Micah Rajunov, A. Scott Duane: Nonbinary (2019, Columbia University Press)
English language
Published Jan. 22, 2019 by Columbia University Press.
Was lovely getting a view into the wide variety of experiences people have as nonbinary, especially the fact that this variety spans different generations and ethnic background.
This was ultimately a really helpful read for me. I’m cis, and I wanted to understand better the nonbinary experience. Can’t ever /really/ understand, but I can do the best I can.
To be honest, I ended up being surprised by a lot of these essays. I had heard of the biology/gender/expression split, and the introduction of the book mentions it, but many of the essays go on to describe a lot of dissonance around expression. I thought I’d hear a lot more about some feeling completely detached from expression. But the more I read and thought about it, the more I was like, of course it would all be intertwined. We live in a cultural context with expectations, so in practice it’s very difficult to separate those things.
I appreciate all the writers sharing their stories. I have a better understanding than I did before and a sense of …
This was ultimately a really helpful read for me. I’m cis, and I wanted to understand better the nonbinary experience. Can’t ever /really/ understand, but I can do the best I can.
To be honest, I ended up being surprised by a lot of these essays. I had heard of the biology/gender/expression split, and the introduction of the book mentions it, but many of the essays go on to describe a lot of dissonance around expression. I thought I’d hear a lot more about some feeling completely detached from expression. But the more I read and thought about it, the more I was like, of course it would all be intertwined. We live in a cultural context with expectations, so in practice it’s very difficult to separate those things.
I appreciate all the writers sharing their stories. I have a better understanding than I did before and a sense of the range of experiences. It’s truly an individual journey.
The world would be a better place if people could express their gender however they wished to and be treated with respect.
My favorite chapters were 24 and 30.
Great quote:
I was once asked if I considered my choices a mistake. I can honestly answer, “No.” I am the product of my choices and their consequences. If my journey has been a mistake, then so am I. But I am no mistake.
