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None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary
‘When you are someone that falls outside of categories in so many ways, a lot of things are said to you. And I have had a lot of things said to me.’
In None of the Above, Travis Alabanza examines seven phrases people have directed at them about their gender identity. These phrases have stayed with them over the years. Some are deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or offensive, some celebratory; sentences that have impacted them for better and for worse; sentences that speak to the broader issues raised by a world that insists that gender must be a binary.
Through these seven phrases, which include some of their most transformative experiences as a Black, mixed race, non binary person, Travis Alabanza turns a mirror back on society, giving us reason to question the very framework in which we live and the ways we treat each other.
In None of the Above, Travis Alabanza examines seven phrases people have directed at them about their gender identity. These phrases have stayed with them over the years. Some are deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or offensive, some celebratory; sentences that have impacted them for better and for worse; sentences that speak to the broader issues raised by a world that insists that gender must be a binary.
Through these seven phrases, which include some of their most transformative experiences as a Black, mixed race, non binary person, Travis Alabanza turns a mirror back on society, giving us reason to question the very framework in which we live and the ways we treat each other.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2022
226 people are currently reading
6581 people want to read
About the author
Travis Alabanza
19 books139 followersTravis Alabanza is a performance artist, theatre maker, poet and writer that works and survives in London, via Bristol. Their multidisciplinary practice uses a combination of poetry, theatre, sounscapes, projection and body-focussed performance art to scream about their survival as a Black, trans, gender-non-conforming person in the UK. Growing up on a council estate in the outskirts of a city, Alabanza prides themselves on a practice that is messy, abrupt, confrontation, atypical and self-taught, often using performance to provoke a strong emotion [and action] from their audiences. In the last two years Alabanza has cemented themselves as one of the most prominent emerging queer artists in the UK (As noted by Dazed, Prancing Through Life and MOBO) and has performed, talked and toured across numerous UK venues as well as internationally, to acclaim reviews.
First appearing in Poetry circles and becoming Published in the Black and Gay in the UK Anthology in 2015, Alabanza then toured and showcased their debut show ‘Stories of a Queer Brown Muddy kid’ across queer clubs and venues such as the RVT, Hackney Attic, Keble arts Festival and selling out Housman’s bookstore. In 2016 Alabanza continued to perform across multiple events and venues across the UK and abroad, touring lectures and performances to over 40 UK universities during LGBTQ+ and Black History month, as well as giving national talks on issues surrounding Blackness and Queerness at places such as the V&A and Bristol Watershed.
Their work was programmed at events such as Duckie, Bar Wotever, And What! Festival, Late at Tate, The V&A and Transmission Gallery. Alabanza also starred in Scottee’s Five Star, Roundhouse production ‘Putting Words in Your Mouth’, as well as becoming one of the 2016/17 Artist in Residences at the Tate Britain. In 2017 Alabanza is working on their solo exhibition ‘The Other’d Artist’ for Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, the sold out opening of their new show BURGERZ at Hackney showroom, supporting artists such as mykki blanco and aloe vaid-menon and has just finished completing a short US college tour with their work. Outside of making art, Alabanza enjoys discussing internet culture, memes, hair braiding, and dancing with other black people.
First appearing in Poetry circles and becoming Published in the Black and Gay in the UK Anthology in 2015, Alabanza then toured and showcased their debut show ‘Stories of a Queer Brown Muddy kid’ across queer clubs and venues such as the RVT, Hackney Attic, Keble arts Festival and selling out Housman’s bookstore. In 2016 Alabanza continued to perform across multiple events and venues across the UK and abroad, touring lectures and performances to over 40 UK universities during LGBTQ+ and Black History month, as well as giving national talks on issues surrounding Blackness and Queerness at places such as the V&A and Bristol Watershed.
Their work was programmed at events such as Duckie, Bar Wotever, And What! Festival, Late at Tate, The V&A and Transmission Gallery. Alabanza also starred in Scottee’s Five Star, Roundhouse production ‘Putting Words in Your Mouth’, as well as becoming one of the 2016/17 Artist in Residences at the Tate Britain. In 2017 Alabanza is working on their solo exhibition ‘The Other’d Artist’ for Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, the sold out opening of their new show BURGERZ at Hackney showroom, supporting artists such as mykki blanco and aloe vaid-menon and has just finished completing a short US college tour with their work. Outside of making art, Alabanza enjoys discussing internet culture, memes, hair braiding, and dancing with other black people.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 356 reviews
November 1, 2022
The copy of this book that I read was from the library and had faint pencil lines marking the exact same passages that I was furiously nodding my head and agreeing with. It's moments like these that make me love being a part of the trans community.
