In our inaugural Gender Issue, we explore the topic kaleidoscopically and with a focus on inclusivity. We are long past the days of strict gender binaries—despite the misguided fight by many right-wing leaders to enforce restrictive definitions—and each of these five recent books offers a unique, illuminating perspective on gender.
In Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender (Seal Press, 2022), Kit Heyam chronicles the history of gender via “a wide variety of pertinent stories that are often left out of the trans narrative.” The author is an empathetic and informative guide through some rocky terrain. “With great sensitivity and care,” noted our reviewer, “they discuss the deleterious effects of European colonization over hundreds of years, the modern Western desire to separate gender and sexuality, and the intersex community. While clearly the work of a diligent historian, the text avoids feeling too dry and is a relatively accessible read.”
While Heyam’s book is a global overview, Michael Pedersen’s Boy Friends (Faber & Faber, 2022) is a tightly focused, highly personal study of male friendship. Our reviewer noted that “Pedersen wrote this book in memory of Scott Hutchison, whose friendship was ‘an express train’ halted by Hutchison's suicide in 2018, at age 36.…Ultimately, Pedersen offers an extended reverie on the dynamics of male friendship, an underexplored literary landscape.” We don’t get many looks at male friendship that are this intimate, candid, and insightful. “What begins as an elegy for Hutchison becomes a ‘celebration of your life rather than a lament of your death,’ ” wrote our reviewer; readers will be eager to celebrate with him.
I highly recommend Re-Sisters: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe, & Cosey Fanni Tutti (Faber & Faber, 2022) by Cosey Fanni Tutti, which our reviewer called “a skillful blend of memoir and biography.” The author, who has always pushed the boundaries of sex and gender in her art, “weaves her personal experiences into those of two radical women: electronic musician Delia Derbyshire and medieval mystic Margery Kempe. The compelling stories of these three women are compulsively readable, but it is the connections between them that make the book shine.” It’s a deftly rendered, vivid portrait that “showcases what it means to be a unique and often transgressive woman living outside of cultural norms.”
Living outside of cultural norms is also central to Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H (Dial Press, Feb. 7), in which the “queer Muslim [author] and organizer chronicles a life navigating between religion and culture,” as our reviewer observed. Writing about her experiences growing up in a “rich Arab country” and acknowledging her sexuality, the author notes, “Gay is a hush-hush thing, not to be talked about seriously, only to be used as an insult.” She faced further discrimination in the U.S., but she navigated it with courage, love, and faith; her memoir “vibrantly explores what it means to live with an open-minded, open-hearted activist seeking to change the world for the better.”
Finally, we have The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag (Harper/HarperCollins, April 4) by renowned drag queen Sasha Velour. The book is a pleasing mix of memoir, history, and visual elements such as color storyboards, Post-it note asides, and a wide selection of vivid photos. Our reviewer calls it a “provocative, informative, and opinionated excavation of drag culture.” It’s not just about Velour, however: “In addition to generously sharing entertaining anecdotes, maxims, and fond tributes to family and friends, the author isn’t shy about divulging the hard truths about life in the drag and queer communities,” and she creates “an impressive textual and visual display of artistry and courage.”
Eric Liebetrau is the nonfiction and managing editor.
