Recommended science reading for trans visibility day
Books on biology beyond the binary
Joan Roughgarden, Evolution’s Rainbow, University of California Press 2004.
I cannot overstate how impactful this book is on my work on a DAILY BASIS. I believe that anyone seeking to truly let animals reveal themselves to us in all their glory, at this moment, has much to owe Joan Roughgarden. At 77, Dr. Roughgarden, professor emerita of biology at Stanford University, is still in the game- her latest tweets are sharing her new model for population dynamics of phage and bacteria. A truly pioneering trans woman in evolutionary biology, she took issue with Darwin’s theory of sexual selection for the binaries it has imposed on generations of evolutionary biologists. This book is her deep dive into all of the genders that nature offers. “…Suppressing the full story of gender and sexuality denies diverse people their right to feel at one with nature. The true story of nature is profoundly empowering for peoples of minority gender expressions and sexualities.” (Evolution’s Rainbow p 128.)
Ben Barres, The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist, Society for Neuroscience 2018.
Ben Barres’s death in 2017 at age 63 from cancer was not only a huge loss for science- he had a major career in neuroscience, to include the “identification of glial-derived factors that promote the formation and elimination of synapses, and the characterization of signals that induce the formation of myelin, the lipid sheathing on neurons.” (I have no idea what this means but it’s from the Nature obit on him and it sure seems fancy! ); but it was also the loss of a major voice for equality in science. After transitioning in 1997, Ben absolutely railed against gender discrimination in the sciences. Please enjoy this delicious snippet of a note he wrote declining an invitation to speak at a conference in the Netherlands:
“Dear Sir,
You have a hell of a lot of nerve inviting me after sending me that speaker list.
It looks like out of your last 35 speakers, only 1 has been a woman?!?!
I wouldn’t visit your school if it were the last school on earth. Do you think women are not doing equally good science? And what about the half of your trainees that are women (not to mention the men)? Do you really mean to teach them that the only ones worthy of inviting are men??
I would suggest if you want to hear a really great talk about glia that you invite some of my previous women trainees to come speak in my place…”
It goes on just as fabulously. Here’s a snippet from the response that Ben got back:
“….I deeply respect and fully agree with your objection…please be sure that I absolutely will discuss your reply with the faculty of the department and the university administration, so that they understand the inexcusable standard which now exists and the severity of its consequences. Moreover, you have my promise to redouble my own efforts to improve the representation of women in science. Kind regards,
Ben’s top-notch professional accomplishments, and advocacy for changes within science, are a potent reminder to cis Men that advocating for gender equality in your given discipline is of no deleterious consequence to your own professional advancement. (especially if you’re actually good at your job ;) )
Julia Serano, Whipping Girl, Seal Press, 2007.
Julia Serano is a developmental biologist-turned-speaker, artist, and advocate on gender, sexuality, and feminism. This book is important to me because she really grapples with both the biological and social components of gender from a place of professional expertise and lived experience. Julia Serano not only taught me how profoundly deep-seated our culture’s hatred of femininity is, but also how imperative it is that cis women advocate for the rights of trans women like we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from our mutual safety and liberation.
Eliot Schrefer, Queer Ducks (and other animals), Katherine Tegen Books 2022.
This is my YA animal sex nonfiction current obsession. And through it, I’ve learned not only how writing for young people can be a lesson in craft as a person writing for (young at heart) adults, but also how to talk about animal sex and sexuality with a respect for the science, while also allowing ourselves to learn about our own identities through animals. It is just such fun reading! And scientifically rigorous as heck! Recommend: the section on velvet horn deer, where Eliot asks, are there trans animals?
Lars Horn, Voice of the Fish, Graywolf Press 2022.
Oh how to describe this reading experience! A lyric memoir about bodies, water, and identity, very spare on one level, and yet each sentence is worth lingering over for days on end! Lars Horn writes about their lifetime relating to fish (who happen to routinely transition genders throughout their lives) and to water, as part of this incredible weaving together of personal essay, a history of our relating to animals, and a reclaiming of “animal” identities, which can be fraught for folks who haven’t had a choice when being tagged with that label historically. This book changed how I see the world.
Next on my list! Sabrina Imbler, How Far the Light Reachers, A Life in Ten Sea Creatures. Little Brown, 2022.
My library hold finally arrived and I’m going to pick it up this afternoon- I shall keep you posted. My understanding is that Sabrina Imbler, who took the science writing world by storm with this headline during their fellowship in the NYT science section, writes their memoir in companionship with ten deep-sea animals. CANNOT WAIT.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TRANSSCIENCE BOOKS?
XO
Perrin
