The Gender Games by Juno Dawson
Jun. 3rd, 2018 10:38 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
”It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” are the first words almost all of us hear when we enter the world. Before our names, before we have likes and dislikes – before we, or anyone else, have any idea who we are. And two years ago, as Juno Dawson went to tell her mother she was (and actually, always had been) a woman, she started to realise just how wrong we’ve been getting it.
Gender isn’t just screwing over trans people, it’s messing with everyone. From little girls who think they can’t be doctors to teenagers who come to expect street harassment. From exclusionist feminists to ‘alt-right’ young men. From men who can’t cry to the women who think they shouldn’t. As her body gets in line with her mind, Juno tells not only her own story, but the story of everyone who is shaped by society’s expectations of gender – and what we can do about it.
Featuring insights from well-known gender, feminist and trans activists including Rebecca Root, Laura Bates, Gemma Cairney, Anthony Anaxagorou, Hannah Witton, Alaska Thunderfuck and many more, The Gender Games is a frank, witty and powerful manifesto for a world in which everyone can truly be themselves.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Juno Dawson is an awarding-winning YA author who in 2015 announced her transition as a transgender woman and in this funny, sharply observed, magnificently sweary and seriously thought-provoking book that’s part memoir and partly a critique of modern society and its gender expectations, she picks apart what gender means and what people can do about it. This isn’t a book aimed at a YA audience, but it should be read by everyone.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
”It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” are the first words almost all of us hear when we enter the world. Before our names, before we have likes and dislikes – before we, or anyone else, have any idea who we are. And two years ago, as Juno Dawson went to tell her mother she was (and actually, always had been) a woman, she started to realise just how wrong we’ve been getting it.
Gender isn’t just screwing over trans people, it’s messing with everyone. From little girls who think they can’t be doctors to teenagers who come to expect street harassment. From exclusionist feminists to ‘alt-right’ young men. From men who can’t cry to the women who think they shouldn’t. As her body gets in line with her mind, Juno tells not only her own story, but the story of everyone who is shaped by society’s expectations of gender – and what we can do about it.
Featuring insights from well-known gender, feminist and trans activists including Rebecca Root, Laura Bates, Gemma Cairney, Anthony Anaxagorou, Hannah Witton, Alaska Thunderfuck and many more, The Gender Games is a frank, witty and powerful manifesto for a world in which everyone can truly be themselves.
The Verdict:
Juno Dawson is an awarding-winning YA author who in 2015 announced her transition as a transgender woman and in this funny, sharply observed, magnificently sweary and seriously thought-provoking book that’s part memoir and partly a critique of modern society and its gender expectations, she picks apart what gender means and what people can do about it. This isn’t a book aimed at a YA audience, but it should be read by everyone.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.