June 10, 2025
3.5 stars
I appreciated Travis Alabanza’s honesty about their experience as a Black nonbinary person. Ranging from instances of overt transphobia to questioning the prevalence of whiteness in trans spaces, I liked how unapologetic they were about their identities and their social justice values. It was great that they acknowledged history, like how colonialism/imperialism helped assert the gender binary, as well as the complexities of gender and transness (e.g., questioning what it means to be a “real” trans person and how rigid adherence to gender norms can hurt trans people).
I do think this memoir is written in a very stream-of-consciousness style, which to me made it seem a bit rant-y. Though, Alabanza definitely has a lot of valid things to rant about; structurally it just not my favorite memoir. Still, important information and perspective is conveyed in this book even if the writing style didn’t always wow me.
I appreciated Travis Alabanza’s honesty about their experience as a Black nonbinary person. Ranging from instances of overt transphobia to questioning the prevalence of whiteness in trans spaces, I liked how unapologetic they were about their identities and their social justice values. It was great that they acknowledged history, like how colonialism/imperialism helped assert the gender binary, as well as the complexities of gender and transness (e.g., questioning what it means to be a “real” trans person and how rigid adherence to gender norms can hurt trans people).
I do think this memoir is written in a very stream-of-consciousness style, which to me made it seem a bit rant-y. Though, Alabanza definitely has a lot of valid things to rant about; structurally it just not my favorite memoir. Still, important information and perspective is conveyed in this book even if the writing style didn’t always wow me.
August 6, 2022
Gorgeous obliterating fantastic devastating rejuvenating life affirming I THINK THIS BOOK IS EXCELLENT. Parts felt like they'd been peeled straight from my own mind and arranged very beautifully on the page. Never felt so deeply understood in literature before. I think this functions both as a dialogue between trans people and an insight for cis people into the trans experience - I don't find work which aims solely to clinically explain lgbt lives for outside eyes engaging at all but this is just wonderful. Beautiful and complex and honest. Travis Alabanza I am madly in love with you and I hope you find a ten pound note in an old coat pocket today
June 23, 2023
I chose this award winning book for a Pride read this year. This is a thoughtful and articulate examination of what it means to exist as a gender non-conforming person of colour in a world that is bound to the binary (in ways that impact both trans and non-trans folk). Travis is not afraid to admit to an uncertainty about whether theirs is a form of expression that can be sustained as they respond to and dissect a series of statements they have encountered over the past few years. I was previously unaware of Alabanza and, as a trans man who has been transitioned for over 20 years, I am not exactly the target audience for this book. But, as ever, my strongest connection has always been with those who stand at the intersection of masculine and feminine (even if I pass as a very ordinary man) so I found myself connecting with and inspired by much of Travis's account. This is not a memoir, nor is it an defense/explanation of non-binary identity, but something in between. For readers inside and outside the trans community it is a very valuable and entertaining read though one that might anger some on both sides.
A longer review/reflection can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2023/06/23/pr...
A longer review/reflection can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2023/06/23/pr...
February 4, 2023
My rating evidently reflects an unpopular opinion. The content raised in this book is important and relates to the problems faced by marginalised communities (esp both black and non binary) in an honest yet confronting manner. The book seems steeped in (justified) anger but struggles to move beyond rage to a more hopeful message about what we can all do to be better, likely a reflection of the (understandable) mental exhaustion the writer experienced while writing this, especially during the pandemic.
My main issues are the repetitive essays and the many times sentences would start with "I won't tell you [X], but [X] happened; I won't tell you [Y], but [Y] happened." The tone of these sentences felt passive-aggressive, as if the reader themself had personally harmed the writer. Others have raised that the book appears poorly edited, and that may have been the issue here. My own mood may also have contributed; as a nonbinary person myself I was familiar with all topics raised, so I wasn't able to expand and learn anything new, and the politicised angry essays did not correspond to my (probably naive) expectation of an autobiographical memoir that would allow for gender recognition and feel uplifting in some way.
Reading this book for me just felt like reading and feeling someone's anger and hurt without any meaning attached to it, as there was nothing new to learn; the only option left was despairing with someone whose tone in most of the book is one of hopelessness. As much as I recognise the writer's pain, sharing it became unbearable and getting through a book with this much hurt too painful. The expectations for humanity and society appeared incredibly low in this book, and it often read more like an angry lecture or rant (again creating the illusion that the reader themself is somehow responsible or complicit simply by living in the flawed society we all inhabit). I hope the writer is in a better place mentally now than when they wrote this, and that we will all have more moments where we genuinely do feel lucky to transcend the binary (this was in one of the essays that I did connect with).
My main issues are the repetitive essays and the many times sentences would start with "I won't tell you [X], but [X] happened; I won't tell you [Y], but [Y] happened." The tone of these sentences felt passive-aggressive, as if the reader themself had personally harmed the writer. Others have raised that the book appears poorly edited, and that may have been the issue here. My own mood may also have contributed; as a nonbinary person myself I was familiar with all topics raised, so I wasn't able to expand and learn anything new, and the politicised angry essays did not correspond to my (probably naive) expectation of an autobiographical memoir that would allow for gender recognition and feel uplifting in some way.
