Unbound

Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity

By: Arlene Stein

Narrated by: Suzanne Elise Freeman

Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

An intimate portrait of a new generation of transmasculine individuals as they undergo gender transitions

Award-winning sociologist Arlene Stein takes us into the lives of four strangers who find themselves together in a sun-drenched surgeon’s office, having traveled to Florida from across the United States in order to masculinize their chests. Ben, Lucas, Parker, and Nadia wish to feel more comfortable in their bodies; three of them are also taking testosterone so that others recognize them as male. Following them over the course of a year, Stein shows how members of this young transgender generation, along with other gender dissidents, are refashioning their identities and challenging others’ conceptions of who they are. During a time of conservative resurgence, they do so despite great personal costs.   

Transgender men comprise a large, growing proportion of the trans population, yet they remain largely invisible. In this powerful, timely, and eye-opening account, Stein draws from dozens of interviews with transgender people and their friends and families, as well as with activists and medical and psychological experts. Unbound documents the varied ways younger trans men see themselves and how they are changing our understanding of what it means to be male and female in America.

©2018 Arlene Stein (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Earnest, diligent and defiantly optimistic....What gives this book its real heat - is more personal; it’s the challenge posed to [Stein's] own cherished beliefs." (Parul Sehgal, The New York Times) 

“A book written by a sociologist who writes like a novelist. It's a rare nonfiction page-turner and an important book.” (Rebecca Makkai, Conde Nast Traveler)

"Sensitive....A much needed primer for those who are puzzled by contemporary discussions about gender." (The New Yorker)

“Moves beyond the popular fixation on bathroom politics to explore individual lives.” (The Washington Post)

Hetero Author’s experience, not Trans Experience

As a trans person, this book was pretty hard to read. I deeply appreciate the work this author is doing to better understand the trans community, however a lot of what they talk about is either laced with internalized trans phobia or seeking to fit trans people into the binary. They talk plenty about the fact that many trans people do not fit into said binary, but they put the binary on a pedestal and make it seem like if you want fit in this, your like will be extremely hard. Speaking from my own experience, this is simply not true for a lot of the trans community. I deal with some of fear of closed minded and ignorant people, but i have found so much joy in choosing to be the non binary human that I am and I have no desire to fit into said binary. I’m not saying everyone should avoid this book, but rather that you read it with a grain of salt. Don’t just take the author at their word. Do your own work too.

Good info. Extremely Repetitive

Good info repeated and repeated and repeated. Could have been a great essay. Took too long telling the first story of Ben. Not sure what author’s lesbian perspective added to a transgender book.

For Curious Outsiders

Not for trans masculine people but an excellent entry point for those who love them.

Very good; would recommend only to certain people.

(Of note, I am a white cis woman.)

I purchased this book from Audible on somewhat of a whim, doing only a cursory google of the author to try and ensure I wasn't about to read something horrifically TERF-y. After the first chapter, I ended up reading some other reviews and began to worry about what I had gotten myself into. I continued to read it with caution, and having completed it, I think this book is excellent if, and only if, it is read as an encapsulation of one person's relatable experience of an evolving topic during one moment in time. It does feel quite dated in parts, and I suspect may have felt so from the day of publication, because ideas around/understanding of the subject matter are shifting relatively rapidly on a cultural/societal level.

I do think that Stein's intent was merely to tell a story, about herself and about the people she encountered as she set out to learn more about transmasculinity, and I think that she makes this clear at several places in the book. However, I also think she vastly underestimated the impact of her credentials and her earlier oeuvre, which (to my understanding; I have not read them) are actual sociological case studies. It is thus extremely uncomfortable (at best) when she records offensive/dangerous/TERFy statements without argument or contradiction. I would not recommend this to someone without warning them of this, nor would I necessarily recommend it to someone who has absolutely no knowledge of trans issues, someone who may already be inclined toward bias against trans people, and/or someone who may not be able to discern the danger of these statements/beliefs.

But ultimately, this is not a book of answers and it is not trying to be. It's a narrative relaying the evolution of Stein's own personal views on a subject she was admittedly ignorant of prior to beginning this book and still doesn't have a complete understanding of (which I think she would be the first to admit). It's the story of a few people making their way through a world that wants firm answers where there are none. It's a story of grappling with a world that is leaving behind the structures that made you, that maybe even fundamentally changed you, and of letting go of ideas you never imagined you could, even when it is uncomfortable, even when it hurts. And it's a story of finding a way to respect and love someone else's story and experience of the world even when you don't understand it.

Recommended

I totally recommend this audio book, is so helpful for people like me as a trans man and also is going to help others to get a better understanding.