Customer Reviews

Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and Men

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The individuals that Lori quotes obviously have suffered much, longed for acceptance and struggled with their own understanding of gender. Some are sad, some defiant, some exuberant. Each voice tells a different story. From stone butch lesbian to genderqueer to intersex individuals to crossdressers to transitioning MTF and FTM to non-transition MTF and FTM to transmen to femme lesbian, butch, Dyke, soft butch, every variation and more has a chance to speak. They tell of the twists and turns that the developing fetus can take where perhaps the brain and the body don't quite follow the same path, or perhaps the body only only strolls along a path, not quite sure if it wants this one or that one. They tell of birth and doctors who are overly fast at making a decision without consulting that person whom the decision would affect the most. They tell of children praying for God to correct his mistake and give them the bodies that fit their minds. They tell of parents, teachers and peers mostly hostile to their true self, policing the gender binary, enforcing a rigid interpretation and what is allowable and what is not. Then they talk of puberty, with it rush of hormones and changes, which mostly just makes things much, much worse. They talk of family, jobs, friends, bathrooms, laws, love and intimacy. They talk of their own self-doubt, of their own sense of identity. And each one has their own story and their own path.

And through it all Lori organizes and comments and analyzes, always with sympathy and insight and wisdom. So in the end you see how society fears transgressions against gender norms and fights to maintain the status quo, how society uses ridicule, sarcasm, hate, bullying, put-downs, cruel humor and fear to enforce the gender binary, but how really the rigid gender binary doesn't make any sense biologically or culturally, how the rigid gender binary is a denial of our true selves.

Lori talks about how transitioning isn't really about transition from being one thing to being another thing, it is really about changing society's perceptions so that society can perceive our true form.

And Lori shows us a vision of a society where we don't have to fear the unknown, where a person can be free to be attracted to that kind of person they are attracted to. Where they can express whatever form their gender identity takes, whether it is highly masculine, moderately, slightly, not at all **and** at the same time highly feminine, moderately, slightly, not at all.

Lori Girshick has done a terrific research job and has explained a very dificult topic in a very simple, sensitive and easy to understand manner. She starts from the very basic definitions and goes all the way to the most intricate aspects of being transgender. Her interviews are very thorough and goes a long length describing the hard and difficult world of transgender people both male-to-female and female-to-male. And by using 150 subjects, she was careful to include everything under the transgender umbrella. This book does not miss any detail and is what I consider a very complete account of everything transgender.

Skilled writers like Ms. Girshick are needed to add light and educate the world about these very and easily misunderstood concepts.

Caroline (Carrie) Cotten

It has been argued that the transexual is the last minorityand it's a statement that's hard to refute. As Lori B. Girshick, in her brilliant book "Transgender Voices: Beyong Women & Men",points out to be fully human means accepting both your female and male natures.

Ms. Girshick asks many questions in this book such as what is the relationship between gender identity and sexual orientation? Many of the answers were an identification of androgeneny. But as Girshicks point out, this terms has multiple means.

Gircheck is not the first to address this subject of gender idenity and sex reassignment. Dr. Renee Richards, pediatric opthalmologist and tennis coach to Martina Navratilova wrote about beginning life as Richard Raskind in "Second Serve". Famed trael writer, now retired, Jan Morris wrote about her transformation from James to Jan in "Conundrum".

Still, the subject of the transgener is one that is urually not addressed because it remains uncomfortable for many. Yet anyone who has been rejected by family or friends for any reaon will relate to the pain that endures.

Ms. Girshick's profound book deserves wide distribution and study especially by those who usually avoid this senstitive subject. The book has a few faults but too minor to mention. I hope the book will be read and more reviews posted.

I am a little more than half way through this book and just can't wait to sing its praises. I have loved how it's written and set up. It's be a great resource for me as I try to educate myself on common misconceptions and basic etiquette not from an outside source, but from the people themselves. It's been a great read and I hope more people read and review it.

This book is not an easy read, but a serious study based on medical records, surveys, and interviews and has surprising information on gender issues I'd never considered before. Apparently, statistically, only one baby out of 100 is born completely "normal" according to cultural gender expectations and XX and XY norms, with many varying degrees of both biological and mental gender blending possible. People have their internal sexual identify, the preferred gender which attracts them, their physical/internal genders, and their appearance to others, any of which may fail to line up in the expected manner. Drugs taken during pregnancy, stress, the number of males born to one woman in a row, and many other factors also contribute to degrees of hormone expression and many people spend their lives forcing themselves into specific gender roles to avoid persecution. After reading this book I'm more inclined to think of us as "human" than any culturally defined gender.

Here in Thailand, there is more acceptance of male gender/female identity than in the U.S., so boy/girls are common. I've not seen it the other way as much, but since women here commonly run their own businesses and drive motorcycles, maybe a female/male gender identity doesn't need as much validation.

I'm a feminine looking woman, very tiny, etc., yet I've always hated shopping, gossip, small talk, decorating, house work, fixing hair, make up, parties, talking on the phone, chick flicks, etc and instead love snakes, insects, breaking horses, crawling around in the underbrush taking photos of wildlife, racing my horses, building gadgets in my shop, etc., but in the U.S. at this time in history, that is acceptable.

This book is an excellent clarification of cross-dressing versus trans-gender. It investigates personal accounts of TG transition M2F and F2M including some personal accounts and problems encountered. I found it most useful to explain why SSS and similar X-dressing support groups discourage transitioned persons from participating. Until reading this book I had no idea there were such limits. X-dressers and Trans people have different objectives which are mutually exclusive.

What a great resource. Enlightening and well written and very understandable. The best book on gender I've found to date.