Reading this book for me just felt like reading and feeling someone's anger and hurt without any meaning attached to it, as there was nothing new to learn; the only option left was despairing with someone whose tone in most of the book is one of hopelessness. As much as I recognise the writer's pain, sharing it became unbearable and getting through a book with this much hurt too painful. The expectations for humanity and society appeared incredibly low in this book, and it often read more like an angry lecture or rant (again creating the illusion that the reader themself is somehow responsible or complicit simply by living in the flawed society we all inhabit). I hope the writer is in a better place mentally now than when they wrote this, and that we will all have more moments where we genuinely do feel lucky to transcend the binary (this was in one of the essays that I did connect with).
February 3, 2023
A heartfelt and easy compilation of thoughts on being non-binary and queer. It exudes exhaustion and sadness, the impossibility to be yourself in a world governed by the violence of the gender binary. It also offers important prompts on the entanglement of different identities (race, class and queerness), how to make sense of it and how to survive it as well.
However, I missed the joy of possibility, which I think is the very essence of queerness. Where is the dream of utopia? I also understand that this is a personal collection of memories and thoughts, and sometimes the world and its gender binary do take away the joy of being queer. And you might be able to sense this joy by the end of the book, that is true. But I would have loved for it to have a more central stage.
However, I missed the joy of possibility, which I think is the very essence of queerness. Where is the dream of utopia? I also understand that this is a personal collection of memories and thoughts, and sometimes the world and its gender binary do take away the joy of being queer. And you might be able to sense this joy by the end of the book, that is true. But I would have loved for it to have a more central stage.
July 9, 2024
Review by a white nonbinary reader
A raw, intimate look laying bare, sometime literally, Travis' life as a Black, nonbinary trans person in the public eye within the UK.
I found myself glancing at my cat as I wrote this review, pausing to consider the fact that when it comes to animals, with some exceptions, often we cannot tell biological sex at first glance, and does that matter? A cute animal is a cute animal. I wish this simple concept of acceptance could permeate human society.
While my own experiences in the public sphere as a passing, white, nonbinary person uninterested in dating have lacked much, actually close to all of Travis' more traumatic, violent, emotionally disruptive experiences, there is still a lot to sympathize with and relate to here. The thoughtful passages on body dysmorphia, gender dysphoria, thought put into fashion or makeup or physical appearance and how we present or perform gender when out and about really hit. As someone living in a region where trans people generally are safer, reading through Travis' experiences, which are intensified by racial prejudice and the particularly fierce 'man in a dress' TERF narratives in the UK , was incredibly sobering and put my privilege in context, even if I hold my own trauma.
It's important to consider this as what it is, a sometimes messy, heart laid bare upon the page memoir, rather than a clinical analysis of queer culture or a sociological research into gender across global or racial lines. But lived experience and personal anecdotes in this area are arguably more important than clinical data, anyways, and "hit" more.
I consider memoirs as not up for evaluation the same way other books I review are, but overall I found this an emotionally stimulating and relatable read.
A raw, intimate look laying bare, sometime literally, Travis' life as a Black, nonbinary trans person in the public eye within the UK.
I found myself glancing at my cat as I wrote this review, pausing to consider the fact that when it comes to animals, with some exceptions, often we cannot tell biological sex at first glance, and does that matter? A cute animal is a cute animal. I wish this simple concept of acceptance could permeate human society.
While my own experiences in the public sphere as a passing, white, nonbinary person uninterested in dating have lacked much, actually close to all of Travis' more traumatic, violent, emotionally disruptive experiences, there is still a lot to sympathize with and relate to here. The thoughtful passages on body dysmorphia, gender dysphoria, thought put into fashion or makeup or physical appearance and how we present or perform gender when out and about really hit. As someone living in a region where trans people generally are safer, reading through Travis' experiences, which are intensified by racial prejudice and the particularly fierce 'man in a dress' TERF narratives in the UK , was incredibly sobering and put my privilege in context, even if I hold my own trauma.
It's important to consider this as what it is, a sometimes messy, heart laid bare upon the page memoir, rather than a clinical analysis of queer culture or a sociological research into gender across global or racial lines. But lived experience and personal anecdotes in this area are arguably more important than clinical data, anyways, and "hit" more.
I consider memoirs as not up for evaluation the same way other books I review are, but overall I found this an emotionally stimulating and relatable read.
June 17, 2025
an important and very informative book about non-binary identity, travis’ lived experience as a non-binary person, and also musings on gender politics in the uk. as a book, it did start to feel a little repetitive at times and some of the points could’ve been summarised more succinctly, but a great one to learn a bit more about living outside the binaries of gender.
