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belle598's review
2.0
Listen I don’t review textbooks really because who has time for that? But I had to leave a review about how much I despised this textbook.
I had to read this for a class this last semester and I found it to be frustratingly boring and quite outdated even though the last edit was this year? Genuinely almost fell asleep reading several of the extremely long and long winded chapters with words I couldn’t pronounce and sentences I had to reread 4-5 times over to make sense of. Maybe that’s just a me problem though I can almost guarantee it’s not, or maybe it’s just how textbooks are. (Sometimes it’s okay to use small words when you’re trying to “introduce” and teach a new topic.) I found it frustrating that they have the nerve, the gall, the audacity, to call this book “an introduction to LGBTQ” studies. An introduction? Absolutely not. The organization of the chapters was completely all over the place. Why was trans lives and theories in the middle of queer diversities and intersectionality, and why was it in the middle of the textbook? Why was there hardly a mention of bisexuality or asexuality or pansexuality? Why would you not break down the basic/general meaning of each type of sexuality and gender for the reader in the very beginning of the textbook?
I’m so curious if this was read and approved by queer people/queer people of color while it was in the editing stages?
There were definitely some very good things about this book, and I felt it included a lot of thought provoking ideas and concepts for sure! But overall the majority of the textbook was boring, outdated, and I felt it was too long winded and all over the place.
Imo there are better textbooks and better non fiction books about queer people out there, written by queer people, that I would recommend to anyone over this book. If you want to learn more about queer people, this is not the place to start. If you have to read this for a class, my condolences. If you want to read this for fun? Maybe consider something else until this gets the massive modern update it needs. :)
I had to read this for a class this last semester and I found it to be frustratingly boring and quite outdated even though the last edit was this year? Genuinely almost fell asleep reading several of the extremely long and long winded chapters with words I couldn’t pronounce and sentences I had to reread 4-5 times over to make sense of. Maybe that’s just a me problem though I can almost guarantee it’s not, or maybe it’s just how textbooks are. (Sometimes it’s okay to use small words when you’re trying to “introduce” and teach a new topic.) I found it frustrating that they have the nerve, the gall, the audacity, to call this book “an introduction to LGBTQ” studies. An introduction? Absolutely not. The organization of the chapters was completely all over the place. Why was trans lives and theories in the middle of queer diversities and intersectionality, and why was it in the middle of the textbook? Why was there hardly a mention of bisexuality or asexuality or pansexuality? Why would you not break down the basic/general meaning of each type of sexuality and gender for the reader in the very beginning of the textbook?
I’m so curious if this was read and approved by queer people/queer people of color while it was in the editing stages?
There were definitely some very good things about this book, and I felt it included a lot of thought provoking ideas and concepts for sure! But overall the majority of the textbook was boring, outdated, and I felt it was too long winded and all over the place.
Imo there are better textbooks and better non fiction books about queer people out there, written by queer people, that I would recommend to anyone over this book. If you want to learn more about queer people, this is not the place to start. If you have to read this for a class, my condolences. If you want to read this for fun? Maybe consider something else until this gets the massive modern update it needs. :)
deedeethebumblebee's review
I don't normally log textbooks, but I read this whole thing so I figured it was worth it.
monazmel's review against another edition
Read this for class, it was pretty good though i felt the last few chapters were quite repetitive. There was some stuff i felt was missing from the book but it's understandable they couldn't touch on everything as this is only an introduction to queer studies and their scope had to be limited. Very interesting nonetheless.
nb_leftist's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
It has very little on trans people. It says it’s an introduction to lgbTq studies but it really only focuses on the LGB.
It also doesn’t mention punk music or community which I find really weird since punk was literally a slur for queer people and punk has always been a (somewhat) safe space by and for queer people.
Lots of weird choices of what to include and what not to include.
It also doesn’t mention punk music or community which I find really weird since punk was literally a slur for queer people and punk has always been a (somewhat) safe space by and for queer people.
Lots of weird choices of what to include and what not to include.
supercupcakez's review
i only had to read this many chapters for class it is a good textbook
gnuoymas's review
5.0
to say this was a journey would be an understatement!!!! i haven’t read ~academic text~ in a couple of years so i really had to take my time with this one. i’m glad that i did tho!! i now better understand the nuances of LGBT history and it’s developments that led to what we know today. as someone who has never taken a class about this, i really wanted something that gave me a fully realized understanding of the evolution of the community, and this book gave me just that!!
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