Book Review

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation

Kate Bornstein and S. Bear Bergman

Sixteen years ago, Kate Bornstein published a land mark book in the transgender community, titled Gender Outlaws: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us. It became a landmark work, exploring gender roles, attitudes and the fact that there are far more than just two genders. Now, in the year 2010, Kate and her co-author Bear Bergman have brought forth this generation’s version, Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation.

Kate Bornstein, born into a male body in 1948, transitioned to a woman in 1986, and settled into the lesbian community as an author, playwright and gender theorist. However, while she definitely did not feel that she was a male, she also questioned whether or not she was female, stating that her transition to such was because it was the only other option to being male available to her. She launched into explorations of the gender binary and questioned the rigid idea that that only two polarities of gender – male or female – exist. Her books include Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us, Roadkill: An Infobahn Erotic Adventure (Novel, co-authored with Caitlin Sullivan), My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely and Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws.

Bear Bergman’s story comes from the opposite side of the gender fence. Ze was born in 1974, and is an activist, writer, theater performance artist and poet. Bear’s work and life questions all facets of gender and gender expression. Hir’s books include Butch is a Noun, The Nearest Exit May be Behind You, and now, with Bornstein, Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation.

Gender Outlaws: the Next Generation is an anthology containing an Introduction, an Intermission and an Epilogue by Kate and Bear; and many essays, poems, and comics all profoundly exploring, deconstructing, rebuilding and revaluing the concept of “gender”. Also included is one recipe for vegan curry.

I love the multitude of voices in this book, the varieties of viewpoints and artistic expressions! The book is divided into five parts; Do I Look Like an Outlaw to You?, Being Reconfigured is Not the Same as Being Reimagined…Which is Why I am as Cute as I Happen to Be, It Might Not Be a Picnic, But There’s a Great Buffet, and the final, powerful, And Still We Rise.

Part one; Do I Look Like an Outlaw to You? opens with the essay “We’re All Somebody’s Freak” by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, founder of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Going straight for the heart of the matter, and setting the pace for the rest of the anthology, Smith questions the prejudices and barriers that exist within the transgender community towards each other.

In Part Two entitled “Being Reconfigured is Not the Same as Being Reimagined”, “Taking Up Space” by Kyle Lukoff, addresses the powerful issues of eating disorders and transgenderism. “The Wrong Body” by Scott Turner Schofield deals with the question of the bodies we are born into.

Part Three, “…which is Why I am as Cute as I Happen to Be” has one of the most humorous pieces in the book, “The Secret Life of My Wiener” by Corry Schmanke Parrish, as well as the return of a black belt martial artist to the mats and gyms once denied her in “Living Well and Coming Free”, by Ryka Aoki.

In Part Four, “It Might Not Be a Picnic, But There’s a Great Buffet”, “The Manly Art of Pregnancy” by j wallace explores being a man and pregnant, a scenario that is having more and more impact in today’s society. “Transgressing Gender at Passover with Jesus!” by Peterson Toscano restories one of the Bible’s great stories in transgender terms, and “Today’s New Name May Be Tomorrow’s Old” by Sassafras Lowry confronts the taboo subject of transitioning and then de-transitioning in the trans subculture.

Finally, Part Five, And Still We Rise takes on the tragedy of abuse and murder that haunts transgenders today, giving powerful voice to the violence we face. “Princess” a comic by Christine Smith addresses humorously but with great force, bullying issues faced in the schools. “Marsha P Johnson::ten suns the transformer” is an elegy for Marsha P Johnson, a famous Drag Queen whose death was possibly murder, but ruled a suicide. “Shot, Stabbed, Choked, Strangled, Broken: a ritual for November 20^th” by Roz Kaveney is a haunting poem for the victims remembered on the Transgender Day of Remembrance. These are only parts of this stunning anthology – 47 authors, poets and artists all told speak out on the fluidity, the power and the changes in gender in the world today.

The book is bracketed by conversations between Bear Bergman and Kate Bornstein, a rollicking walk down memory lane of their association and the changes in the transgender community, (I am still boggled by mental images of Sarah Palin and Kate Bornstein on a desert island!) and a look to the future of Gender to come. It is not just a book about transgender, but about gender itself, how it is shaped in society and how it shapes individuals and how those individuals continue to stand societal conventions on end.

There are some shocking and unsettling moments in the book – “In Our Skin” by A. P. Andre and Luis Guterierrez Mock is the transcript of an erotic performance piece (complete with photographs) of love making on stage that bends gender in dramatic ways. This piece will be startling and perhaps difficult for individuals who pick this book up to read with no previous contact with transgender and gender bending cultures. “Jihad” by Azadeh Arsanjani and “Pilgrimage” by Zev Al-Walid are powerful, much needed essays of transgenderism within the Muslim faith that may also be unexpected and disconcerting in today’s political climate. All told, this book in its entirety is a powerful cohesive exploration of gender that speaks forth- rightly and with depth, poignancy and humor to a world that faces bewildering changes in the map of gender roles and expressions in the world today.

It would be my hope that “Gender Outlaws: the Next Generation” may reach a wide audience; not just those within the transgender community, but instead, travel even further to the world at large, becoming this generation’s contributions to the changes in gender in our world. I cannot recommend it highly enough! Finally, the books dedication to Bear Bergman’s son, Stanley Safran Bergman says it all – “…to the next generation”.

