Name: Gender Pioneers
ISBN: 9781787755154

Philippa Punchard

A beautifully illustrated collection of portraits showcasing over a hundred trans, non-binary and intersex trailblazers. This book is a celebration of the extraordinary lives of these individuals who fought for equality and change.

A Celebration of Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex Icons

Gender Pioneers

J’Naia Stepp

I found it to be an interesting and very informative book about trans, intersex and non-binary figures throughout history. It’s was interesting to see how different people throw out different points in history were treated and how they chose to live their lives.

Eliza Gonzalez

It breaks my heart to give this a one star rating. It's both a book I had such high hopes for and the first ARC I've received (thank you to NetGalley & JKP for the advanced copy).

My first point of contention with the book is that the title is extremely misleading. It says it is a celebration of trans, nb, and intersex icons. I thought the entries would be about trans, nb, and intersex people who have done something of note. I was quickly disillusioned of that expectation.

There are some in here who many would consider gender pioneering icons, such as Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, Lili Elbe, Anne Lister, and Alan Hart, but there are also those in here who are rapists and murderers. I surely hope that Punchard isn't actually celebrating them. Judging by the introduction, I would assume not, as it sets up the book to tackle the argument that trans and non-binary people are a fad of a modern era. A simple look at gender non-conforming people through history is a perfectly fine concept for a book, but is not what was marketed.

This would be enough to knock the book down a star or two, but it was the actual content that had the rating plummeting. The book is all over the place. The entries are not organized in order of when they lived, there are several spelling and grammar errors, the writing reads as if someone was just jotting down a list of notes or facts they picked up on google, and—most egregious of all—I lost track of how often people were being misgendered in this book.

Not only was there misgendering, but insensitive and sometimes offensive language being used many times throughout the book, such as saying that a trans person's "true" gender was discovered. It was not their true gender. It was the sex they were assigned at birth. Please do better.

All of these aspects compounded to make a very unenjoyable read, and I even read aloud a few passages to my mom to hear her thoughts, to which end she agreed with me completely. Many times I questioned if the book had even seen an editor or simply was pushed through as a first draft. Very disappointing.

Gender Pioneers A Celebration of Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex Icons

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