[Review by a non-binary reader]

Well, that was something I read. I don't have much to say that hasn't been justifiably screeched about in reviews prior to mine, however...

Let me first say that I'm concerned at the amount of allies in the reviews who think they read a good, helpful book, because they didn't. This book can and will likely do more harm than good.

Let's start with the bones of it. The author has chosen to arrange this book as an alphabetized directory of as many people as they could find who ?might? fit under the terms on the cover. This choice just so happens to put a murderer's entry just before that of a murder victim. Optics! To add to that, something like sorting them by loose era would have at least been mildly constructive from a sociological standpoint, make it easier to perhaps compare their lives and treatment by society.

On the dubious inclusion of a murderer - one reviewer is right, queers are not by default paragons of virtue nor should they be portrayed as such - but this book calls itself a Celebration of people. To include a murderer in that specific wording is weird. Perhaps presenting, highlighting, something else would be better suited.

The inclusion of a couple who escaped from enslavement, Ellen and William Craft, was baffling, because as far as the manuscript tells it and I can find on google, Ellen only crossdressed for a specific 4-day window to allow their escape. There is no mention of her living as a man or otherwise indicating she'd identify with any of the groups in this book?

And then there is the frequent mistaken conflation of gender identity with sex organs at birth. At one point the wording "true gender" was used, and what? It happens several times, and just as numerous others have noted, this book is uncomfortably fixated on the genitalia of the individuals it covers.

Lastly, treatment of pronouns in this book oscillates wildly, something that should be a priority in such a book. They change within the same article, reflecting to me shoddy inattention by the writer and editor, if indeed an editor has even seen this yet. I highly doubt it, as poor Martha P. Johnson's page was full of cut-off sentences, typos and grammatical errors.

This is not a book I would recommend to someone identifying as any of the groups it covers, nor a youth trying to figure things out for themself, nor potential allies. No.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy to review, but I hope this book undergoes an overhaul before it's pushed as a resource for the queer community and its allies.

I'll be honest: I only knew a few people out of this wide range of icons, historic figures, and trailblazers. The book is a rich tapestry featuring a long global history of gender diversity - the illustrations are also fantastic and beautiful. In my opinion, it adds to how expansive this history is. I believe with all my heart that this book will be as iconic as those who have graced these pages.
The book is vital and a must-read, especially for readers like me, who want to know, support, and grow more.
Thank you, NetGalley, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and Philippa Punchard for an ARC for my honest review.

I just reviewed Gender Pioneers by Philippa Punchard. #GenderPioneers #NetGalley

When getting in to Philippa Punchqrd's "Gender Pioneers," I was anticipating nuanced stories about trans and nonbinary people of the past. What I wasn't expecting, was a dull and at times lifeless drawl that went on for too long.

"Gender Pioneers," is unfortunately nothing more than a Twitter thread displayed in book form. Mundane words are strung together to make up passages of detailing the lives of so-called pioneers of the trans experience and movement. It reads amature, and offers nothing in regards to introspection.

It's unfortunate when a book like this, one that is meant to celebrate the lives of a marginalized community, falters and crumbles under the weight of nothingness.

As a non-binary person myself I was highly interested in this - many n-b people are either erased or simply not known. Definitely enjoyed this.

Philippa Punchard's "Gender Pioneers" is a beautiful collection of trans and intersex people of many different cultures in different times in history, created with the intent of saying "we have always been here"

A few of these were prominent activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and Silvia Rivera, whom I had of course heard of before, but most of the people included I had not heard of before. I especially enjoyed the bit at the end where the author explores trans identities in other cultures, including the roles of trans people and whether or not they are accepted in the cultures.

This book was great and easily digestible with short biographies for each person, allowing the reader to dig deeper into that person's past if wanted, but also giving the reader an overall understanding of who the person was (especially in regards to their gender identity and public perception of it) without spending pages and pages on each person, which I think will make it more appealing to a wider audience.

This book sets out to celebrate the many trans and nonbinary people throughout history. Each person gets a portrait and a single page to describe their lives. The didn't end up feeling like a celebration of trans history to me, however.

There was a lot of focus on peoples' genitalia. There was outdated terminology. It lacked sensitivity and nuance. It ultimately made me feel pretty uncomfortable. If this was meant to highlight trans, it could have been done infinitely better.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

This is an ambitious book, perhaps too ambitious. It attempts to list all known "gender pioneers" from ancient times to the present. In doing so, each person is reduced to a paragraph or two that tended to sound a good deal like all of the other biographies in the book. Many, if not most, of the listings are about people classified as female at birth who for a variety of reasons assumed the dress and role of a male. We know little, at least from this book, about their feelings and motives for doing so but at least some of them seemed motivated by lack of opportunity for women. I would have liked fewer individuals with more in depth descriptions of their lives and the times they lived in.

