bibliothecarivs reviewed Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Review of 'Gender Queer' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
fREADom #UniteAgainstBookBans
Paperback, 240 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2019 by Lion Forge, LLC, The.
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.
Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.
fREADom #UniteAgainstBookBans
This graphic novel is among the greatest hits of the book banners who in the past few years have been berating librarians and threatening the freedom of others to simply read. As an autobiography, I can see how Gender Queer—with its absolute unveiled description of Maia Kobabe’s journey to eir realization of self—might be discomforting to some, but this work could be absolutely life-saving for young people in crisis or just struggling with putting into words who they are.
An impressive "graphic memoir." One of the few comic-book-style memoirs I've ever read, and one that I couldn't put down. I'm a slow reader and it only took me an hour or two to get through it. The illustrations are top-notch and the writing is engaging, as well. An important work that everyone should read and learn from.
Personal note on the research mentioned: Touching a Nerve, by Patricia S. Churchland.
Content warning Misgendering, Transphobia / TERF alert
I highly recommend this book if you yourself are non-binary, or want to better understand how it works.
It does contain misgendering, and a TERF lesbian aunt.
I personally didn't care for how the book ended, but it's not like it was bad or anything. It just felt sudden and "oh that's it".