Seeing Gender

Description

Seeing Gender is an of-the-moment investigation into how we express and understand the complexities of gender today. Deeply researched and fully illustrated, this book demystifies an intensely personal - yet universal - facet of humanity. Illustrating a different concept on each spread, queer author and artist Iris Gottlieb touches on history, science, sociology, and her own experience. For LGBTQ+ people, this book offers 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 contributing to a necessary cultural conversation. Whatever one's perspective, Seeing Gender is a must-read for intelligent, curious, want-to-be woke people who care about how we see and talk about gender and sexuality in the 21st century.

Iris Gottlieb is a Durham, North Carolina-based illustrator and author of Seeing Science (Chronicle Books, 2018) and Natural Attraction (Sasquatch Books, 2017). Her work aims to educate, humour, and provide accessible information through visual storytelling. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, The Exploratorium, and beyond.

Starred Review Gender, especially when explored through an intersectional lens, can be a fraught and overwhelming topic. Gottlieb takes on the complexities of gender in the modern world through easy-to-digest writing, humor, and powerful illustrations. It's like a series of informative Twitter threads compressed into a book. Despite the brevity, terminology and concepts are explained fully. Each bright spread can stand alone, making this the perfect book to flip through at leisure, while those wanting a deep dive will devour the text cover to cover. Included are short biographies of historical figures and pop culture icons who influenced our understanding of gender. The volume concludes with a poignant section on the author's transition. Gottlieb also covers the connections among sexual assault, race, nationality, poverty, and mental health. Back matter includes help lines, advocacy resources, and recommendations for poetry, essays, and novels to further explore the ideas presented here. Though this text takes on some heavy material, overall, it's hopeful and understanding. If a book can be friendly, this is the one. It's engaging and acknowledges that people are fallible, which will comfort teens who have made mistakes while trying to support friends. VERDICT Give this to anyone who exists in a gendered society. (Which means, as the book points out, everyone.) Highly recommended for school and public libraries. -School Library Journal By looking at the way that gender works from a variety of perspectives, Seeing Gender creates a tapestry that seeks to facilitate a conversation about gender that moves beyond the surface. -Comics Beat Named one of 19 Best Reads of 2019 by OUTtv. No matter what your age or inclination, Seeing Gender presents an extraordinarily helpful discussion in a way that's both personal and powerful. As Gottlieb concludes, 'The process of learning about gender is never finished.' Seeing Gender is an excellent book about free expression and understanding the multi-faced subject of identity. As society's conception of gender changes, books like Seeing Gender will be vital in promoting and encouraging understanding of its myriad complexities. -GeekDad This is the book I wish I had growing up. That I could have handed to family and friends, linked people to in those early pre-social media days, when reaching out was much more limited. It covers so much more than I was expecting-privilege, toxic masculinity, eating disorders, pronouns, advertising. It's a mix of hardcore research and intimate, raw experiences sharing space with Gottlieb's crisp, vibrant art. -Rachel Swan, Bookshop Santa Cruz