I didn’t know much about the Stonewall riots before this month, but I have done some reading and researching to learn more about this event and others in American history. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of this monumental event. I love a good anthology, and The Stonewall Reader edited by The New York Public Library is inspiring.
The Stonewall Inn was a gay nightclub in Greenwich Village in New York City. It was owned by the Mafia and was home to some of the most marginalized among the LGBTQIA community. It was a popular haunt for drag queens, transgender people, lesbians, gays, and everything in between. The Stonewall Riot started in the early morning on June 28, 1969 and lasted until July 1. It was not the first incident nor was it the last. Stonewall was a turning point in American history for LGBTQIA’s fight for rights. The Stonewall Reader strives to capture the spirit and emotions of the times and people leading up to, during, and following the Stonewall Riots.
It’s hard to write reviews of anthologies because there are so many different writers, voices, opinions, and things to say. Looking at The Stonewall Readerin its entirety, it is wonderful. The book is a tapestry of opinions, feelings, insights, and vantage points. I absolutely loved reading it, and would highly suggest it to anyone wanting to know more about the Stonewall Riots, gay rights, or just American history.
Memorable Quotes “Lesbians were probably the only Black and white women in New York City in the fifties who were making any real attempt to communicate with each other…” Audre Lorde Zami: A New Spelling of My Name “The money which I got in exchange for sex was a token indication of one-way desire: that I was wanted enough to be paid for, on my own terms.” John Rechy City of Night
Andrea Lawlor’s debut novel Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girlis quite the book. I’ve never read anything quite like it. It’s not my typical read. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t dislike it. It just made me uncomfortable. Not because of the queer coming of age story. It’s the sex. Not queer sex, I don’t care about that. I just don’t read books with sex in them because reading and watching sex makes me uncomfortable. This book has a lot of sex. The New Yorker calls it “Smut,” and I don’t disagree. The sex has a point to it.
Paul is queer in 90s Iowa City working and going to school as a Women’s Studies major. Paul has a dyke best friend, bartends, and dates around. Paul is a shapeshifter and can be anything he wants on demand. Paul changes his body by shortening his hair to becoming a party girl and everything in between. The young man travels from Iowa to San Francisco encountering struggles and pleasures along the way.
I may have been uncomfortable through the book, but it is very well written. Lawlor fills Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girlwith insightful and quippy one liners from the first page. Paul may be a young man trying to find himself and his place in the world as a queer person, but I think most everyone can identify with Paul in one way or another. People of all ages, genders, and sexualities are on continual journey to find themselves.
I also love that the book is partially set in Iowa City. Unknown fact, Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. The city is home to the University of Iowa, and their internationally renowned MFA Writers’ Workshop. I grew up in Iowa and spent a lot of time in Iowa City during college.
If you’re looking for an intellectually stimulating book which is also fun for the summer, I would highly suggest Paul Takes the Form of A Mortal Girl. It is not for the faint of heart because it is quite the emotional roller coaster.
Memorable Quotes “Paul was flattered Jane thought he could understand what she was saying, did understand some percentage of what she was saying, and was bored by having to think that hard.”
I’m always hesitant about nonfiction books written by people who don’t personally understand what they are writing about, which is why I picked up Transgender History so enthusiastically. Susan Stryker is a scholar and a transsexual woman. The book is full of insight and history and emotional depth. At the root of this often politically charged topic are people. So often that fact is forgotten. Transgender PEOPLE live lives as full and complicated and emotional as anyone else.
It would be almost impossible to discuss trans* history and rights without having an understanding of key terms and phrases. Stryker takes 45 pages to define many important terms. This sounds super boring, but it was actually very interesting. Some terms are well known but many are not.
There is so much information packed into 320 pages. Some of the highlights are the discussions about riots throughout American history and their impact on society and culture. Notably Cooper D-Nuts, Dewey’s, and Compton’s were huge points when several factors came together to create change on some level. The inclusion of excerpts from articles, letters, testimonies, research, and books helps to capture the spirit of the time, provide information from other experts, and give personal stories.
I had always wondered why I heard more about trans women than trans men. Transgender Historygave me the answer. Trans men could often disappear into society living as they wanted to. Known as passing. Trans women did not share the same abilities and have been at a higher risk of violence. I also wondered where the unfortunate idea trans people are rapists came from. Sadly, that idea originated at a feminist convention with the trans woman Beth Elliott. As a feminist, this saddens me greatly. I still don’t understand why there are types of feminism which are exclusionary. (Mine is not.)
Ames was one of a handful of American cities and counties with trans anti-discrimination protections in 2016. Ames is my home town; so proud!
The DSM didn’t depathologize transgender people until the DSM V in 2013
HIV is common in poverty stricken trans communities because of sharing hormone needles.
