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brnineworms's review
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
Unfocused. I admire the ambition and the insistence on including a wide variety of voices and angles, but the scope is just too broad for the anthology to truly come together. I wish there had been more emphasis on the idea of passing. I don’t know whether the issue stems from most of the writers not understanding the assignment, or whether the brief they were given was too vague to begin with. In any case, a lot of these essays had little to do with passing and instead discussed tangentially-related topics like presenting yourself as one of the good ones, or reclaiming a previously suppressed identity, or generally experiencing discrimination (societal and intra-community). It’s not that these topics aren’t worth talking about, they’re just not what the title and synopsis of this book promised, and the anthology format means no one subject gets the thorough examination it deserves. Even the essays that do engage with passing are rather rudimentary. Dean Spade’s essay, for example, identifies passing as a prerequisite to accessing privileges (and rights) which would otherwise be denied, such as healthcare. But surely this is common knowledge to anyone even vaguely familiar with the concept of passing? It offers no new insights if you are, yet it also isn’t quite basic enough to serve as a primer for people who aren’t.
I don’t mean to single Spade out – I do appreciate his work and this essay is hardly the worst in the collection (that would be The End of Genderqueer by Rocko Bulldagger). There were a couple of essays I did like, namely Persephone by Helen Boyd and Hat by Tucker Lieberman.
Nobody Passes doesn’t quite work as an anthology and it doesn’t deliver on its promise to explore what it means to pass. I expected essays on the borders of gender being so zealously policed that cis people are misgendered or mistaken as trans; on what it’s like to pass as, say, a trans woman but not as cis; in-depth explorations of navigating a gendered world as a genderqueer person excluded by barriers most people don’t even notice. There was a bit of that, but this book really did leave me wanting more. In a way that’s a good thing, because I do feel inspired to write my own essays and create artwork about the subjects that I felt were un(der)represented here, to fill in the gaps with my own contributions. But yeah. I would have liked something more intentional.
CONTENT WARNINGS: transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, colonialism, classism, eviction/homelessness, imprisonment, police brutality, domestic violence, gun violence, rape, incest, suicide attempt, drug use
tildahlia's review
4.0
Like a lot of reviews have pointed out, this collection has some hits and misses, but the hits are really phenomenal. I took a lot of notes. While mainly focused on gender, authors also talk frankly on race, disability and chronic illness, sex worker stigma and many other topics that often lack nuance and the voices and experiences of people themselves. Particularly appreciated Jen Cross' piece as well as Nico Dacumos'. Well worth a read.
elliska's review
challenging
informative
2.0
It wasn’t what I thought it would be but it was still educational.
11corvus11's review
5.0
With how much queer politics change and how fast they evolve, I sometimes wonder if anthologies more than a couple of years old will still touch me today. This one definitely does. As usual, Matthilda's anthology has surpassed my expectations, creating a diverse range of issues and related identity in which we (don't) pass each day. There wasn't a single essay in this that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. And I related to many personally.
zeldiecakes's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
More than an education on one particular identity, this collection of essays encourages the interrogation of binaries, boundaries, and that which necessitates “passing” in the first place.
cranea653's review
2.0
I wanted to like this book, but it didn't quite do it for me. As with any collection of essays, I related to some better than others. But as a whole, it didn't really work for me. Which is a bummer because I'd been wanting to read this for years.
peannlewis's review
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Classism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Sexism, Homophobia, Child abuse, and Gun violence
Moderate: Rape, Deadnaming, Incest, and Sexual assault
dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review
4.0
A really wonderful mix of essays about "passing" as different races, orientations, genders, etc, and the intersection of identities. I found the opening essay by Mattilda Sycamore to be a little too self-important to be engaging, which is why I didn't finish the book the first time I got it from the library, but literally every other essay was interesting and thought-provoking. This book has got me thinking about the various things we pass as, or fail to pass as, every day.
harry_canyon's review
3.0
I enjoyed parts of this a lot. It's a little disjointed and I understand that it's supposed to be. But some of the essays in this are not well constructed. Their topics kind of jump around and there's a lot of whining and hopelessness. Lots of victimhood in some of the essays. I understand why those essays are like that, but I really thought this was going to be more historical and social, and less personal and individual. Overall I definitely learned something and I got to see some new perspectives, which was dope and I appreciated that.