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US Mall 1 - My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely
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List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $22.00
Your Save: $ 7.95 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.3
EAN: 9780415916738
ISBN: 0415916739
Label: Routledge
Manufacturer: Routledge
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 1997-12-18
Publisher: Routledge
Studio: Routledge
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to nonstandard gender
Comment: Kate Bornstein's writing is a pleasure to read! My Gender Workbook is a great way to start looking at nonstandard genders if you're used to thinking in strictly binary terms. While there's room in her viewpoint for girly girls and manly men, there's definitely a bit of bias towards transsexual and genderqueer folks. The quotes from different sources in the sidebar create a variety of perspectives on gender, in case you don't identify too strongly with Kate Bornstein's personal story (which, let's face it, isn't common to most of us).
If you're already breaking the gender binary- that is, if you're the sort of person who'd be interested in this book- then likely it wouldn't provide much more than some much-needed encouragement. However, if you're new to transgressing gender, then this is probably the book for you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Overly simplistic
Comment: I used this book in a college class, and from an academic standpoint, I found it simplistic and many of the exercises seemed pointless. Even worse, Bornstein advocates a "gender-free or gender-bent" presentation of oneself, not realizing that because society creates gender rules, becoming gender-free is still buying into those rules through one's rejection of them. I think everyone should work through their gender issues on their own and not feel bad if they do happen to be a very feminine woman or masculine man (this book assumes every reader doesn't fit into any stereotype, or if they do act stereotypically male or female, it's not because they want to.) From the standpoint of someone reading this book casually, it's very affirming of our differences, but don't forget to read other gender-theory books as well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Well-Meaning, and Sometimes Well-Done, But Often Flawed
Comment: There is stuff here that is good, and all of it is well-meaning. That said, this book is very much a mixed bag.
It suffers from having little sense of who it's audience is. I'd certainly wager that a large majority of people who are reading this book are feminists, queers, or transpeople - or, like myself, *all* of these - and a lot of it is very basic, even frustratingly so, for these people, and this simplicity often shifts back and forth with more advanced stuff. This means that the beginners who do read this may well get lost, and that the people who get the basics will get bored. A lot of it also feels simply cheesy, and even if I wasn't already familiar with the theories and practices presented, I think I would feel condescended to.
It also seems somewhat more MtF oriented than FtM; I can't really give a specific example, but it seemed to have more of a by-and-for trannygirls vibe. I suppose this is part of the problem with having the whole book on genderqueerness written by one white, MtF, middle-class person. Ze certainly tries to give voice to people of different backgrounds, and often succeeds, but having side comments and self-descriptions is different than having real input. This isn't so much an issue of specific instances; rather it's the assumption that one person's experience - any one persons experience, no matter how gender-transgressive they are - is sufficient to write what tries to be a guide to transgressing gender and identity; I think this book would have been much better as a collaboration.
That said, a lot of it is very good. It certainly will help some people understand some more things about themselves, their own (lack of) gender(s), and gender as a whole. The very least it will do is reassure trans/genderqueer/gender-variant people in it that they are not alone, no matter how much it seems so - a worthy goal.
Customer Rating:
Summary: She doth protest too much....
Comment: ...wow, I have to read this book for college, what is higher education coming to? So far I'm a fourth of the way through and have no idea what hir theory is. Ze says one thing and then completely contradicts hirself. Hir Gender Identity/Power Pyramid is so biased. Ze spells pyramid wrong, unless "pryamid" is some play on hir words. One of hir points is that to be at the top of the Gender/Power pryamid you must possess a well-formed, above-average-legnth penis. According to studies on Penis legnth world wide, the Irish are the most well endowed, followed by african americans. So according to Kate's pryamid the Irish should be the #1 super power in the world, followed by Africa at #2. Therefore any high ranking man in the USA must be of Irish descent.
Her pyramid has a foundation of strippers, Mr. Potato Head, aliens and cone headed midgets just to name a few. Then at the top is a white man, who has no eyes, holding a son who has no eyes. Basically Kate is evilizing the white heterosexual male who has children. It almost seems that she is creating this them vs. hir mentality in hir pyramid. In hir quizzes ze also gives gender points for being "white" and having blue eyes. Implying hair and eye color has anything to do with gender seems to be a Nazi like theory to me. Ze hirself has blonde hair and blue eyes. Sounds a bit hypocritical. Kate may be confused, that could be why there are contridictions throughout the readings. The evilizing of white, blonde haired blue eyed males seems to stem from self hatred of her former identity. She also seems to be fixated on genetalia and reproducing children, perhaps steming from the loss of her own penis, whatever size it may have been.
I beleive the point of this book so far has been to confuse you so much that you too will be at a loss for what your gender is and buy more of Kate's confusing books to try to figure it all out.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book but could be better
Comment: The layout of this book -- as a workbook with exercises you can do as you move through it -- makes this a very interesting way to examine gender issues in your own life. However I found two problems with the book. First, not all of the sections flow smoothly and the stream of consciousness moments can be distracting and patronizing on a few occassions. Secondly, I think the definition used of "gender" is far to broad to really give the book a solid foundation to build on. You'll find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with much of the book -- isn't that the appropriate thing for a book of self-growth?