So many notable trans people are mentioned throughout the pages. Sarah McBride, author of Tomorrow Will Be Different, is mentioned as the first trans person to speak at a televised national convention. Reed Erickson, a transgender male, did so much to further research and science for trans people.
Transgender Historyis misunderstood if it’s understood at all. There is so much I didn’t know and still don’t know. Stryker does an amazing job educating the reader without making them feel guilty or uneducated. If you are interested in learning about a deeply oppressed community, I highly suggest reading this book.
Memorable Quotes “When people struggling against an injustice have no hope that anything will ever change, they use their strength to survive; when they think that their actions matter, that same strength becomes a force for positive change.”
Worth a Read Most Definitely Length 304 Quick Review Sarah McBride is a transgender woman active in politics living her life to the fullest. I was in happy and sad tears the whole book!
I believe change happens when people are moved by people’s stories. There is power in a story. Sarah McBride opens up in Tomorrow Will Be Betterabout her story as a trans woman, a person, a wife, and an advocate. People are more than one adjective; they’re many. Sarah is more than a trans woman. She is a woman with a beautiful, uplifting, and heartbreaking story. If you read this without being moved you’re a gargoyle. I was in happy/sad tears the entire book.
The book starts with a forward by Joe Biden, which is very touching.
Sarah McBride grew up in Delaware and is a “stateriot.” I just love that term because I feel a little bit like a stateriot for my home state: Iowa. She fell in love with politics at a young age and worked on the governor’s campaign before graduating high school. In college at American University, she won student president. Before her senior year of college, she came out to her campus as transgendered. The university embraced her for who she really is. To officially mark the birth of Sarah, she threw a party asking everyone to bring things to fill her brand new closet. (This is such a smart idea! A complete wardrobe change is expensive. Especially as a woman.) After college, she stayed in Washington D.C. working for trans and human rights. She fell in love with the man who would become her husband. Tomorrow Will Be Betteris an apt title for a book full of hardship dripping in hope.
The book focuses on two major parts of Sarah’s life. The fight for trans rights in Delaware and her journey with her husband, Andrew.
Sarah fought and helped pass the marriage equality bill in Delaware. In an unprecedented move a bill to include and protect trans people was passed a month after the marriage equality bill. Sarah was an integral part of passing that bill and bringing other trans people to Delaware’s Congress so their voices could be heard. I remember hearing about this in the news, and it was moving then.
Sarah and Andrew fell in love during her senior year at AU after meeting at a White House dinner. They dated for a year, when they found out Andrew had cancer. Sarah stood by and helped him through the journey. It is a heartbreaking story proving the power of love.
More than anything, I appreciated Sarah’s honesty and her voice in Tomorrow Will Be Better. Being a white, trans woman is a unique perspective. She went from being perceived as a white man with all the privileges that implies to living as her true self, a woman. The experience was incredibly jarring, “I never realized just how disempowering, unsafe, and unsettling it would feel to have a stranger assume they were entitled to comment on my appearance or my body.” The implications of being a woman in the world and being a trans woman in the world are complicated and ultimately dangerous. Transphobia combined with toxic masculinity are dangerous.
Trans rights are incredibly misunderstood if they’re understood at all. For the people who do accept people for who they are, it can come as a surprise the absolute lack of right trans people have. For the people who don’t accept them, it’s (hopefully) from a lack of education. Sarah explains the hurdles trans people face and how it compounds when they are not accepted, a minority, in poverty, etc. Sarah explains so many aspects of the trans experience without anger or judgement. She is patient and kind with a general attitude and hope that Tomorrow Will Be Better. She touches on privilege, names, documentation, medical awareness, and so much more.
This is an incredible story. Sarah McBride is an inspiration. I highly recommend the beautiful memoir, Tomorrow Will Be Better, to anyone who wants to learn, feel, and strive for hope.
Memorable Quotes “”If we cannot change our college, then how can we expect to change our country.”” “There is a unique kind of pain in being unseen.” “Somehow society manages to treat women like both a delicate infant and a sexualized idol in the same moment.” “I felt a moral responsibility to use that privilege and those relationships to subvert the power of prejudice.” “For many of us [trans people], though, we are reluctant to give out that information because it often becomes weaponized against us, invoked instead of our chosen name to ignore and deny our gender identity.”
Love is tough. Kinda like life. Love, dating, relationships, breakups, and marriage (probably not in that order) have changed in my [dating] lifetime, and it has certainly changed over the past couple of generations. Aziz Ansari decided to write Modern Romance about the conditions people face when existing in the dating world. He worked with researchers so it would be more than observational humor. There is a lot of science in this one and some laughs.