3/5 stars

well this is exactly what it says on the tin (and blurb), so i can't really fault them for that. i appreciate the fact that there was more diversity than i usually see in collections like these, though at times it still felt very western, discounting a few entries. i think that appendix a was an interesting read, and liked that they gave relatively well rounded biographies of the people they spoke about

i just wasn't the most GRABBED by this book. it's information so i get why i wouldn't be hanging on the edge of my seat, but it still felt very cut and dry at times. i don't want to discredit the work and research put into it, but at times it did feel like an expanded listicle and i wish there had just been a little something more? i really don't know

What an eye opening read. When I think of gender, and the plight of gender identies, my mind goes to those who are open and public about their transgender experiences today. This book opens up the stories of the those who have lived their true selves for thousands of years; sharing their bravery, their struggle, and the response from the communities around them.

I enjoyed this book and appreciate the insight it provided to help me be a better ally.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I had much higher hopes for this book than it delivered. It has a great premise and so much potential, yet let’s itself down by feeling cobbled together, under researched, and blundering in ineptitude in terms of trans terminology. It also focuses a lot on genitals, which is not only demeaning but counterproductive. Even the biographies of the individuals feels undercooked. Two stars simply for the fact there were many people I was unfamiliar with and may research further.

The concept grabbed me as well as the introduction. I loved the illustrations that accompanied the brief biographies, but I think that the texts fell short compared to the life experience of these people, many of whom I will investigate to learn more about them.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to have an early reading of this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book.
It provides amazing insight on impressive people throughout history who embraced who they truly were, despite the laws and beliefs thrown at them by society at the time.
Some stories were heart wrenching, but I believe it is important to be aware of the social misjustice that occurred (and sadly can still occur), despite the extensive historical evidence that intersex, transgender and non binary people have always existed.
I loved the layout, which was quite similar to other important books (such as the books on amazing women in history) and I would certainly add this to the bookshelf.
The only point I could make regarding the layout is the fact that it may have been easier to follow if each person was listed chronologically as opposed to alphabetically.
However, this is a fantastic and necessary read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the advance electronic galley of Gender Pioneers in exchange for an honest review.
I was fascinated by the description of this book as a “celebration of trans, non-binary and intersex icons,” and delighted to receive the advance galley. The book, though short, was indeed a celebration, brought to life through both written word and the author’s colorful illustrations.

The purpose of the book seems to be twofold—to educate, and increase awareness of the history of trans, non-binary, and intersex people, and to celebrate the lives of specific people whose lives brought them into the public eye.

The foreword and introduction probably gave the most comprehensive historical overview of the topic, but the individual stories were truly fascinating. That the author was able to find information on non-cisgender people dating back before the common era was impressive! (There was also an appendix which introduced a history of gender diverse cultures—I would like to have seen this better connected to the rest of the book.) I did think the book would have clearer if the stories had been presented chronologically rather than alphabetically, especially since there were a few clusters of stories that referenced others. I also had the sense that a few of the stories were about people who dressed as the opposite gender for convenience, such as to be able to work, rather than because of their gender identification. But some of the stories were particularly eye opening, especially regarding the way some individuals were subject to examination of a particularly humiliating sort to “prove” their gender. I’d like to say we’ve come a long way since then…

Gender Pioneers was educational, and the presentation humanized a group who has often been, and continues to be, dehumanized. Several familiar names and stories appear, but many are probably new to the average reader. There has been some concern noted about the misuse of pronouns in some of the stories—I am hoping that this will be remedied before publication. I do think that there is a place for this book in educating the general public (especially those who believe the transgender is a new thing) about the history of trans, non-binary, and intersex individuals.

This book would be great for people who are looking for inspirational figures who are like them. This book is great for any young person or individual who needs to know about people who have broke the mould, those who go back in history as far as you can possibly think.

This book presents that trans people and non-binary people have existed, in some form or other, for a long time.

That's all this book does.
The rest feels no better than random scattered index cards. And with only one page per person, we are sometimes teased by what is surely a very interesting historical person or moment, but we are limited to only one page. As such, these people are also often reduced to their gender non-comformity, the passages are depthless and without nuance.

The choice to alphabetize this book further removes any message or overarching narrative that might have otherwise united these disparate pioneers if the book had otherwise been organized by year (which I would recommend) or even by geography or profession. Who cares what their NAMES were? Why has that been given primary focus? What difference does it make to us today if their name was John or Adam? We want their names, yes, but is that the absolute FIRST thing we should know? should that be privileged to the point of being the book's organizational principle? Alphabetizing them makes this book a dictionary. And nobody sits down to read a dictionary.

Then we get to the Appendix, which begins to answer some of the questions the introduction and rest of this book asked, but it's too little and too late.

I appreciate the importance of teaching the world about the individuals in this book, but I think its structure currently stands in the book's way.

