Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man
by Thomas Page McBee
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Description
"From an award-winning writer whose work bristles with "hard-won strength, insight, agility, and love" (Maggie Nelson), an exquisite and troubling narrative of masculinity, violence, and society. In this groundbreaking new book, the author, a trans man, trains to fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden while struggling to untangle the vexed relationship between masculinity and violence. Through his experience boxing--learning to get hit, and to hit back; wrestling with the show more camaraderie of the gym; confronting the betrayals and strength of his own body--McBee examines the weight of male violence, the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes, and the limitations of conventional masculinity. A wide-ranging exploration of gender in our society, Amateur is ultimately a story of hope, as McBee traces a new way forward, a new kind of masculinity, inside the ring and outside of it. In this graceful, stunning, and uncompromising exploration of living, fighting, and healing, we gain insight into the stereotypes and shifting realities of masculinity today through the eyes of a new man"-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
An incisive look at gender, at what makes a man, written by a transman with no decent model to look to. McBee explores the answers to these questions as he learns to box in preparation for a charity match. His memories, observations, questions and answers, open up new avenues to think about what makes a man, or at least what makes a good man. This is sharp, honest, and creates a new framework for defining masculinity. This one goes on the list of books I recommend to my son.
Round One
In his training for the fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden, McBee joined the Church Boxing Gym. It is in downtown Manhattan and in underground down several flights of stairs. There are several rings in the room and it is covered with posters of fighters long forgotten. It is a place that oozes testosterone, echoes to the sound of people working out and sparring and the aroma of stale sweat permeates the place.
Round Two
Mangual and the other guys training him admired his energy and enthusiasm and were fully behind him for this match. Thomas Page McBee was learning how to punch, how to get hit, when to defend and when to strike. Every time he entered the ring he learnt a little more about what makes a man, what show more makes them resort to a physical way of dealing with issues and why some sorts of masculinity were toxic. But McBee had not been completely open with those training him; when they said he had balls facing the other guys in the ring, it turns out that he didn’t.
Round Three
Because McBee was trans. After a lifetime of being, but not feeling female and having had surgery and testosterone and hormones that he started at the age of 30, he finally got a new birth certificate at the age of 31 declaring the sex he always knew he was. But there is more depth to this book than just his personal journey across the gender divide. He uses it to ask wider questions as to why men are as they are, how women’s perception of him changed and how culture and stereotypes should not always define who we are or who we aim to be. show less
In his training for the fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden, McBee joined the Church Boxing Gym. It is in downtown Manhattan and in underground down several flights of stairs. There are several rings in the room and it is covered with posters of fighters long forgotten. It is a place that oozes testosterone, echoes to the sound of people working out and sparring and the aroma of stale sweat permeates the place.
Round Two
Mangual and the other guys training him admired his energy and enthusiasm and were fully behind him for this match. Thomas Page McBee was learning how to punch, how to get hit, when to defend and when to strike. Every time he entered the ring he learnt a little more about what makes a man, what show more makes them resort to a physical way of dealing with issues and why some sorts of masculinity were toxic. But McBee had not been completely open with those training him; when they said he had balls facing the other guys in the ring, it turns out that he didn’t.
Round Three
Because McBee was trans. After a lifetime of being, but not feeling female and having had surgery and testosterone and hormones that he started at the age of 30, he finally got a new birth certificate at the age of 31 declaring the sex he always knew he was. But there is more depth to this book than just his personal journey across the gender divide. He uses it to ask wider questions as to why men are as they are, how women’s perception of him changed and how culture and stereotypes should not always define who we are or who we aim to be. show less
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21 Books for a Better You
21 works; 4 members
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5+ Works 421 Members
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- Alternate titles
- Amateur: A Reckoning with Gender, Identity, and Masculinity; Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man
Classifications
- Genres
- Sexuality and Gender Studies, LGBTQ+, Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Sports and Leisure
- DDC/MDS
- 155.3 — Philosophy & psychology Psychology Differential and developmental psychology Sexuality and Gender
- LCC
- HQ1090 .M394 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women Men
- BISAC
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- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.24)
- Languages
- English, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 4
