“He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters” by Schuyler Bailar
Go‑to expert on gender identity, Schuyler Bailar, offers an essential, urgent guide that changes the conversation about gender identity and how we talk about it.
He/She/They uses storytelling and the art of conversation to give us the fundamental language and context of gender so that we can meet people where they are and pave the way to understanding, acceptance, and inclusion.
As a transgender man, inclusion advocate, and LGBTQ+ educator, Schuyler Bailar is more than familiar with the myriad questions that come up. In He/She/They, he addresses them head on, such as why being transgender is not a choice, why pronouns are important, and what is biological sex. But this book is more than a book on allyship; many of Schuyler’s vast followers come to him for support; one of his most popular reels is speaking to a young trans person who asks, “does it get better?”
He/She/They is an essential, urgent, and potentially life-saving book that will change the conversation about gender identity and how we talk about it, moving us toward a more equitable future.
Review
I really enjoyed reading this book. Schuyler did a really good job using both his personal story and additional facts about being trans to provide a lot of information. There was as lot of good information about what being Trans means and how gender is never as simple as male or female. He also had a lot of discussion about the discrimination Trans individuals face and how the sports and bathroom bans are a lot of manufactured outrage. He tells his own story about being a swimmer along with another trans athlete and how all the outrage is ridicule in the face of actual facts about their stats and the stats of other athletes in competition. I also like how Schuyler outlines various ways to handle working with other people to help them understand and how to respond to transphobic comments. The stories that Schuyler told about his own history were great too and I really enjoyed hearing about how his Korean family members responded to his transition. There are a lot of important things about this book and I think everyone should read it.
Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “He/She/They”.
Book Details
- Author’s Website
- Schuyler Bailar
- Publisher / Date
- Hachette Go, October 2023
- Genre
- Non-Fiction, Essay Collection
- Page Count
- 384
- Completion Date
- February 16, 2025