Bornstein,
Kate. My Gender Workbook. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998. Print.
292
pages
Reviewed
by Jess d'Artagnan Love
In Kate Bornstein’s My Gender Workbook, the author’s goal is to help readers discover their own gender identity. The book includes journal prompts along with an in-depth discussion of what gender is, and what it means in a larger societal context. Bornstein provides several different models of gender that address the intersecting concepts of gender, power, and sexuality.
I thought the more academic part of the workbook
was well done. It was thorough, thoughtful, and based on sound academic
research on gender and what it means to have a gender identity.
The workbook part of the book was clearly
biased toward readers choosing to not identify as any gender at all. The journal
prompts and questions in the quizzes were leading and lead readers toward agender
or non-binary identity. They almost make someone feel guilty for choosing a
more stereotypical gender identity and make the claim that those who want to
maintain a more common cultural construct of gender is misinformed and naive about
gender. I don’t agree with that position. I hold the position that all gender
identities are good identities whether they are non-traditional or not.
Aside from the obvious bias toward
agender/nonbinary identity, the book was an interesting and though-provoking
read and I enjoyed it.
Would
I read it again?
Yes,
I think this is a book that I will continue to learn and be inspired from the
more I read it.
Recommended
for
Those
interested in gender identity politics and gender studies.
Not
Recommended for
Readers
under the age of 15, mostly because some of the content may be hard for them to
comprehend.
Word
Bank
·
None
3
stars out of 5
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