#gender queer: a memoir

[richincolor]

On Book Bans 📚

The 2023 Banned Books Update is out from PEN America, and you should definitely check it out. One data point that leapt out to me: 

“Overwhelmingly, book banners continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. In this six-month period, 30% of the unique titles banned are books about race, racism, or feature characters of color. Meanwhile, 26% of unique titles banned have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.“

And what can you do about it? This thread from Kelly Jensen has plenty of resources. Here is a Book Riot round-up of anti-censorship groups across America, and here is a post on how to fight book bans. 

Kelly Jensen on Twitter is a great follow for anti-book-ban resources and efforts, as is Florida Freedom to Read. 

TL;DR -- the best way to help is to get involved locally: 

attend school board meetings

keep up with what your local library is up to

write to your local representatives

call out book ban attempts and hate groups

donate to groups fighting book bans

and of course, don’t forget to vote

tell others about what is happening -- don’t let this fly under the radar

[renaroo]

For the last two years, one graphic novel has been the source of controversy and censorship in the United States of America. Young audiences all over have been gravitating toward the deeply personal and frank discussions of self and exploration that is Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir.

Join Behind the Yellow Boxes as Steph and Brook explore the controversial graphic novel, return to their opinions on censorship and book bans, and provide a brief overview of the story within.

For more information about current book bans as well as advice on what you can do to battle censorship in your community, visit bit.ly/GenderQueerbans

We’re on patreon! Support us at patreon.com/yellowboxespodcast

Follow us on twitter @yellowboxespod, email us at yellowboxespodcast@gmail.com, and find our full show notes over at yellowboxespodcast.blogspot.com.

Feelin’ Good Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

[iampancakeee]

I read "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe today and I nearly cried like twice (but I held my tears because I was in public lol)

I related so much to most of eir experiences. It's crazy how e was able to put them into words so perfectly when I've been struggling for months, if not years, to say the same thing.

I plan to actually buy the book when I have money so I can have it in my hands because it's just that special.

Anyways here are my favourite panels, the ones I related to the most :)

[acesincomics]

New from the American Library Association: Gender Queer, the graphic memoir by aromantic asexual non-binary creator Maia Kobabe @redgoldsparks, remains the most challenged book in the United States for two years in a row.

2022 also saw unprecedented attempts to ban library books across the U.S. Today’s report includes the Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022, which makes clear what books are being targeted: books by and about LGBTQIA+ and Black people. -American Library Association

Gender Queer has been challenged 151 times, up from the previous year. Read the full report by the ALA here.

It continues to be ever important that asexual and aromantic perspectives are included in discussing book bans, censorship, and the increasing attacks against the LGBTQIA+ community more broadly.

A fairly extensive Twitter thread about Gender Queer from last year, in case you missed it:

[theexhaustedqueer]

Happy fucking pride everybody!!!!

I’ve decided to celebrate by making an effort consume as much queer-centric media as I can because I tend to be very picky about the media I consume and as such tend to sleep on things I’d actually really enjoy. So, fellow queers, what should I be reading/watching/listening to this June? Books, movies, tv shows, fiction or non fiction, anything’s fine by me. Any recommendations you have would be fabulous (though I ask you to refrain from suggesting things that are already massively popular, e.g. Heartstopper, I’m looking for things I might not have heard of before).

I’ll start the recommendations going! I recently watched Boys in the Band, the 2020 version because it’s on Netflix, and had a blast. Very good film, very entertaining. Another good movie to check out is Pride (2014), not as entertaining but it still scratches that gay history itch that I always get this time of the year. I’d also love to shout out one of my favourite books of all time, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. It’s a very good piece of queer science fiction, though be warned: it’s very sad. And if comics are more your style, Gender Queer, a memoir by Maia Kobabe, is very good, great if you’re looking for real, relatable experiences, and the art is to die for.

Let’s start this Pride month off right!

[chronic-pessimistic]

I woke up today like 2 times and fell asleep listening and audio from my boyfriend. Now I’m in the bus going to the pool and then the library to read comics and books, a few hours of silence!!! I really enjoy being in a quiet place.

Would you please recommend me some books/comics?

I read Lore Olympus, Solitaire, Heartstopper(all), this winter, In, Gender queer: a memoir, Laura Dean keeps breaking up with me, skim, through the woods, milk and honey, the sculptor, dragonslippers and some more.

[katesharmasheart]

books i read in 2022 ♡ Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

“I just want to be myself.”

[creator-of-calm-queer-chaos]

[image ID: a news headline that reads 'Massachusetts police chief apologizes after middle school searched for LGBTQ book with "concerning illustrations"' and the subtitle reads 'The officer went to W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School to look for the book "Gender Queer: A Memoir" after the department received a complaint.' /end ID]

Because this apparently needs clarification: the issue here is that if there was a cishet oral sex scene in a book that was in a middle school, police would likely not have been called to search for it.

