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pklipp's review against another edition
2.0
I'm very glad to have read this book. I found many of the author's arguments compelling and I think he does an excellent job of depicting the scale and scope of patriarchal forces and making a strong case for a radical approach to systemic change. But I'm also glad to have finally read a detailed TERF position on transgender people so rather than simply believing that TERFs are bigots I can now say that I also believe they are wrong (or at least, the author is). While I can imagine that in a world free of externally-defined and imposed binary gender definitions in which from birth every person can explore and express their unique gender identity, transgender people would almost certainly suffer less (indeed, everyone would), that is a futuristic fantasy and there is no way to test the assumption that in the absence of patriarchy there would be no transgender people. We cannot ignore that at this very moment, transgender people exist and many of them are struggling and suffering. In the absence of an understanding of the biological and psychological underpinnings of their individual experiences I can't see in the author's writing any justification for denying them the right to define who they are and to seek to express themselves in whichever way best addresses their needs. The closest thing to an argument the author seems to have is that calling a transgender woman a woman reinforces binary gender definitions imposed by the patriarchy, but I am not about to criticize a women for doing what she has to do to exist in the present world. There are better ways to attack patriarchy that don't harm its most vulnerable victims.
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