How to Understand Your Gender

A Practical Guide for Exploring Who You Are

By: Alex Iantaffi, Meg-John Barker

Narrated by: Robyn Holdaway

Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Have you ever questioned your own gender identity? Do you know somebody who is transgender or who identifies as non-binary? Do you ever feel confused when people talk about gender diversity?

This down-to-earth guide is for anybody who wants to know more about gender, from its biology, history and sociology, to how it plays a role in our relationships and interactions with family, friends, partners and strangers. It looks at practical ways people can express their own gender and will help you to understand people whose gender might be different from your own. With activities and points for reflection throughout, this book will help people of all genders engage with gender diversity and explore the ideas in the book in relation to their own lived experiences.

©2017 Alex Iantaffi and Meg-John Barker (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic reviews

"For anyone who's ever wished they had a smart, kind, friend with whom they could calmly and safely discuss gender issues: this most excellent book is that kind of friend." (Kate Bornstein, author of Gender Outlaw)

"The compassionate, accessible manual the world has been waiting for." (Laurie Penny)

Good Start

Very work book style approach, more guiding than informing. Enjoyed, but need more. Great narration!

All of the YES for this.

This is the content I wish I would have had known about growing up. Accesible and affirming for folks of any identity on the vast gender spectrum. Wonderful narration. I intend to share this book with friends and family looking for resources to help better understand my current gender expansion, and encourage them to become curious about their own personal gender identities. Bravo! Highly recommended

self reflection book more than informational

I enjoyed reading this for sure but it would have been cool if it was a little more informational and showed some more studies or statistics or history. I feel like I expected that more because the authors were doctors but I still liked it and I would recommend it. it does an amazing job at covering ALL experiences. this book is a GREAT start.

Useful Knowledge, Great Presentation all around.

A stunning guide on gender and norms within the construct. Truly educational and helpful in this tumultuous world.

Good performance. Poor Content.

Really didn’t enjoy this read. For a book that focuses so heavily on self determination, expression, and being aware of your feelings, the writers seem to have a very clear trajectory they expect their readers to follow down.
Most of their ideas on binary and non binary genders seem extremely tied in with gender stereotypes themselves, which was very disheartening to read. I found this most apparent with many of the journaling exercises, many of which focused on identifying what stereotypes you fall into and using that to make determinations about your identity. I found this incredibly reductive.