to manage home electrical problems, but he was much more comfortable when he didn't have to explain me anymore. This is not a reason to transition, as far as I'm concerned, but is a fact that an appearance of conformity with normative gender behavior does cause less social friction, a fact that every child has had drummed into her or him from earliest consciousness.

(177) "The extent to which we convey the truth of our experience is the extent to which any audience will receive us, yet so long as other people control the forum, or so long as the analyzing or commenting voices are not informed by direct experience of us, we are still vulnerable to being treated with nothing more enlightened than prejudice."

(180) "Social conventions and institutions support individual prejudice against the rights of transsexual people, adding to the burden of secrecy. These conventions persist because no one has tried, until very recently, to correct them."

(191) "Gender is a private matter that we share with others; and when we share it, it becomes a social construction, thus it requires, like language, a `speaker' and a `listener.' It is between the two of these actors that gender is defined, negotiated, corroborated, or challenged...But if we don't speak a language that others understand, then it can be a source of difficulty, even conflict, if we find ourselves in an intolerant environment."

(210) "If we are concerned that others will perceive our physical differences as laughable deficiencies, the answer is not to dehumanize and desensitize ourselves so we can manage rejection, but to sensitize others to appreciate us, and to learn to manage our own self-doubts so that others will be able to see worthy partners in us."

So - why Jamison Green's Becoming a Visible Man? For starters, it's a good read. James writes to be read, unlike a lot of writers on trans experience or in gender theory. Since my "audience" comes mostly from the MTF end of things, I also think it's vital for us to educate ourselves as to what the experiences are from those on the other side of the fence. Having run FTM International for a million years, James has more than his own experience to rely upon for this book - he has head the stories of thousands of FTMs, from those that embrace a more genderqueer radical place, to those who wish, simply, to pass well enough so they can marry and mow their lawn on Saturdays.

Becoming a Visible Man was also a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, and won the CLAGS book award.

I was educated, inspired and deeply moved by this book, which is not only a remarkable chronicle of Jamison Green's life, but a compelling argument for individual human rights. The specific information about the process of transition from a female to a male body is fascinating, and bound to be helpful to anyone considering FTM surgery. But from my perspective ( 55-year-old married heterosexual female), the book speaks to a much wider audience. Too many people in today's world let fear make our decisions for us, and many opportunities for authenticity are missed as a result. This book is a clarion call for anyone who dreams of naming and claiming her true self. I recommend it without reservation.

I have read several books about trans issues. This is BY FAR the best one I've read. It is educational but provides enough of a personal story to keep you interested and awake. Jamison has the personal experience and background to give a reader insight into trans history and what it is really like to be trans.

This is a wonderful book to read if you are interested in any dimension at all of the transgendered experience. It is, first, a well-written story of a life spent becoming what Jamison truly was, male. But it also is the story of all of that life, from childhood, through adolescence, adulthood, parenthood, and self-hood. But beside being a very readable memoir, it fully addresses all the other components of being transgendered.

It is, secondly, a comprehensive review of all the physical dimensions of changing gender as well as addressing all the administrative complications. For example, changing your birth certificate, so you can change your drivers license, so if you get pulled over by the police, they don't read gender=female when you have a beard and moustache. All the complications you would never think about if you haven't been there.

Then thirdly, there is the politics of transgender. As with any aspect of life, there's the battle for who represents you. Who speaks for you. And Jamison has done a wonderful job of speaking for FTM persons and for allowing the readers to understand the complexities of that arena.

It is a well-designed book (Vanderbilt University Press), well-edited with an index and a comprehensive bibliography.

I would recommend this book to anyone with any curiosity about life whatsoever.

Helpful in its moments of the "nuts and bolts" of transitioning, I've found it even more useful for the insights shared by Mr. Green - the struggle determining oneself to be lesbian or trans (not to set up another binary), the sense of 'normality' induced by hormones, those were the big pieces for me. I also appreciated the historical perspective.

I will say that at times, I had trouble following the timelines.

This is an easy, fun, and interesting read. The book rekindled my sensitivity and respect for humanity.

It's a very good book, because it's one of the very best books I've ever read on trans issues. It's good if you need it for a positive outlook on transitioning. It's a book that has helped me as a person and I know that this book can help other guys out there see that they're not alone and there is a good way to transition.

Green, explores his own experiences and tells them in great detail. He's very educational and has helped me get through some tough times. It's a book I couldn't help not buying. It's in my library when I need to go back and see that I don't need to apoligize for who I am.

As an FTM, I found this book incredibly helpful and entertaining. There are parts where he gets off track and rambles a little, but the book as a whole is full of information and easy to read.