Product Description

In My Gender Workbook, Kate Bornstein brings theory down to Earth and provides a practical guide to living with or without a gender. Using a unique, deceptively simple and always entertaining workbook format, Bornstein gently but firmly guides you to discover your own unique gender identity. She also takes aim at recent efforts to naturalize gender differences, putting books like Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus squarely where they belong: on Uranus. If you don't think you are transgendered when you sit down to read this book, you will be by the time you finish it!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55901 in Books
• Published on: 1997-12-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780415916738
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Kate Bornstein's 1994 book of autobiographical theory, Gender Outlaw, drew a line in the sand about the whole boy/girl thing. "Who needs it?" America's most active transgender activist questioned. Now, in My Gender Workbook, Bornstein has assembled a collage of simple exercises, quizzes, puzzles, and essay questions that systematically break down our ingrained ideas about how women and men--and whoever is in between--should act. Bornstein's breezy, "hey, let's all discover who we might really be" style works to make this potentially threatening material accessible and even intriguing to almost all readers. Just glance down, check out who--or what--you thought you were, and get ready to answer a few questions.

Review
My Gender Workbook [is] the most complete guide to living with or without gender to have been written to date, putting books like Men are From Mars, Women Are From Venus squarely where they belong: on Uranus. -- Seattle Gay News
[T]he most exciting and difficult aspect of My Gender Workbook is the way it never relents. It asks a question, then another, then another, answering questions with more questions... Bornstein never tells us what or where the genderless promised land might be, but by the end of the book you do get the sense that she never describes it because she understands its indescribability so deeply. -- Hungry Mind Review
[Bornsteins] ideas are both novel and intriguing. -- Baltimore Alternative
My Gender Workbook may take a leap of faith to crack open, but the charm, wit, and quiet intelligence of its author will almost undoubtedly keep you along for the whole trip. And it is a trip, let me tell you. -- The Toronto Star

About the Author
Kate Bornstein is the author of Gender Outlaw (Routledge, 1994) and co-author of the novel Nearly Roadkill (1996). She lives, writes and rehearses her stage work in Seattle.

Customer Reviews

The Real Thing
If you have ever wondered what a real man, a real woman, or a real something in-between is, this is a must read. "My Gender Workbook" has interactive exercises, advice, and guidance on gender, and provokes the reader to question the whole idea of gender as an absolute. We all have elements of each gender, and Bornstein goes to the point of arguing that there are many genders, not just two, and it is possible to lack gender entirely. As a transgendered person myself, I found the book enlightening and helpful in my own discovery of gender, and who I really am. In fact, this is one of the most useful books I have found on gender identity, and I refer back to it often.

incredible! mind-blowing!
a book for all genders, orientations, and adjectives. i've yet to show this book to someone who wasnt impressed. kate talks theory for those of us that would like a little, adds a dash of cosmology, and then gets into the true, errr, meat of exploring gender with fun exercizes and quizzes. hilarious, irrreverent, and ever-relevant it explores gender while maintaining the upbeat aesthetics of a true gender artist. whether your interest is academic or personal, it's a must read for _anyone_ interested in questions of gender.

Mind-opening book for all
I have always considered myself an open-minded, unassuming person, but after reading the first chapter of this book, I have come to realize that there is a world out there that I never conceived: A world of In-The-Middle. Bornstein shares hir unique gender enlightenment with us through this workbook that could be used for personal exploration or as a college textbook. One thing is for certain: Bornstein will challenge your notions about what "male" and "female" are!