Yes, having a book (that is an amazing book! To clarify!! It is by far one of my favourite queer memoirs!!) that has graphic oral sex images for a few pages at a middle school is probably not the best idea, but involving police is overkill, for one, but more than that, if the scene was in a cishet book, the police would probably not have been involved. That is the issue.

Oh, so we've got armed police raiding schools to remove LGBTQ books. Cool. Coolcoolcool. Very normal society.

[aficionliteraria]

Gender Queer: A Memoir por Maia Kobabe (2019)

Sinopsis

Gender Queer: A Memoir es una memoria gráfica de 2019 escrita e ilustrada por Maia Kobabe. Cuenta el viaje de Kobabe desde la adolescencia hasta la edad adulta y la exploración de la identidad de género y la sexualidad, identificándose finalmente como fuera del binario de género.

Comentario

Me encantó como Maia Kobabe narra su vida desde la infancia hasta la adultez. Nos muestra su percepción y vivencias en relación a la identidad, el género, la sexualidad y su lugar en el mundo.

Considero que todo el mundo debería leerlo. Este libro puede ayudar a que  muchas personas queer se sientan representadas y les demuestre que no están solas. De la misma manera a que personas no queer entiendan lo difícil que es vivir en el mundo cuando se es diferente a las normas establecidas por la sociedad. 

Lo amé y lo recomiendo 1,000,000,000,000,000%.

[librarycards]

do you have any recommendations for readings or memoirs or anything about non-binary identity?

yes! so, I feel obligated to share a few that I've done ––

Co/notations, an annotated essay chapbook.

Social Skills: A transdyke autie-biography in Sinister Wisdom

In Praise of -Less in AZE Journal

Others' Memoirs/Poetics:

Stacey Waite, Love Poem to Androgyny

Vivek Shraya, She of the Mountains

Akwaeke Emezi, Dear Senthuran

Eli Clare, Exile and Pride

Ivan E. Coyote, Tomboy Survival Guide

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Dirty River

T. Fleischmann, Time is the Thing A Body Moves Through

Sabrina Imbler, Dyke [geology]

Joan Nestle, ed., Genderqueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary [warning: this is pretty old]

Fiction [beyond Stone Butch Blues]:

Megan Milks, Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body

Sassafras Lowry, Roving Pack

John Elizabeth Stintzi, Vanishing Monuments

-

These are obviously not all of the gender-noncompliant/nonbinary/genderqueer/etc books I've read, nor all of the ones I recommend, but they do apply directly to your specification that they be about identity as such. Hope you find something you like!

[haveyoureadthispoll]

[the---hermit]

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

I am not a huge memoir reader, but you can bet that if it's a graphic memoir I will pick it up, plus I want to expand my queer book collection, and this book was an amazing addition, that I know I will reread in the future. The author is non-binary and uses e/em/eir pronouns, which I never had to use before so if I fuck up while writing and editing please let me know. With this being said Gender Queer is a memoir and focuses on the author's journey of getting to know eir own self from a sexuality and gender point of view. But it feels reductive to describe this book as just that. The author does a great job at telling the story of eir life without skipping on all the existential crisis, the confusion and the fear. It's a very raw and honest work in my opinion, and it's amazing just because of that. Em couldn't have done a better job at explaing this complicated journey with all its ups and downs. There's fear and confusion, but also joy in getting to understand yourself more. It doesn't skip on any kind of thought, there's a few points that hit so close to home, ans that will keep sparking thoughts. The way the author talkes about gender and eir way of presenting is incredibly clever. I particularly liked how em used a landscape to talk about gender. It's not easy to put into words how good this graphic memoir is, and the fact that it was banned so much is scary and should be a good enough reason to pick it up. I feel like this could be a great way to let non-queer people understand a little better how figuring these things about yourself is, and how complex it gets. It's a little like being in the author's head sometimes, which is why I feel like this could be a great tool for queer allies to understand some things on a deeper level. As a queer person who is actually pondering a lot of these questions, it was very comforting to read about someone who stuggled just as much, but honestly reminds you of how layered and complicated these things are. Additionally I really liked the illustrations, the colour palette felt nice and overall I just really liked the look of this book (I should mention my edition which is the Italian on wasn't as curated as it should have because a few pages were blurred to a point you couldn't clearly read, which is absolutely unacceptable especially for how expensive graphic novels are. I never had such problems with this publisher, but that was kinda disappointing because I expected a bit more cure on the details, but again that is the Italian publisher's fault).

I read this for the jumbo reading challenge non binary author prompt.

[acesincomics]

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe @redgoldsparks is included in this incredible list of essential queer comics!

How many have you read?

[letmewriteitdown]

I've avoided reading Gender Queer written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe for a really long time. Not because I didn't think it would be good or that I wouldn't enjoy reading it. More because I thought it would be painful and make me cry.

I've finally read it, and it is good. Of course, it also made me cry. But I do have to say, it was for sure worth the emotional vibe to get to the bright happy feeling of understanding that came from reading someone else's tale of self-discovery.