Ansari begins with the basics of what dating used to be like. For a woman: Need man or die. For a man: Need woman or no babies, no help, no food, no sex, no one to come home to. 🙁 Dating changed, but still had some of those basic elements in the last century. Most people married for love instead of need, but the marriage age was far lower and people made due with who was in the viscinity. Now, marriage is not necessary for survival. People are searching for soul mates instead of a good enough mate. Also, the internet. Game changer in Modern Romance because there weren’t tons of options outside of the ‘where I am located.’ Now, internet dating and apps make the WHOLE world open.
One thing I really appreciate is Ansari went out of his way to acknowledge how love and dating is still different for men and women, “If you were a woman, you had far less time to find a man. True love? This guy has a job and a decent mustache. Lock it down, girl.” No shit. Romance is still different for women today because, well, lots of reasons. Ansari did not make it seem like everything is the same for men and women because it’s not.
The book explored dating in the United States and the world through focus groups in New York, Tokyo, Paris, and Buenos Aires. There were also conversations had with women in Qatar and other places in the U.S. Honestly, the dating scene sounds pretty horrific in Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and Qatar. The focus groups and science helped bring a lot of credence to what Ansari was saying, and it also proves a lot of personal observations to be fact and not just observations.
Modern Romanceisn’t all just science and statistics. It’s pretty funny. Ansari has a tendency towards hilarious and prolonged tangents. If you’ve ever heard me tell a story, this is something I do and appreciate. I also discovered, Ansari and I have a similar approach to choosing restaurants and a passion for food. Although, I don’t think this is terrible special considering everyone I spend time around has an incredible passion for the culinary arts.
Side Notes:
Aziz, I hope it worked out for you and the juicer.
Statistic: iPhone users are twice as likely to sext as Android users. Android users are by and large nerdier than iPhone users. We (Android users) have less opportunity or second party interest to sext…. It’s not our fault.
The young, body, sex positive women give me so much hope. I wish I had that kind of confidence at their age.
All in all, Modern Romancewas not at all what I expected. It was very interesting and funny. I wouldn’t say I learned a ton, but I read a whole bunch. I’ve also done my fair share of dating the old fashioned way and via technology, so the love truths were duhs from me.
Memorable Quotes “Today, if you own a smartphone, you’re carrying a 24-7 singles bar in your pocket.” “Nowadays the Internet is my chubby friends. It is the whole world’s chubby friend.”
Title: Modern Romance Author: Aziz Ansari With: Eric Klinenberg Publisher: Penguin Press (Penguin Random House/Penguin Group) Copyright: 2015 ISBN: 9781594206276
I loved this book. Firstby Evan Thomas is a beautiful look into the life and work of Sandra Day O’Connor. It is an in depth and interesting look at the life of a fascinating and brilliant woman. Thomas pays homage to a life built on principle, truth, honor, and family.
I didn’t know much about Sandra Day O’Connor when I started the book, except for the fact she exists and the Supreme Court bit. Surprisingly, a lot of my peers don’t know anything about her either. Even my feminist friends didn’t realize she was the first woman on the Supreme Court. Ugh, the education system fails again. I couldn’t wait to dive into this book, and it did not disappoint. Thomas writes an account as brilliant and intimate as the woman deserves.
Sandra Day O’Connor was born and raised on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. She went to Stanford for her B.A. in Economics as well as for law school. She married her husband John O’Connor. As an educated woman in the 1950’s, she had difficulty finding work as a lawyer even though she was more than qualified. She became the mother of three boys and was an active part of their Arizona community. In the 1960’s, she was an assistant Attorney General in Arizona before becoming a Senator in Arizona’s state legislature. In 1974, she became a judge. In 1981, Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court, where she worked tirelessly for justice. She was the Firstwoman to be on the Supreme Court.
There is so much in a life, but in an extraordinary life, there is even more. First could have been a much longer book and still been interesting. Thomas writes about the life and the woman. She was funny, personable, and hardworking. Sandra Day O’Connor cared. She cared about her family, the people around her, and the country. She worked for the good of the community and the world. She kept her personal feelings aside from her job in order to make the right decision. People who met her were always charmed.
I, generally, don’t love female biographies written by men. They don’t have the life experience of women and can’t write an accurate depiction of what women go through. Thomas is not afraid to point out the inequality and male blind spots O’Connor faced in her daily life as a strong and smart woman.
One thing I deeply admire about Sandra Day O’Connor was her dedication to her family and her career. In a time when women didn’t have careers, she rose to one of the highest positions in the country. Her husband supported her and was a partner, but she did the same for him.
I highly suggest Firstby Evan Thomas. It is a beautiful biography and homage to a revolutionary woman.
Memorable Quotes “She learned not to take the bait.” “Revolution always breeds counterrevolution.” “when Sandra Day O’Connor joined the Court in 1981, the justices were still working out whether gays and women enjoyed the same Fourteenth Amendment protection as African Americans did.”
