How to think about trans people

Anyone have any good recommendations for trans-positive media appropriate for high school students? I'm looking for some decent novels for my students, but short stories with trans protagonists would be excellent, too.

Yeah, my appreciation for this discussion and Hyp's contribution is worth far more than a like.

... enough said.

MrMetonymy wrote:

Anyone have any good recommendations for trans-positive media appropriate for high school students? I'm looking for some decent novels for my students, but short stories with trans protagonists would be excellent, too.

If I Was Your Girl - Meredith Russo

I'm a big fan of Nevada by Imogen Binnie, mostly because it doesn't put the openly trans protagonist on a pedestal, she's deeply flawed and the book doesn't shy away from that. It rang true in a whole lot of ways to my experience with being trans, openly and in the closet. There's drug use and it's a little sexually explicit in places, so I'd recommend reading it through yourself first. It's short, as far as novels go, you could get through it in an afternoon.

Thinking through this, I realized I have a bunch of media about trans women, but not a bunch about trans men. Bleh.

Hypatian wrote:

Comments suggesting that certain kinds of music are "unmanly" is patriarchal crap, even if you don't intend it to be—even if you are speaking in jest. This is much the same principle by which saying racist things "ironically" doesn't stop them from being racist comments.

I get that, but I specifically called it out as not unmanly, but rather, stereotypically popular with people who believe in crystals. That's why I was surprised, because you picked a reading I had not even considered, much less intended.

How I was to anticipate that is difficult for me to see. I hope you can understand that, and that I didn't mean it at all the way you took it.

Edit - It occurs to me that I should point out that I don't see "anti-male" as in stereotypical TERF attitudes implying "unmanly" as in transsexual slur.

This stuff is hard.

Freyja wrote:
MrMetonymy wrote:

Anyone have any good recommendations for trans-positive media appropriate for high school students? I'm looking for some decent novels for my students, but short stories with trans protagonists would be excellent, too.

If I Was Your Girl - Meredith Russo

I'm a big fan of Nevada by Imogen Binnie, mostly because it doesn't put the openly trans protagonist on a pedestal, she's deeply flawed and the book doesn't shy away from that. It rang true in a whole lot of ways to my experience with being trans, openly and in the closet. There's drug use and it's a little sexually explicit in places, so I'd recommend reading it through yourself first. It's short, as far as novels go, you could get through it in an afternoon.

Thinking through this, I realized I have a bunch of media about trans women, but not a bunch about trans men. Bleh.

Thanks for the recommendations, Freyja! I'll try to check out both of the titles you suggested and see where they land. Even if they end up being too racy for public school, I'll be interested to read them just for myself.

I'm also on the look for any good nonfiction in this area, as well--particularly memoirs, if you know of any.

Laura Jane Grace has an autobiography coming out on Nov. 16. Not sure how appropriate it will be for public school, but it's going to be good if it's anything at all like the interviews I've heard with her.

There are tons of trans non-fiction out there, so much that the trans memoir has nearly become a trope.

Some that I liked:

Redefining Realness - Janet Mock
Whipping Girl - Julia Serano <- This is still the most personally impactful book that I've read about being trans ever. I read it when I was first thinking about coming out; I think it's especially valuable because it puts being a trans woman in a greater context of a society that devalues femininity. Serano was able to concisely explain feelings I'd had for years but been unable to articulate.

These exist but I haven't read them:

She's Not There - Jennifer Finney Boylan
Man Alive - Thomas Page McBee
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
Gender Outlaws - Kate Bornstein

Alex Marshall's Crimson Empire books have at least one probably two trans characters. The second book explicitly states that one character's mother is trans and she becomes a POV character in the second book. There is also a woman who is described as a badass knight, beautiful and sporting a magnificent mustache. The books in general have interesting gender dynamics and are a pretty well written.

Thanks to everyone for all the book recommendations. It's really helpful to get personal opinions rather than trying to judge from back-of-the-book synopses.

You folks are awesome!

So one member of your band has transitioned. How do you bring up the subject with your audience?

I knew that was going to be good before I even hit play, but true to their name, it was awesome.

From Huffpost, a video from the Department of Justice on how police should treat transgender people. Surprisingly good, but only trans women as examples.

Thoughts?

(I love that it explicitly rejects bathroom bills/laws.)

Roo wrote:

From Huffpost, a video from the Department of Justice on how police should treat transgender people. Surprisingly good, but only trans women as examples.

Thoughts?

(I love that it explicitly rejects bathroom bills/laws.)

Holy crap. That was PG County. One of the most notorious departments in the State of Maryland.

The nice thing about being a "notorious" area is that it's been a known problem for a while. Not that I suspect they've solved anything, but it's been at least a place that has been being called out to think about what/how they do things for quite some time.

I forget if this has been shared here before. It probably has--but it's worth sharing again anyway because it's pretty awesome.

Corollary: We need more trans writers in genre fiction.

Not that a cisgendered person couldn't write a trans character well, but the odds aren't as good. And honestly, if a character starts to feel off or stereotyped in this regard, I'm going to give a lot more leeway if the team includes trans writers (or at least folks in the editorial process).

wordsmythe wrote:

Corollary: We need more trans writers in genre fiction.

Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it, okay?

wordsmythe wrote:

Corollary: We need more trans writers in genre fiction.

Not that a cisgendered person couldn't write a trans character well, but the odds aren't as good. And honestly, if a character starts to feel off or stereotyped in this regard, I'm going to give a lot more leeway if the team includes trans writers (or at least folks in the editorial process).

Not a huge spoiler, I think, but:

Spoiler:

There's a well-written trans character in N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season

ClockworkHouse wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Corollary: We need more trans writers in genre fiction.

Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it, okay?

IMAGE(https://le0pard13.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/misery-1.jpg)

I like that you assume I'm the crazed fan and not the writer.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I like that you assume I'm the crazed fan and not the writer. :P

You're a smart lady, I assumed you'd take the most efficient approach. If you're the writer, you're adding one trans genre author. If you're the fan, you could have an entire terrifying basement full of captive trans writers!

Jonman wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I like that you assume I'm the crazed fan and not the writer. :P

You're a smart lady, I assumed you'd take the most efficient approach. If you're the writer, you're adding one trans genre author. If you're the fan, you could have an entire terrifying basement full of captive trans writers!

I like the way you think.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Jonman wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I like that you assume I'm the crazed fan and not the writer. :P

You're a smart lady, I assumed you'd take the most efficient approach. If you're the writer, you're adding one trans genre author. If you're the fan, you could have an entire terrifying basement full of captive trans writers!

I like the way you think.

Engineers gonna engine.

Spoiler:

Yeah, I know. Look, you're the writer, you fix it.

The dreaded hour later double post!!

Way to be, Pilsen!