The book is lovingly illustrated and gorgeously written. I think what really moved me while reading the story was the sheer banality. That sounds harsh now that I've thought it, but so often when I was trying to come to terms with my gender when I was younger, things that seemed insurmountable honestly were not.

But they still feel insurmountable. Seeing Maia's story laid out, I am certain that the pieces E chose to include in the story and discuss felt big and possibly insurmountable to Em when they were younger. The story talks a little about the joys and the pains of gender and change and I related very very strongly to the images and the story intent.

I've never felt more seen than when I saw the panel on Eir first period and how it felt so very horrible. Just the way it is drawn and how it feels is amazing in explaining how what is inside doesn't always match what is outside.

Again and again Maia captures the feelings that I was told as a child again and again would just go away. That validation and understanding on the page was amazing, and the art just makes everything feel that much more normal.

There were so many things that felt similar to my childhood experiences while reading the story. There were a ton of things that were radically different to my childhood experiences, but it still flowed beautifully.

What I think is done remarkably well here is by taking the small pieces of Eir story and sharing it as part of the larger narrative of self-discovery the book becomes less of a guide how to identify your gender and more of a tale to help others understand that not everyone's coming of age is exactly the same.

I loved how the story included things that were triumphs, but also included lots of questions and different vibes when it came to trying to navigate gender and self-discovery. There are questions and confusion not just from the point of view of our main character, but also questions from friends and family in the story.

I know this book has received a ton of heat and is a challenged book in a ton of places, but I have to say that on the whole it is just a sweet story about finding your way. There are things of a sexual nature, but there are far more things of a personal nature that are more piercing.

I am glad I finally got the courage to read this story, and I'm eternally grateful that Maia Kobabe found the courage to write it.

[angstics]

norman brannon.

[maddiesbookshelves]

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (December 2022)

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

I had to buy a book for university while I was at the Salon du Livre in early December, and this one really caught my eye. First, because it was a salon targeted towards children's literature and, okay, fair, this includes infants and goes into YA literature, but this comic tackles questions of gender and sexuality that people don't often approach in a space where children are included. Second, I had seen this comic in passing on the internet, so this was the perfect occasion to read it.

I'm not going to give a review saying "this is good, this is bad", I'm just gonna say that I think it's something eveyone should read. Maybe you don't think being non-binary is a thing, maybe you know it's a thing, maybe you're just curious. Maybe this comic won't change your views on non-binary people, maybe it will, maybe it'll change how you view yourself, but it's a great way to learn (more) about this identity. Like any story about queer experiences, this isn't the non-binary experience, it's an experience, but you have to start somewhere and this is a great starting point.

Please be mindful of potential triggers though, stay safe everyone!

French version under the cut

En 2014, Maia Kobabe, qui utilise les pronoms ille/lo*, pensait qu'une BD sur des statistiques de lecture serait la dernière BD autobiographique qu'ille écrirait jamais. A l'époque, c'était la seule chose qu'ille pensait pouvoir confortablement partager avec des étrangers. Maintenant, Genre Queer existe. L'autobiographie profondément cathartique de Maia retrace son cheminement dans sa quête d'identité, ce qui inclue l'humiliation et la confusion de liés aux béguins d'adolescents, le stress de comment faire son coming out auprès de sa famille et de la société, nouer des liens avec des amis grâce à la fanfiction érotique gay, et faire face au traumatisme des frottis. Initialement un moyen d'expliquer à sa famille ce qu'être non-binaire et asexuel veut dire, Genre Queer est plus qu'une histoire personnelle : c'est un guide utile et touchant sur l'identité de genre — ce que cela signifie et comment l'appréhender — pour des alliés, des amis et des humains n'importe où.

Je devais acheter un livre pour la fac quand j'étais au Salon du Livre début décembre, et celui-là m'a vraiment tapé dans l’œil. Premièrement, parce que c'était un salon qui cible la littérature jeunesse et, ok, c'est vrai, ça inclue les bambins et va jusqu'à la littérature YA, mais cette BD aborde des questions de genre et de sexualité que les gens n'abordent pas souvent dans des milieux en partie dédiés aux enfants. Deuxièmement, j'avais vu passer cette BD sur internet, donc c'était l'occasion parfaite de la lire.

Je vais pas faire une review pour dire "c'était bien, c'était pas bien", je vais juste dire que je pense que c'est quelque chose que tout le monde devrait lire. Peut-être que vous pensez que la non-binarité n'existe pas, peut-être que vous savez qu'elle existe, peut-être que vous êtes juste curieux. Peut-être que cette BD ne changera pas comment vous voyez les personnes non-binaires, peut-être que si, peut-être que ça changera comment vous vous voyez, mais c'est un bon moyen d'en apprendre (plus) sur cette identité. Comme toutes les histoires sur les expériences queer, il ne s'agit pas de L'Expérience non-binaire, juste d'UNE expérience, mais il faut bien commencer quelque part et cette BD est un bon début.

*j'ai utilisé ici les pronoms et accords établis par la traduction de Anne-Charlotte Husson suite à ses recherches et entretiens avec l'auteurice.