Last year I read a book called You Just Need to Lose Weight & 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon. I thought it was a brilliant, nuanced book. What I had not considered at the time is that I am steeped in information about diet culture, nutrition, societal bias against fat people, and the nuance between fat activism (rights for all fat people) and body positivity (everyone should feel good about their body, even if they “feel fat” sometimes). I thought “You’re in the Wrong Bathroom!” & 20 Other Myths About Transgender and Gender Non-conforming People would be similarly nuanced because the authors attacked pervasive myths, just like Gordon did.
However, I realized that for an author or authors to attack myths, the readers do best if they have heard of the myths and know something about the topic first. That puts today’s book in a tipsy place because there’s so much to cover, yet these myths are ones people who don’t know much about trans and gender non-conforming people would want to unravel. First, the authors are part of the community about which they write, giving the book credibility. Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth uses she/they pronouns. They are a psychiatrist with a focus on suicide prevention, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. The co-author is Laura A. Jacobs, a transwoman and licensed clinical social worker who specializes in working with the Queer community.
Thus, I trust what I am reading is written by experts (not only in their certifications and advanced degrees, but that both are part of the Queer community), so that’s not an issue. As I read, though, I couldn’t tell who the intended audience was. In some places, the book goes into the varieties of of gender identities and ways trans and gender non-conforming people identify, and I felt like the chapter finished too soon. Did I learn much, or was I given a list of possibilities with no expansion on the information? But part of what made Aubrey Gordon’s book so effective — and note that Gordon is also Queer and a former LGBTQ+ community organizers — is that I already had a deep background in fat rights.
Some of the myths they address are “Trans people are trapped in the wrong body,” “The LGBTQ community is united,” and “Most trans people are sex workers and have HIV.” I did learn more about how some transpeople do not want to have surgery, many embrace their bodies but identify in complicated ways, and that while certain folks are against transpeople in the “wrong” bathroom, their claim is that cismen will dress like women, go in the women’s bathroom, and harm women and children. If that is the case, I wonder, why are they against transpeople instead of predatory cismen? In one examples, the authors claim that gay and lesbian communities “distance themselves, politically, from trans people. While most organizations today use the umbrella term ‘LGBT’ to describe their membership, some gay people argue that LGB and T people have different needs…” At this point, I wanted to know more about what the different needs are, but each chapter is rather short, giving readers an introduction to the topic. I feel the book, which is under 200 pages, would have benefited from some expansion.
So, would “You’re in the Wrong Bathroom!” have been more effective on me if I had greater knowledge of trans and gender non-conforming people? If I had more knowledge, would the book have been too simplistic? I can’t say, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out Erickson-Schroth and Jacobs’s book. If anything, the ridiculous outburst on social media during the 2024 Paris Olympics over Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, make this book a relevant read.
Grab the Lapels 
Good write up Melanie, which gives a great sense of that we might and might not get from reading this book.
BTW “While most organizations today use the umbrella term ‘LGBT’ to describe their membership, some gay people argue that LGB and T people have different needs…” This makes sense to me. I can see value in lumping them together in terms of overall discrimination issues but they are so different aren’t they … LGB is really about the gender you are attracted to while trans is about the gender you feel you are. The latter I guess then have a complication about who they are attracted to, the gender they look to be and the gender they feel. I have read a little about their issue re surgery or not. I understand some not wanting to … and others wanting to. So hard for them isn’t it?
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I have concerns about any group fighting for civil rights to say they’re not “like” other groups, because we know that rights won for one group often benefit others. For example, in the U.S. we have the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires things like sidewalk ramps, elevators, a certain amount of space between things in a public room to escape in a wheelchair if there is a fire, handicap accessible bathrooms, etc. All those things benefit parents with strollers and toddlers. I believe that if people open up their agenda, the benefits will reward everyone. Case in point, if think about uplifting people out of poverty, which often affects people who have multiple identities that face oppression (immigrant, not white, no access to healthcare), we can stimulate the economy with more workers, less reliance on government healthcare for the poor that treats humans after they are sick and less so as a preventative measure, etc.
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Yes, agree with all that.
BTW we have similar regulations too for people with disabilities. Many of these things help older people too. Elevators for example!
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Great point about the predatory cismen! This sounds like a good cursory introduction for someone who may not have any idea where to being learning about these issues.
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Perhaps the chapter titles (the myths) could be used as a starting point to finding other books. I’m interested in the one titled “Trans People Have Existed Throughout Time” — a MTYH, it says. I’m curious.
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That strikes me as odd because I’ve heard trans people say that very same statement as truth.
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Same! And I Googled it afterwards and saw all sorts of LGBTQIA+ sites saying that trans people have always been here. I know I didn’t type the wrong thing because the myth is right there on the cover of the book.
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I admit I’ve been avoiding the whole trans debate, though a writer I follow, Claire G Coleman gets pretty wound up on twitter about JK Rowling who is apparently anti- trans (I’m not sure how you can be anti a group of people).
And bathrooms, really! Do they worry trans women will hog the mirrors?
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JK Rowling is writing some of the dumbest crap I have ever seen on Twitter about trans people. How in the WORLD she wrote a series of books, I don’t know. Like, even if she SUSPECTS someone is trans, she jumps on the bandwagon and rage Tweets. She was one of the first celebrities to scream that Imane Khelif, the women’s Olympic boxer, was really a man. Khelif is now suing for damages.
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It’s good to point out the question of audience with this one, because really, if people are discriminatory against trans people, would they really pick up this book? Not likely. So then is it meant for others in the queer community perhaps, those who have a cursory knowledge but are still hung up on these myths? It sounds like it needs lots of further info to make it a truly introductory read.
The question about predatory men in bathrooms is also a good one! Why aren’t we more concerned about predatory men than trans people?!?
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I appreciate every single McDonald’s bathroom for having brick walls that go from ceiling to floor. If there was one giant restroom like that, I would not care who was in it at all.
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“while certain folks are against transpeople in the “wrong” bathroom, their claim is that cismen will dress like women, go in the women’s bathroom, and harm women and children. If that is the case, I wonder, why are they against transpeople instead of predatory cismen?”
I have totally thought this too. But you know it’s a sexist excuse that women need to be protected. Meanwhile their menfolk at home are beating the sh*t out of them. Plus, you know, boys will be boys, they just can’t help themselves.
What Imane Khelif went through at the Olympics was horrifying and I was so angry that women athletes’ bodies are so heavily policed. No one ever accuses male athletes of being too female and so they can’t compete.
The book sounds pretty good, and while it might not have been everything you wanted it to, hopefully it helps some people sort through the questions and become more informed.
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“No one ever accuses male athletes of being too female and so they can’t compete.” — Stephanie, I have literally never thought of this. My little mind is now blown. The assumption is that a feminine man could never make it that far, so it’s not even a concern.
Khelif is now suing J.K. Rowling, and I’m here for it.
That’s an excellent point about it being sexist to assume women need to be protected in general.
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