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to nonstandard gender
Comment: Kate Bornstein's writing is a pleasure to read! My Gender Workbook is a great way to start looking at nonstandard genders if you're used to thinking in strictly binary terms. While there's room in her viewpoint for girly girls and manly men, there's definitely a bit of bias towards transsexual and genderqueer folks. The quotes from different sources in the sidebar create a variety of perspectives on gender, in case you don't identify too strongly with Kate Bornstein's personal story (which, let's face it, isn't common to most of us).
If you're already breaking the gender binary- that is, if you're the sort of person who'd be interested in this book- then likely it wouldn't provide much more than some much-needed encouragement. However, if you're new to transgressing gender, then this is probably the book for you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Overly simplistic
Comment: I used this book in a college class, and from an academic standpoint, I found it simplistic and many of the exercises seemed pointless. Even worse, Bornstein advocates a "gender-free or gender-bent" presentation of oneself, not realizing that because society creates gender rules, becoming gender-free is still buying into those rules through one's rejection of them. I think everyone should work through their gender issues on their own and not feel bad if they do happen to be a very feminine woman or masculine man (this book assumes every reader doesn't fit into any stereotype, or if they do act stereotypically male or female, it's not because they want to.) From the standpoint of someone reading this book casually, it's very affirming of our differences, but don't forget to read other gender-theory books as well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Well-Meaning, and Sometimes Well-Done, But Often Flawed
Comment: There is stuff here that is good, and all of it is well-meaning. That said, this book is very much a mixed bag.
It suffers from having little sense of who it's audience is. I'd certainly wager that a large majority of people who are reading this book are feminists, queers, or transpeople - or, like myself, *all* of these - and a lot of it is very basic, even frustratingly so, for these people, and this simplicity often shifts back and forth with more advanced stuff. This means that the beginners who do read this may well get lost, and that the people who get the basics will get bored. A lot of it also feels simply cheesy, and even if I wasn't already familiar with the theories and practices presented, I think I would feel condescended to.
It also seems somewhat more MtF oriented than FtM; I can't really give a specific example, but it seemed to have more of a by-and-for trannygirls vibe. I suppose this is part of the problem with having the whole book on genderqueerness written by one white, MtF, middle-class person. Ze certainly tries to give voice to people of different backgrounds, and often succeeds, but having side comments and self-descriptions is different than having real input. This isn't so much an issue of specific instances; rather it's the assumption that one person's experience - any one persons experience, no matter how gender-transgressive they are - is sufficient to write what tries to be a guide to transgressing gender and identity; I think this book would have been much better as a collaboration.
That said, a lot of it is very good. It certainly will help some people understand some more things about themselves, their own (lack of) gender(s), and gender as a whole. The very least it will do is reassure trans/genderqueer/gender-variant people in it that they are not alone, no matter how much it seems so - a worthy goal.
Customer Rating:
Summary: She doth protest too much....
Comment: ...wow, I have to read this book for college, what is higher education coming to? So far I'm a fourth of the way through and have no idea what hir theory is. Ze says one thing and then completely contradicts hirself. Hir Gender Identity/Power Pyramid is so biased. Ze spells pyramid wrong, unless "pryamid" is some play on hir words. One of hir points is that to be at the top of the Gender/Power pryamid you must possess a well-formed, above-average-legnth penis. According to studies on Penis legnth world wide, the Irish are the most well endowed, followed by african americans. So according to Kate's pryamid the Irish should be the #1 super power in the world, followed by Africa at #2. Therefore any high ranking man in the USA must be of Irish descent.
Her pyramid has a foundation of strippers, Mr. Potato Head, aliens and cone headed midgets just to name a few. Then at the top is a white man, who has no eyes, holding a son who has no eyes. Basically Kate is evilizing the white heterosexual male who has children. It almost seems that she is creating this them vs. hir mentality in hir pyramid. In hir quizzes ze also gives gender points for being "white" and having blue eyes. Implying hair and eye color has anything to do with gender seems to be a Nazi like theory to me. Ze hirself has blonde hair and blue eyes. Sounds a bit hypocritical. Kate may be confused, that could be why there are contridictions throughout the readings. The evilizing of white, blonde haired blue eyed males seems to stem from self hatred of her former identity. She also seems to be fixated on genetalia and reproducing children, perhaps steming from the loss of her own penis, whatever size it may have been.
I beleive the point of this book so far has been to confuse you so much that you too will be at a loss for what your gender is and buy more of Kate's confusing books to try to figure it all out.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book but could be better
Comment: The layout of this book -- as a workbook with exercises you can do as you move through it -- makes this a very interesting way to examine gender issues in your own life. However I found two problems with the book. First, not all of the sections flow smoothly and the stream of consciousness moments can be distracting and patronizing on a few occassions. Secondly, I think the definition used of "gender" is far to broad to really give the book a solid foundation to build on. You'll find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with much of the book -- isn't that the appropriate thing for a book of self-growth?
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