The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice
Sep 2021 · Penguin UK
4.1star
16 reviewsreport
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320
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About this ebook
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Few books are as urgent as Shon Faye's debut ... Faye has hope for the future - and maybe so should we' Independent
'Unsparing, important and weighty ... a vitally needed antidote' Observer
'A moving and impressively comprehensive overview of trans life' Vogue
Trans people in Britain today have become a culture war 'issue'. Despite making up less than one per cent of the country's population, they are the subjects of a toxic and increasingly polarized 'debate' which generates reliable controversy for newspapers and talk shows. This media frenzy conceals a simple fact: that we are having the wrong conversation, a conversation in which trans people themselves are reduced to a talking point and denied a meaningful voice.
In this powerful new book, Shon Faye reclaims the idea of the 'transgender issue' to uncover the reality of what it means to be trans in a transphobic society. In doing so, she provides a compelling, wide-ranging analysis of trans lives from youth to old age, exploring work, family, housing, healthcare, the prison system and trans participation in the LGBTQ+ and feminist communities, in contemporary Britain and beyond.
The Transgender Issue is a landmark work that signals the beginning of a new, healthier conversation about trans life. It is a manifesto for change, and a call for justice and solidarity between all marginalized people and minorities. Trans liberation, as Faye sees it, goes to the root of what our society is and what it could be; it offers the possibility of a more just, free and joyful world for all of us.
'Fundamentally not a culture-war book. It operates outside the narrow coverage of trans people in the mainstream, and lays bare the inarguable facts' New Statesman
'Monumental and utterly convincing - crystal clear in its understanding of how the world should be' Judith Butler
'Few books are as urgent as Shon Faye's debut ... Faye has hope for the future - and maybe so should we' Independent
'Unsparing, important and weighty ... a vitally needed antidote' Observer
'A moving and impressively comprehensive overview of trans life' Vogue
Trans people in Britain today have become a culture war 'issue'. Despite making up less than one per cent of the country's population, they are the subjects of a toxic and increasingly polarized 'debate' which generates reliable controversy for newspapers and talk shows. This media frenzy conceals a simple fact: that we are having the wrong conversation, a conversation in which trans people themselves are reduced to a talking point and denied a meaningful voice.
In this powerful new book, Shon Faye reclaims the idea of the 'transgender issue' to uncover the reality of what it means to be trans in a transphobic society. In doing so, she provides a compelling, wide-ranging analysis of trans lives from youth to old age, exploring work, family, housing, healthcare, the prison system and trans participation in the LGBTQ+ and feminist communities, in contemporary Britain and beyond.
The Transgender Issue is a landmark work that signals the beginning of a new, healthier conversation about trans life. It is a manifesto for change, and a call for justice and solidarity between all marginalized people and minorities. Trans liberation, as Faye sees it, goes to the root of what our society is and what it could be; it offers the possibility of a more just, free and joyful world for all of us.
'Fundamentally not a culture-war book. It operates outside the narrow coverage of trans people in the mainstream, and lays bare the inarguable facts' New Statesman
'Monumental and utterly convincing - crystal clear in its understanding of how the world should be' Judith Butler
Ratings and reviews
4.1
16 reviews
E
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July 27, 2022
Shon "enjoy ur erasure, women" Faye writes passionately in defense of trans people. However, in refusing to engage arguments beside her own, does us all a disservice. Scant mention of any other is simply dismissed as "bigoted" or transphobic. A sole attempt at rebuttal, on the contentious topic of children who identify as trans being given puberty "blockers" & cross-sex hormones, was to simply declare "everyone deserves healthcare". With which most (I hope) agree; but isn't the argument she alleges is being made. No mention of other issues: consequences of housing non-transitioning (but "identifying" as women) males in female prisons; transition regret in youth; for ex. Faye also claims high rate of mental illness in trans comm is solely due to transphobia (not gender dysphoria?). As for trans women in the sex industry making up the overwhelming majority of all trans people killed worldwide, Faye simply states: "sex work is work". A frustrating read - that ultimately hurts, not helps
Brandon Elder
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June 17, 2023
I haven't bought this book, but I can still rate it. Y'all gotta heed the 1* reviews with a grain of salt. That is to say, the salt from the tears of transphobes who can't read a book to save their lives.
Jhony Robinson
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June 9, 2023
Damn, total waste of my time
About the author
Shon Faye is author of the acclaimed bestseller The Transgender Issue. Her work has been published in, among others, the Guardian, Independent, British Vogue and VICE. She writes an advice column, Dear Shon, for Vogue.com. Born in Bristol, she now lives in London.
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