One more post before moving on for awhile - Drag in the Line

What was my first experience with Drag? Like so, so many of us it was the freak drag show of all time - The Rocky Horror Picture Show! I virginally wandered into a midnight showing of it at a local theater in 1984-5 range, having NO clue what I was getting into. I left later that night a life long fan. Given that back then I was this deeply sincere young church going conservative Christian, that should have been a clue...

(years and years later, comparing life events and time frames with The Back Porch Priestess, we discovered that she was Magenta on the stage below the screen at the performance I attended! Wonderful!)

Little did I know....

What is "Drag"? After blundering around looking at etymology - "Drag" - early 20th centurey Brittish slang for clothes", "Queen" for ether a flamboyant woman, or a gay man (and Drag King was the natural step from there for the opposite number), drag might be defined as dressing for entertainment performance purposes as a member of the opposite sex as a proffession or a hobby or as an art form. There have been and are now straight performers who do drag, as well as many in the gay communities. It does not nessesarily reflect a desire on the part of the individual to *be* or live as the gender they are portraying on stage, or in other venues. Its not about dressing like a woman or a man by a man or a woman - it's about portraying and amplifying the ideal or the concept of Man or Woman. As Rue Paul once said, ""I do not impersonate females! How many women do you know who wear seven-inch heels, four-foot wigs, and skintight dresses?" He also said, "I don't dress like a woman; I dress like a drag queen!". There is clearly more going on here than just changing ones clothing.

And there are all sorts of genres within the world of drag - from lip-synch to freak drag, from men and women who delight in creating seamless illusions to enterainers who go for shock and full beards with their bangles. It has become high entertainment and many such as Rue Paul or The Lady Chablis who player herself in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" have achieved mainstream fame.





Another famous face is K. D. Lang - who while not perhaps a drag king performer per se, bends gender into a pretzel with her masculine presentation...and oh, that voice!

I also have lived with drag queens - bless them. To keep this post short and on topic, I am going to sum up that time frame in one phrase...
Three Drag Queens....Two Lesbians....ONE bathroom. You do the math.....
I should write a book...

I have since that long flung day ago at Rocky Horror attended any number of drag shows -including spending one never to be forgotten Halloween Night in San Fransisco in the Castro district! WOW! - oddly enough, they have all been drag queen shows. Which have been wonderful, but so far I have yet to make it to a local Drag King show. (being a full time non-traditional college student, working as an artist and a being a full time spouse, with us on a completely opposite schedule MIGHT have something to do with it...maybe...ya think?)

However...heres my confession (and all my friends *snort* here. as it is no great secret.)

I have done drag...not just my usual gender confusing self-presentation that I do every day like the air I breathe (I had a man appologize to me the other day for taking me as a woman!) but full on - get the spirit gum and the gymn sock out and attempt to fool the eye....

I dressed at a SciFi con as a man in a Rennasaince costume with a mustache - I managed to not only fool a proffesional costumer, but train-wrecked two friends of mine whom I see yearly at the con. They finally grabbed my name badge trying to figure out what they were seeing, which was no help, as I was not using my name, but rather a boys name on the badge. I am not sure they ever quite caught up with what was going on (yes, I have pictures, no, they are not in the computer and I would have to go find the box - when they surface I will scan them in and post 'em. )

I also went one Halloween as a Scotsman in a full kilt and claymore with beard stubble - Misbehavin was there that time....on our way into the dance hall, a woman stopped Misbehavin' (who was living with us at the time) and gushed "Oh, who is the adorable little Scotsman?!" Misbehavin' cheerfully lived up to her name, and gleefully with evil intent, replied "Oh, SHE is my roomate." and sailed blythly on her way, leaving the poor woman gaping! (it's a good thing she did too - I did not need anybody tipping that kilt!)

So...why do I enjoy drag? It's fun, of course, like all costumes are, when you are able to step out of everyday life and be someone else for awhile! It is fun to present fully as a male and be taken for one...and then it's also fun to blow the illusion and watch the train wreck when people realize what they are actually seeing. (I do have a sense of humor that should be kept in a cage, if you haven't figured that out by now...) I am hoping to do drag this Halloween as we are intending on attending a Gay Pride that will coincide with that High Holy Day of Witches, Dragqueens and and all such good folk!

But I worry a little. Dreamweaver has never seen me do drag. Will it be fun for her, or will it fuel her fears that I might someday choose to transition? I don't exactly turn into an umbearable ape, but I do present a lot more masculine in drag (DUH!) - can't explain it...it's like a switch going on. It's been years since I did drag - will it still be fun, or will it collide in my head and create confusion, now that the genie is out of the bottle in my subconsious about being GID? Will the freaking spirit gum work this time - we had spirit gum failure at one attempt - hence the beard stubble and not the goatee. Do I remember how to Zen breathe around duct tape, ace bandages and a sports bra? Oh, the things that go through ones head in the dark at night

I am looking forward to Halloween! I think it's gonna be a ball. I will probably recreate the Scot in a kilt out fit - note, this is the full medieval kilt of 4 yards of tartan plaid hand pleated into a kilt! I did some widgeting with the computer art program (not a good one and I am not a computer graphic artist, so those out there that are, yes, this isn't the best in the world.) But just for fun...here my drag alter ego is. He's kinda cute, isnt he! And Shhh- don't tell anyone this, but he's got this crush on a beautiful woman named Dreamweaver; he's hoping she will be his date to the Halloweenfest this year? Do you think she might go?


Here's hoping!