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Seeing gender : an illustrated guide to identity and expression
Book
2022
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Trade Reviews
Booklist Review
Gottlieb has adapted her primer on gender, identity, and sexuality for teens (though it's still very much a crossover title for an adult audience). Readers will be immediately drawn to Gottlieb's colorful, detailed, and stylized artwork and will stay for the succinct text, made accessible in short passages set against plenty of white space. Divided into three main sections, the book begins with an introduction to related terminology and such basics as gender identity, gender dysphoria, pronouns, and a breakdown of the acronym LGBTQ+. A lengthier second section delves deeper, explaining intersectionality, third and fourth genders, discrimination in sports, mental health in the trans community, police violence against Black men, and more. This section also comprises many feminist issues, from the "pink tax" and abortion to women in STEM and the feminization of poverty. Throughout these first sections, the author includes engaging cultural and scientific references, like the evolution of the color pink, and spotlights people who are redefining gender roles. The author also uses this updated version to address the complexities of David Bowie and Coco Chanel. Finally, the third section serves as a brief photo essay in which Gottlieb chronicles her surgery journey. She wraps up the book with an extensive list of resources. A beautiful and enlightening guide for readers new to the topics.
Horn Book Review
Beginning with basics (e.g. how sex, gender, and sexuality differ), this guide to "inhabiting a body in a gendered world" covers an astonishingly broad yet interrelated array of topics in double-page-spread sections. Discussion includes intersectional feminism, the "pink tax," women in STEM, trans issues, violence against black males, abortion, sex work, advertising, alternate genders in Indigenous cultures, and snail sex and sea turtle gender. "Spotlight" pages highlight gender nonconforming role models like Laverne Cox and Prince. Gottlieb's simply drawn and colorful illustrations lighten each page with a striking image and plentiful white space, and a concluding section reveals her unfolding understanding of her own gender. Back matter includes a bibliography, websites and hotlines, and an index. This is the paperback edition of a book previously published in hardcover. (c) Copyright 2023. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A browsable potpourri of information and musings on gender. First published in 2019, this newly revised paperback edition explores a range of topics related to gender. The book is divided into three sections: "A Good Place To Start," "Digging Deeper," and "My Story." A new foreword by Kacen Callender and a content warning start the book off. Part 1 explores gender as a social construct, gender and sexuality terminology, and pronouns. Part 2 explores subjects such as intersectionality, colonialism, toxic masculinity, sports, gendered violence, Black masculinity through the White gaze, cultural bias against sex work, and historical movements like the Zapatistas and the Stonewall Uprising. Occasional profiles of famous individuals such as David Bowie and Coco Chanel have been updated to acknowledge their complicated legacies. Part 3 explores Gottlieb's own gender journey with a reflection on how Harry Styles helped inform her gender, an account of her experience with anorexia, and a top-surgery journal. Some spreads include information about different human sexualities and animal sexual behaviors and sex characteristics that, while informative, does not actually pertain directly to gender and, for some readers, may muddy the distinctions among gender, sex characteristics, and sexuality. Other language choices are at times overgeneralized, imprecise, and/or confusing, as when the text includes contradictory statements. The full-color art includes both full-page illustrations and spot art, some of it representational and clearly connected to the text. An informative hodgepodge that explores gender identity and related subjects. (resources, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Summary
In this vibrant book, queer author and artist Iris Gottlieb visually explores gender in all of its complexities, answering questions and providing guidance while also mining history and pop culture for the stories and people who have shaped the conversation on gender.



Informed by Gottlieb's personal experiences, this deeply researched and brilliantly rendered book demystifies this fluid topic at a critical time. For LGBTQIA+ people, Seeing Gender offers a space for self-exploration, giving comfort, advice, and reassurance in the sometimes confusing process of navigating one's identity. For allies, this book is an essential tool for understanding and thoughtfully participating in this necessary cultural conversation. Whatever one's position, Seeing Gender is a must-read people who are passionate about changing the way we see and talk about gender and sexuality in the twenty-first century.
Table of Contents
Forewordp. 11
Introductionp. 13
Part 1A Good Place to Startp. 17
Part 2Digging Deeperp. 61
Part 3My Storyp. 181
Afterword: Learning Never Endsp. 194
Resources to Expand Your Understanding of Genderp. 196
Indexp. 200
Acknowledgmentsp. 203
About the Authorp. 204
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