Reviews

Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution by Susan Stryker

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seineph's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

This book is a great resource to add to/or start your journey into trans* history. The relatively wide time scope helps to get a sense of how transsexual, transgender, and cross-dressing people have suffered and fought their own battles alone for a while. I did not know the details of the bad blood between the trans and lesbian communities. I guess being ignorant lets you see LGBTQA+ people as a whole and as one front, or at least you hope that's the case. The book ends on a hopeful note, and I see that fighting for your spot in society, politics, and public spheres is worth your time at least for the sake of future generations. So I'm grateful for the fearless pioneers mentioned in this book and many references I would like to follow up on. (The book has a further reading list with an index, so you don't need to do anything while reading)

phantomwise's review against another edition

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4.0

Really interesting and engagingly written. Am starting to think I've neglected this particular bit of my personal education, and this was a great way to start, I think. It's a comprehensive look of transgender history at least from the 50's onward, and as much as it made me furious in part (really, white feminists? really? are we going to have to have a discussion about what rape is? AGAIN?) it also made me understand transgenderism in a way I never have before.

A+, would read again. And I lament that it's not in Swedish, because I would actually recommend it to my mother.

foxtayle's review against another edition

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5.0

The best publication on trans history available. Insightfully researched and incredibly well-written.

kristy_k's review

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

As the title states, this is about the history of transgender, specifically in the USA. It’s informative and can be a bit dry at times, reading more like a textbook. I guess the I should have taken the title at face value, but I was expecting something with a little more emotional depth or personal stories. However, it’s a piece of history not often (if ever) discussed and so I appreciated it for what it was. In that scope, it was great.

emath98's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

I don't tend to love history books, but I found this one very engaging! Trans history is not talked about nearly enough, we need more books like this one.