I would suggest:
Move the appendix up and expand it to feel less like a laundry list and more like something with MEANing. Why bother collecting these individuals. Why tell us about these different cultures in the Appendix? The point, I think, is to expand on the point that gender is a construct, but can we make that point in a new way? or a more profound way? And this book calls the people in it "Gender Pioneers" Without an investigation into what gender is, and what they were "pioneering." What have they built? And what can we do now that we stand on their shoulders?
Also-- Why have these people been chosen? Is there some justification, some system to it? As the author says, there have been queer people since the dawn of time-- so why are we reading about these particular queer people?
This is another question the introduction should answer. Even if the answer is, these are the people we could find information on, and that this field of study has been largely ignored, fine. But there should be some acknowledgment of the author's methods.
I assume also, there would be citations in the published version, and that they are simply not ready yet.
Those are necessary for this book to stand up.
Deep citations would be helpful to mitigate the brevity of the passages-- if I knew where to look for more information and good information, then the fact that this book simply teases would be okay.

Then organize the individuals by time, so that upon a flip through we might see how things have changed, or not.
The book could have a sense of unity that way, rather than feeling like a dictionary.

In some cases. highlight other achievements than their queerness-- these individuals were not JUST trans, but doctors, landlords, etc. Sometimes this is clear. Sometimes not.

This book was a bit different than I expected...

I certainly didn't expect a murderer to be added in a book called: Gender Pioneers: A Celebration of Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex Icons, but alas that's what happened. The trans person who murdered someone was also placed before a trans person who got murdered, so that as well was very strange to say the least. I know that that probably wasn't on purpose given that the book is in alphabetical order, but still it felt very weird and a bit surreal to read.

Other than that, and some of the information being a bit dense and feeling almost like a history book, this book was quite informative. I liked learning about all of these people, so I'm glad that I decided to read it!

Many of the reviews disparaging this book harp on the fact that some of the profiles highlight rapists and murderers. Yes, it does - because queer people can be bad, just like straight people can be bad. When we focus on presenting an idyllic image of queerness, we damage the uniqueness of being queer. Carmen Machado speaks of just this by calling queer villainy something that is and must be allowed to be. We are not all sunshine and rainbows and are not homogenous as a community. It's okay for people to know that there are queer murderers. This book takes a huge step in compiling known information about genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary people throughout history. How about we celebrate the act of this knowledge accumulation and publication having a starting place rather than bringing its accomplishments down because it isn't perfect. It is better for this to live in the world than if it did not exist at all.

I loved the diversity of the people they chose; with regards to ethnicity, disability and background. The vocabulary and sentence structure were great. My only negative is that I found it a tad repetitive. This book took me quite a bit of time to read, as I kept putting it down, and picking it back up again. However, the illustrations were absolutely stunning, and I really enjoyed looking over them.

Rated: 3 stars

Thank you to netgallery for allowing me to read this insightful collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and JKP for an advanced copy of this book.
All the opinions expressed in this reviews are my own however

I feel very upset to give this book a quite a low rating. It's my first src, and I was so excited to read it
I however found many reasons of fault in this book, which is the reasons for this low rating

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Firstly, the title is very misleading. Rather than being a <i>celebration</i> of trans, nb and intersex icons, I quickly realised that this wasn't the case.
I do think that there were a lot of people who I would describe a gender pioneer, however there are many people here who did not deserve that stance, and who are rapists and murderers. In a book about gender pioneers, I do not think these people appropriately fit into the title.
This made the book somewhat confusing. It was more of a recount of non-cis people throughout history, rather than what I expected, of gender pioneers.

Secondly, I noticed there was a lot of misgendering, and mis pronoun use. It made this feel like it wasn't checked, edited of seen through before publishing. I also found that there was a default reference to genetilia instead of pronoun use. This made me very confused and wonderous on why anatomy was linked so heavily with gender, as that is an outdated concept, and something I did not expect. Not only were there misgending but outdated language referring to gender. An example was the use of the phrase "true" gender rather than sex assigned at birth. This is a very insensitive and offense phrase.

Another issue I found was the formatting. The entries were not organised by age, and there were spelling and grammatical errors on every page. Most notably was the page on Marsha P. Johnson which I was much excited for. It was very jumbled and did not feel very well written or edited at all. The text did not make sense.

One positive has the variation of time dates from bce to common day which I appreciated.

I do not think I would recommend this book at all, due to all these mistakes which are : inappropriate, untrue and often offensive. If I hand this book to a friend who is trans/nb/intersex, I am worried it will be offensive for them.

A good book in theory but not well in excecution. Very misleading.

I would rate this book 2/5 stars.

Punchard shortly describes the lives of dozens of trans, intersex, and non-binary historical figures. These bios are less than a page long and include a picture or image of the person in question. I really wanted to like this book, but I didn’t like the execution.

There wasn’t any organization to the profiles. I would have preferred maybe a chronological approach, instead of randomly listing them out. It could have used heavy sentence level editing for grammar and clarity. From the title, this book claims to be a ‘celebration’ of trans, intersex, and non-binary lives, but it seemed to focus on their genitals and the violence perpetrated against them. I would have much rather read more about fewer people, which could have allowed for a greater depth of historical analysis.