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wren_in_black 's review for:
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
by Susan Kuklin
I have some very mixed thoughts about this book.
TW: transphobia, refusal to acknowledge pronouns from intimate partners, biphobia and bi-erasure, sexual abuse
I'm not sure who this book is for. I'm not sure if it's for transgender teens to know they're not alone or if it's to educate cisgender people with little to know knowledge of the trans community. That's not a bad thing in itself. I'm just not sure if this book had a clear direction.
Beyond Magenta follows the stories of six transgender teenagers. These stories are mostly told in their own words although partners, parents, and the author will sometimes interject commentary. The author includes this commentary even when it is extremely problematic but then chooses not to comment on how it is problematic. One teenager has a partner who refuses to acknowledge their gender and uses the wrong pronouns, but it's okay because love, apparently. Another was sexually abused as a child and mentions that they enjoyed the abuse. This is the most problematic portion of the book. Nowhere does that person or the author mention that this was intense grooming and that there are a lot of issues tied up in that experience. The author also includes false information about chromosomal makeup that ignores the existence of the myriad of ways people can be intersex. This is eventually partially corrected by one of the six people featured in the book, but I don't see why this false dichotomy was ever presented. Another featured person is biphobic and each time they mention bisexuality they use the words "people who say" or "those who claim to be", implying that bisexuality is some between step for gay people who are just afraid to admit it or an identity some will claim for selfish reasons. These issues absolutely disgusted me.
This is an important book. I wish was groundbreaking to focus on transgender teenagers. I wish the author had included some content warning and discussion and that she had partnered with someone in the trans community to present these stories.
I wanted to love this book. I love that it focused on transgender teenagers and that nonbinary people were also represented. I wanted to love this entire book. But I absolutely didn't.
TW: transphobia, refusal to acknowledge pronouns from intimate partners, biphobia and bi-erasure, sexual abuse
I'm not sure who this book is for. I'm not sure if it's for transgender teens to know they're not alone or if it's to educate cisgender people with little to know knowledge of the trans community. That's not a bad thing in itself. I'm just not sure if this book had a clear direction.
Beyond Magenta follows the stories of six transgender teenagers. These stories are mostly told in their own words although partners, parents, and the author will sometimes interject commentary. The author includes this commentary even when it is extremely problematic but then chooses not to comment on how it is problematic. One teenager has a partner who refuses to acknowledge their gender and uses the wrong pronouns, but it's okay because love, apparently. Another was sexually abused as a child and mentions that they enjoyed the abuse. This is the most problematic portion of the book. Nowhere does that person or the author mention that this was intense grooming and that there are a lot of issues tied up in that experience. The author also includes false information about chromosomal makeup that ignores the existence of the myriad of ways people can be intersex. This is eventually partially corrected by one of the six people featured in the book, but I don't see why this false dichotomy was ever presented. Another featured person is biphobic and each time they mention bisexuality they use the words "people who say" or "those who claim to be", implying that bisexuality is some between step for gay people who are just afraid to admit it or an identity some will claim for selfish reasons. These issues absolutely disgusted me.
This is an important book. I wish was groundbreaking to focus on transgender teenagers. I wish the author had included some content warning and discussion and that she had partnered with someone in the trans community to present these stories.
I wanted to love this book. I love that it focused on transgender teenagers and that nonbinary people were also represented. I wanted to love this entire book. But I absolutely didn't.