An informed, judicious, sensitive consideration of the falsehoods and hazards of contemporary trans activism.
How zealous activists have misrepresented biology and endangered women.
Joyce, a senior staff journalist at the Economist, provocatively challenges the now common assumption among progressives that, regarding social classifications, self-determination of gender identity ought to have priority over any underlying biological reality. Offering carefully researched analyses of the scientific view of human sexual dimorphism, the psychology of gender dysphoria, and the medical and personal tolls associated with transitioning, the author argues that a refusal to acknowledge biology has, among other injustices, caused enormous and unnecessary harm to many children and threatened safe spaces for women. Joyce explains how trans-rights ideologues have spread falsehoods about what contemporary research actually demonstrates about the immutability of sex and encouraged an egregiously one-sided public discourse. “When it comes to whether sex or gender identity should take precedence in law and everyday life,” writes the author, “the conflict has been treated as if only trans people are affected, and there has been no negotiation at all.” Joyce’s work is impressively logical, nuanced, and empathetic in restoring balance to such negotiations. Particularly astute is the author’s critique of how specialists in the West now typically counsel parents of children who present with gender dysphoria, often resorting to dubious or outright false assertions about how this disorder tends to proceed without medical intervention—or understating the risks of surgery or hormone therapies. Also excellent is her discussion of the practical and moral problems generated by an undiscriminating acceptance of trans women as women in single-sex spaces such as public bathrooms as well as in professional sports and the penal system. Furthermore, Joyce’s recommendations for how a just society might balance the rights of trans people with those of the rest of its members are profoundly compelling.
An informed, judicious, sensitive consideration of the falsehoods and hazards of contemporary trans activism.Pub Date: June 14, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-861-54372-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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