Posted on June 26, 2023 in Review of the Week
Malatino, Hil. Minnesota, 2022
240p bibl index, 9781517912086 $88.00, 9781517912093 $21.95, 9781452967288
Following up on his earlier works, Queer Embodiment: Monstrosity, Medical Violence, and Intersex Experience (2019) and Trans Care (2020), Side Affects, Malatino’s third book, examines a complex and nuanced range of negative feelings that transgender people often experience in their lives. Malatino (Pennsylvania State Univ.) observes that feelings such as “fatigue, numbness, envy, rage, burnout” (p. 4) establish an “affective commons” that shapes subjectivities and identities as much as it motivates resistance, intervention, healing, and transformation. Side Affects is a response to popular misunderstandings of trans subjectivity, and more particularly the oversimplification and generalization one might encounter in popular representations of trans experience. Malatino’s argument is firmly grounded in current trans, queer, and feminist theory, while it invokes the methods of poststructural critique and phenomenological interrogation. Malatino contributes substantively to the ongoing research focused on transgender experience within gender and sexuality studies, cultural studies, and philosophy. Side Affects will be a crucial resource for students, teachers, and scholars in these fields, though undergraduates may find its theoretical apparatus and jargon somewhat challenging.
Summing Up: Essential. General readers, advanced undergraduates through faculty, and professionals.
Reviewer: G. Sikorski, Anne Arundel Community College
Interdisciplinary Subjects: Women’s & Gender Studies, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Studies
Subject: Social & Behavioral Sciences
Choice Issue: Feb 2023
This week's review provides a historical overview of LGBTQ+ picture books, analyzing how LGBTQ+ individuals have been depicted over time and how children's books with LGBTQ+ themes can transform society.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Making a case for substantial prison reform, this week's review examines the lack of accountability American county and local jail systems take for the avoidable deaths of detainees.
Posted on in Review of the Week
To commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month, this week's review analyzes the community-building and activist practices Mexican and Puerto Rican migrants employed in 20th-century Michigan.
Posted on in Review of the Week
This week's review offers a roadmap for teaching contemporary US history, providing instructors with tips to tackle recent divisive topics and engage students with primary sources.
Posted on in Review of the Week