Becoming a Visible Man

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: In a clear and logical style, Becoming a Visible Man tackles the history, biology, medicine, philosophy, and politics that claim to define and control gender in the US.

Profoundly personal and eminently practical, Jamison Green clarifies transgender experience for transgender people and their families, friends, and co-workers. Medical and mental healthcare providers, educators at every level, business leaders, and advocates seeking information about transgender concerns can all gain from Green's integrative approach to the topic. This book candidly addresses the emotional relationships that are impacted by a transgender transition, and brings refined integrity to the struggle to self-define, show more whether one undergoes a transition or chooses not to.

Emphasizing the lives of transgender men (who are often overlooked) he elucidates the experience of masculinity in a way that is self-assured and comforting, not demanding or threatening. Self-acceptance and health are always at the core of his message. Green's inspirational wisdom has informed and empowered thousands of readers with knowledge and compassion. There is still no other book like it in the transgender library.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Most people are profoundly unaware of the entire experience of being outside the gender binary in a world totally predicated on it. I was one, until I wasn't anymore, and like the "eww-ick" homophobes I've known and known of over the years, I had no idea how my ignorance would come across to the trans people I knew and know.

It is worth an empathetic look into the lived experience of the people you're Othering.

This is the second edition of a book now twenty years old. It helps to understand that; it helps to know that, while some things have changed, more have not...or have not for the better. Reading Author Green's personal story of knowing he was a man yet having the body of a woman is deeply moving. It is important to learn this from a person whose gender dysphoria was severe enough that the long, complicated road to gender-affirming treatment was the best option. For anyone who thinks this is a simple thing, read this book.

A lot of Author Green's impact on the conversation around trans issues stems from being willing to educate others about the topic. This is very much a book aiming to teach...at times a bit too determinedly so, hence that missing half-star. It can feel overwhelming. It has taken me literal years to read the book. It is, for me, an occasion of deep shame to realize how in my ignorance I was insensitive to my trans siblings. So learning the parameters of the experience of being trans has been a difficult reckoning, a hard catharsis, and a reason to look deep inside myself.

I know many are now looking at this and shuddering, thinking "no thanks." I would have as well. I did, apart from small bursts, for a long time. Not greatly to my credit I've chosen the first Pride Month of the Felonious Yam's second regime to finish and review it.

If you're having trouble seeing how this can even be a thing, try this analogy I found in the book. I'm paraphrasing here but: biosex is the hardware; cultural gender roles are the software; one's internal gender identity is the operating system that communicates between them and is the "user interface."

It's hugely helpful to me to have a simile to turn to for deeper understanding. What this does is offer a way in to "getting" how issues can arise in any of these ways of existing in the world. It also acts as a powerful reminder that there is not one single way to be literally anything in this world. All of life is in spectrums. We're educated in the US...in the religious-nut-capitalist world more generally...to see binaries, of which there are few. They're very comforting for lazy or stupid people but if science has taught us nothing else it's taught us that comfort is only bought at the exorbitant price of ignorance.

The annotated bibliography is quite something. The idea of all these sources existing in spite of every attempt to silence or disappear them by the screaming bigots is impressive. It also helps explain the screaming bigots' urgency in erasing us all. Information leads people to learning, and the habit of mind we call learning is the most potent weapon against the unreasoning hatred that is required for fascism and authoritarians to rule.

Resist them. Learn about the facts of transness from someone who lives it, and is willing to teach you when you're ready to be taught. show less

There aren’t a lot of books available on the female to male transgender experience. Unlike those undergoing male to female transition, FTM folks seem to be more quiet about their process. I was glad to find this book as someone dear to me has gone through this transition and I long to gain a better understanding of what he has gone through.
This book speaks to both the larger culture and challenges in the trans community and the more individual ones experienced by the author and his family. I found it interesting and yet heart breaking how each of the sectors of the LGBTQ communities still fight against each other. I so wish we could accept people for what and where they are, not jockeying for position over one another.

In a small way show more I’ve never felt comfortable in my body- not gender- or sex-wise, but always vaguely disappointed in its lack of strength and my inefficient shape. When I had my first child and had to have a c-section, it took me a long time to find any affection for that body, especially as I struggled with breast-feeding and such, all things I had been raised to expect a female body could do with ease, or at least without so much of a battle.

I can’t imagine how very horrible it would be to reject the actual shape and function of my apparent gender, how very lost one would feel, how right it would be to finally match up the bits with the brain, be who you are. This book gave me a bit of a glimpse into this process.

I recommend it for anyone interested in knowing more about transition and the transitioning community. I have much to learn. show less

the introduction "how do you know?" is great for the classroom - it's a speech jamison green gives to a group of skeptical college kids. some of the kids know he's ftm, and some don't.

why it's teachable:

content: an exploration of how gender is constructed socially and biologically.

style: a speech that makes a compelling "devil's advocate" argument. engaging and funny.

I found this quite disappointing. I was expecting it to be about his personal transition, but it's more about how various organisations have been set up and how it's all thanks to him. The general opinion seems to be that FTMs would not exist if it wasn't for him and I found this really irritating.

Very simply the best FTM autobiography out there. Not only does Green discuss his own life, but he goes over the general mechanics of a female-to-male transition, providing valuable information. Well written, a great book one could give to family and friends to help them understand.

the introduction "how do you know?" is great for the classroom - it's a speech jamison green gives to a group of skeptical college kids. some of the kids know he's ftm, and some don't.

why it's teachable:

content: an exploration of how gender is constructed socially and biologically.

style: a speech that makes a compelling "devil's advocate" argument. engaging and funny.