CCBC-Net Archives
RE: Trans Terminology and Almost Perfect
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Kunze, Peter <pkunze_at_fsu.edu>
Date: Thu, 08 May 2014 11:54:04 +0000
From my reading in trans studies, Sage would be left to identify Sage; characterizing people can become politically problematic. At one point, Sage identifies through implication with "transgendered people," and Logan later refers to Sage as such. This word "transgendered" is now largely considered inappropriate, as Ilene's link shows. The reason, unexplained in the article, is that it suggests one has been subjected to an action (or more likely, trauma). This is also why you'll notice Wikipedia articles for transgender people favor "assigned female at birth" over "born female." Ultimately, Sage would have to (if Sage so chooses) to select an identity and a preferred pronoun (hence all my Sages instead of he/she/ze). Susan Stryker's work is an invaluable guide in explaining some of these points in finer detail than I can.
________________________________ From: Ilene Wong [ilene.wong_at_gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 7:01 AM To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu Subject: [ccbc-net] Trans Terminology and Almost Perfect
Hello, all! So excited to read this already terrific discussion. First of all, I wanted say that the terminology regarding transgender issues is very specific, and confusing to some. Respectfully, I'd like to point you to a wonderful article written by transgender man Rafe Posey on media guidelines for writing about transgender people.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rafeposey/how-to-write-about-transgender-people
For instance, in Almost Perfect, Sage (if I'm reading it correctly) would be characterized as a transgender woman (as they prefer to be identified as the gender that they transition TO.
Hope this helps!
Ilene
a.k.a I.W.Gregorio NONE OF THE ABOVE (Balzer & Bray / Harper 2015) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18754711-none-of-the-above www.iwgregorio.com<http://www.iwgregorio.com/>
_at_iwgregorio
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher From: Beth Martin <BMartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us<mailto:BMartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us>> Date: Wed, 07 May 2014 13:41:01 -0500 X-Message-Number: 19
Although it is from 2009, this book helped educate me about transgender issues in a way that I will never forget. Here is part of a review I wrote for my local newspaper:
Told from the perspective of 18 year old Logan Witherspoon, Almost Perfect, tells the story of Sage Hendricks, whom Logan meets when Sage moves to his small town with her family. Sage is different than anyone Logan has ever met. She is beautiful, smart and friendly and Logan falls for her immediately, even though she is unusually tall. But Logan gets mixed messages from Sage. Her family is extremely protective of her and won???t let her date, yet her younger sister has a boyfriend. In addition, she alone has been home schooled for the last several years. Logan is sure that she is hiding something.
When Sage finally reveals her secret, that she is a transgender male, Logan reacts with anger. How could Sage have kept this from him? What does this revelation say about Logan and his own sexuality? Later, when he has had more time to think things over, Logan feels terrible about his reaction. He considers what life must be like for Sage, who feels trapped in the wrong body. Logan vows to remain her friend, but things become complicated as these two teens work through their feelings for each other.
Katcher does an excellent job of capturing the emotions of both Logan and Sage as well as family members and others who become part of their story. Logan becomes a reluctant hero and Sage is a very believable character, thanks to the many personal stories of teens just like her that have been shared with the author. Katcher works facts about the transgender process such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery into the plot and adds additional information at the end of the book for those who desire to know more.
Winner of the Stonewall Young Adult Literature Award for an English language book that has exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered experience, Almost Perfect is the kind of book that could save lives when put in the hands of the right teen. It gets the information out there that we all should know.
Beth Martin Library Media Coordinator DC Everest Middle School bmartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us<mailto:bmartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us> 715-241-9700<tel:715-241-9700> ex.2320
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: pkunze_at_fsu.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Thu 08 May 2014 06:54:04 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 08 May 2014 11:54:04 +0000
From my reading in trans studies, Sage would be left to identify Sage; characterizing people can become politically problematic. At one point, Sage identifies through implication with "transgendered people," and Logan later refers to Sage as such. This word "transgendered" is now largely considered inappropriate, as Ilene's link shows. The reason, unexplained in the article, is that it suggests one has been subjected to an action (or more likely, trauma). This is also why you'll notice Wikipedia articles for transgender people favor "assigned female at birth" over "born female." Ultimately, Sage would have to (if Sage so chooses) to select an identity and a preferred pronoun (hence all my Sages instead of he/she/ze). Susan Stryker's work is an invaluable guide in explaining some of these points in finer detail than I can.
________________________________ From: Ilene Wong [ilene.wong_at_gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2014 7:01 AM To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu Subject: [ccbc-net] Trans Terminology and Almost Perfect
Hello, all! So excited to read this already terrific discussion. First of all, I wanted say that the terminology regarding transgender issues is very specific, and confusing to some. Respectfully, I'd like to point you to a wonderful article written by transgender man Rafe Posey on media guidelines for writing about transgender people.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rafeposey/how-to-write-about-transgender-people
For instance, in Almost Perfect, Sage (if I'm reading it correctly) would be characterized as a transgender woman (as they prefer to be identified as the gender that they transition TO.
Hope this helps!
Ilene
a.k.a I.W.Gregorio NONE OF THE ABOVE (Balzer & Bray / Harper 2015) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18754711-none-of-the-above www.iwgregorio.com<http://www.iwgregorio.com/>
_at_iwgregorio
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher From: Beth Martin <BMartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us<mailto:BMartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us>> Date: Wed, 07 May 2014 13:41:01 -0500 X-Message-Number: 19
Although it is from 2009, this book helped educate me about transgender issues in a way that I will never forget. Here is part of a review I wrote for my local newspaper:
Told from the perspective of 18 year old Logan Witherspoon, Almost Perfect, tells the story of Sage Hendricks, whom Logan meets when Sage moves to his small town with her family. Sage is different than anyone Logan has ever met. She is beautiful, smart and friendly and Logan falls for her immediately, even though she is unusually tall. But Logan gets mixed messages from Sage. Her family is extremely protective of her and won???t let her date, yet her younger sister has a boyfriend. In addition, she alone has been home schooled for the last several years. Logan is sure that she is hiding something.
When Sage finally reveals her secret, that she is a transgender male, Logan reacts with anger. How could Sage have kept this from him? What does this revelation say about Logan and his own sexuality? Later, when he has had more time to think things over, Logan feels terrible about his reaction. He considers what life must be like for Sage, who feels trapped in the wrong body. Logan vows to remain her friend, but things become complicated as these two teens work through their feelings for each other.
Katcher does an excellent job of capturing the emotions of both Logan and Sage as well as family members and others who become part of their story. Logan becomes a reluctant hero and Sage is a very believable character, thanks to the many personal stories of teens just like her that have been shared with the author. Katcher works facts about the transgender process such as hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery into the plot and adds additional information at the end of the book for those who desire to know more.
Winner of the Stonewall Young Adult Literature Award for an English language book that has exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered experience, Almost Perfect is the kind of book that could save lives when put in the hands of the right teen. It gets the information out there that we all should know.
Beth Martin Library Media Coordinator DC Everest Middle School bmartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us<mailto:bmartin_at_dce.k12.wi.us> 715-241-9700<tel:715-241-9700> ex.2320
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: pkunze_at_fsu.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.
To post to the list, send message to...
ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to...
digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to...
leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp
To access the archives, go to...
http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net
...and enter the following when prompted...
username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Thu 08 May 2014 06:54:04 AM CDT
