Customer Reviews

Transgender Warriors : Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Those interested in transgenderism have long been teased by all-too-brief descriptions of its existence in times past. If mentioned at all in previous works, transgendered history has been soft-pedaled into vague meanderings on Native American "two-spirits".

Leslie Feinberg not only provides comprehensive documentation of the roles of transgendered people in ancient societies, but also interprets these traditions and their decline by deconstructing our current views of gender as the result of patriarchy. Feinberg also weaves into the interpretation elements of socialist theory and class oppression.

These theoretical passages are interspersed with personal vignettes from the Feinberg's life which flesh out the explanation. Even if one doesn't fully buy into Feinberg's views, the book takes you on a fabulous journey and forces you to re-examine your beliefs about gender.

Although not scholarly,the book serves the important purpose of contributing one volume that consolidates documentation of many of the instances of transgenderism that previously were splintered throughout the literature.

The book is a quick read, which is both refreshing and disappointing. Perhaps in the near future Feinberg or others will branch off this pioneering work and continue to re-discover the robbed tradition of transgenderism throughout the world.

I'm a 20-year-old female-to-male transsexual. Five years ago, I didn't even know other people like me existed. Now, thanks to this book, I know people like me have been around as long as human beings from the more ordinary walks of life.

You might think that being transsexual, I'd be pretty open-minded, but I must confess that this book really got me thinking about my own chosen gender and what exactly I want do with my transsexuality. Do I want to blend in with all the genetic XY guys after all, leaving no trace of my 'abnormal' gender? Do I really care if people know I don't have a penis? Must I be 100% male 100% of the time? And what is 'male' anyway?

Leslie presents a very personal history of transgenderism. Hir short autobiography echoes that of the many people who don't fit into the male OR female ONLY roles society has pushed us into over the centuries. Being transgendered, I could really emphasise with hir life story, and that of all the other trans* people who have a part in this book.

I'd recommend this book not only to other trans* people, but anyone who is interested in something else other than the traditional gender roles we are given. This is such a different prism to look at history and gender through. I want to major in History now. ::grin::

Of course this book is personal. Of course it is passionate. It is an important attempt by a recognized trans author and amateur historian to catalyze a larger project of tracing authentic patterns of gender expression that don't conform to the binary that has been forced upon society since the rise of class divisions (i.e., since the collapse of "primitive" or "tribal" collectivism). And the book thereby contributes to efforts to demystify the notion that "two sexes" are a scientific fact and historical truth.

Hopefully others will pick up where Feinberg leaves off and apply other methodologies to uncover what has really been going on throughout human history where it comes to gender.

What the book lacks in traditional academic rigor it more than makes up for with its first-person self-consciousness, originality and plausibility in the interpretation of historical data. It is richly illustrated, literate, contemporary and very relevant to today's discourse.

The Stonewall frontliner offers an engaging expedition back through the past into the present through critical transgender-centering reinterpretations of familiar and unfamiliar stories. Hir re-reading of Joan of Arc from a transgender socialist feminist perspective is intriguing, motivating, and delightful. Feinberg is able to achieve visibility for heterosexistly obscured transgender moments and people across a lengthy span of time and geography.

Braiding hir own narrative into the work provides a reflexive empassioned appeal to liberation workers that renews spirits to confront gender, desire, and sexed supremacy with a certain pride in transgender revolutionary work. The blend of freshly unearthed truths, experiential revelations, and proffers for theory work well for a feminist readership.

Love or hate hir, Feinberg, like Joan Baez, raises the flag with the broadest possible coloring. Since when was subtlety required of agitprop? Sure, the Lady Skimmington citation is utopian; on the other hand, Feinberg (unlike almost every feminist) actually gets Engels, so right on. Streamlined, overdetermined? All the better, I say. Hey, Baez's greatest artistic moment was announcing (on the Johnny Carson Show!) her withholding of taxes to protest Vietnam; her LPs were secondary. That's the spirit in which I took this book. In the Top 5 of TG texts.

Leslie Feinberg has created a fascinating compilation of transgender history.

This book "works" in that it engages the reader and stimulates thought, questioning and debate. Even the highly negative reviews that appear here reinforce this. The review authors are inflamed by a book of substance, one which presents a consistent theoretical underpinning as it provides a wealth of historical data.

A lot of political statements are made on all sides about the natural order of things. Look at the debate over same-sex marriage in which the debate is framed in terms of traditional values.

Feinberg, in this work, does the field of gender studies a great service in expanding our awareness of just how much diversity is historically encompassed in our common tradition.

Read this book, then reflect, then challenge both it and yourself.

History is not only for historians but if one is not a historian one's understanding of events and individuals within their context will be limited. Even then, few historians are capable of mastering the entirety of human history. It is clear that Feinberg has done a lot of reading but it is also clear that her readings has been filtered through two lens.

The first is Marxism. Given her working class background and where/when Feinberg grew up and lived prior to this book, it makes perfect sense this would be one of the lens she views history through. Marxism is still a valid if debated theory of historical interpretation but it is rarely sufficient to explain everything.

Feinberg's second lens is her own natural desire to find others like herself, others who do not neatly fit into the social defined gender categories. While this desire is natural it should never be can excuse to misinterpret evidence or to view other cultures with your own biases. But let's be honest, many well-trained historians do this.

Therefore I cannot fault a layperson too much for historical interpretations I may have issue with but instead I should look at where such information is gleaned. The fact is that the vast majority of Feinberg's statements are drawn from published students by scholars and wouldbe scholars.

What I like about this book is that she attempts to pull together a wide range of information and couple it with the political, social, and economic struggles of transgendered people today. The stories are powerful and pulled from a variety of times and places though I noticed a very large amount of Native American information.

This book came out 12 years ago so I would urge Feinberg to reflect on this and revise it to include more evidence and interpretations as well as an update on civil rights for those who cannot or refuse to live nicely in a gender box.

Feinberg's tour de force uses modern day transgender activism as the motivation, but not the optic, through which to delve into "trans gender history." Hir critics charge hir with anachronism, but this is giving hir far too little credit. Ze is aware of the risks of analyzing past lives and diverse people's with modern, Western lenses and navigates these tricky waters with more than a little self-reflexivity and creativity. The writing is intelligent and inspired. This book remains very relevant to today's world and struggles around queer expression, anti-racist and anti-colonialist activisms. A must read and must gift for the people in your life!

This book is excellent. Leslie Feinberg is a top-notch scholar, but zie writes in a way that is extremely engaging. The book follows the history of trans people throughout the ages, as well as heir journey in uncovering the truth about our history.

This book was refreshingly factual and frank. I was blown away by what I read about the history of the trans person - especially Joan of Arc! I am a big fan of this book because it has provided me with enough valuable backup material for my thesis. I have searched high and low for supporting quotes such as those found in Feinberg's writing. BUY THIS BOOK - it will end up like mine, with notes written all over every page and lots of folded pages, kept next to the bed for reading regularly.