Helen Joyce (1) (1969–)

Well written book! Ms. Joyce succeeded in addressing the difference between her objective criticism and the right-wing narrative which plagues this very important topic. Those who claim that she is a transphobe, etc., are deeply entrenched in the dogmatic and ideological side of transgenderism. Whether they would even try to read this enlightening book is very questionable. Same thing one could say about right-wing pundits, who misuse transgenderism for their propaganda.

This is a book for parents too, who may or may not have children with any kind of dysphoria. It offers very important insights about how to help children who may feel uncomfortable with their sexuality.… (mais)

A very timely book which is coherent and well-researched. However, it is flawed in that it is written entirely from a feminist perspective, and thus only really interested in how gender ideology affects women's rights, rather than society as a whole. Men and boys are excluded. So too are concepts of natural law, which is seemingly discarded, in the feminist fashion, as a nothing more than a series of confining and reductive stereotypes. This leaves Joyce with repeated emphasis on biology, which is really an empty point, unless one accepts the nature that goes with it. One cannot help but think that feminism itself bears some responsibility for how we got here. Joyce is a former Economist editor and thus probably weird (most of them are): anyone that praises Nick Cohen for "generosity of spirit" is probably not an especially perceptive, or well-adjusted, human being. Somewhat dry. Pulls its punches. But all we've got, hence a slightly higher rating than it might otherwise deserve.… (mais)

This book should have been shorter and more balanced. That said, it states some things that desperately needed stating. Pediatric transitioning now seems more disturbing to me than ever.

Something that has always bothered me about our current understanding of trans identity, that I don't think I've ever seen explicitly stated elsewhere, is that it seems to think gender is definable by the most culture-specific, superficial things - i.e. liking pink and liking dresses makes you a girl. Joyce discusses how being trans is explained to children: "You nod along to descriptions of restrictive gender norms, hoping for the right conclusion: that nobody need conform if they do not want to, and that there is nothing wrong with boys playing with dolls or girls playing with trucks. You long to hear that girls (or boys) are people with female (or male) bodies who behave however they damn well please; instead you hear that girls (or boys) are people who behave in feminine (or masculine) ways."… (mais)