August 6, 2022
This book is a personal response to Alabanza's 'transness' - It is not a Haynes Manual for being trans. It is a fascinating, brave and wise exploration of their own feelings about it.
It reminds me in some aspects of Grayson Perry's The Descent of Man, where Perry explores his own masculinity and the toxicity the label has picked up by its associations with the patriarchy and attempts to find a new language for a healthier masculinity.
Here, I think, Alabanza attempts to do a similar thing with the label trans and its relationship to the toxicity of the gender binary.
What is the bravest thing here, for me, is that Alabanza allows for the idea of doubt and questioning and the ability to grow and change in relation to what trans means for them. They argue, rightly, that in order to 'be' trans in our society, they are required to force a level of confidence and sureness that may not actually be there, simply to be 'allowed' to own trans space. Fundamentally it seems like external, hostile pressures are forcing definitions on a word for their own comfort and not for the safety and help of people being required to use the label.
This provides no definitive answer, nor do I think it should. It is an exploration of and attempt to create a space to think and breathe within a word that once looked like a refuge but now increasingly behaves like a trap.
It reminds me in some aspects of Grayson Perry's The Descent of Man, where Perry explores his own masculinity and the toxicity the label has picked up by its associations with the patriarchy and attempts to find a new language for a healthier masculinity.
Here, I think, Alabanza attempts to do a similar thing with the label trans and its relationship to the toxicity of the gender binary.
What is the bravest thing here, for me, is that Alabanza allows for the idea of doubt and questioning and the ability to grow and change in relation to what trans means for them. They argue, rightly, that in order to 'be' trans in our society, they are required to force a level of confidence and sureness that may not actually be there, simply to be 'allowed' to own trans space. Fundamentally it seems like external, hostile pressures are forcing definitions on a word for their own comfort and not for the safety and help of people being required to use the label.
This provides no definitive answer, nor do I think it should. It is an exploration of and attempt to create a space to think and breathe within a word that once looked like a refuge but now increasingly behaves like a trap.
January 30, 2023
so many good things to say about this i was basically nodding my head the entire time. one of my new fav books for sure.
“I believe my transness is a reactionary fact, not an innate one. I am trans because the world made me so, not because I was born different. I am trans because the systems the world operates through force me to be so, not because of genetics. I am trans because of you, not because of me. I did not always know, because I once imagined a world where I would not have to know.”
“It made me sad to think how normal it is for our own gender and bodies to be only part-owned by ourselves, and partly always in a deal with those around us. Even acts we may see as small deviances from expectation can leverage love away from us. It is sad how often love and acceptance are conditional on how well we can conform. That even in the smallest acts of gender non-conformity, love can be lost.”
“I believe my transness is a reactionary fact, not an innate one. I am trans because the world made me so, not because I was born different. I am trans because the systems the world operates through force me to be so, not because of genetics. I am trans because of you, not because of me. I did not always know, because I once imagined a world where I would not have to know.”
“It made me sad to think how normal it is for our own gender and bodies to be only part-owned by ourselves, and partly always in a deal with those around us. Even acts we may see as small deviances from expectation can leverage love away from us. It is sad how often love and acceptance are conditional on how well we can conform. That even in the smallest acts of gender non-conformity, love can be lost.”
November 11, 2024
excellent reminder of how enforcing the binary limits us all
March 16, 2024
Strikingly honest and gut-punchingly raw, None of the Above provides a fantastic and authentic view on life beyond the gender binary. Author, activist and playwright Travis Alabanza takes us through their non-binary journey and perspective through seven quotes spoken to them that have had profound effect. This book transcended whatever I thought it was going to be. It’s really everything at once; funny and uplifting, informative and eye-opening, but also personal and human. Travis’ ability to talk about their experience with both an objective and subjective frame of mind was, for me, the soul of the book.
To say this book covers so much in such a short time is an understatement. Travis talks us through important issues such as trans rights, but also trans love and discrimination within the trans community itself, all the while not forgetting to touch on intersectionality, as Travis is a black non-binary person from a working-class background. Following Travis’ thought process as they delve into different aspects of who they are and how they see themself in today’s society is a perspective that is to be valued and respected.
The writing in this book is powerful and innovative, which only allows the content to shine even brighter. None of the Above is an important read, and not one to be underestimated.
To say this book covers so much in such a short time is an understatement. Travis talks us through important issues such as trans rights, but also trans love and discrimination within the trans community itself, all the while not forgetting to touch on intersectionality, as Travis is a black non-binary person from a working-class background. Following Travis’ thought process as they delve into different aspects of who they are and how they see themself in today’s society is a perspective that is to be valued and respected.
The writing in this book is powerful and innovative, which only allows the content to shine even brighter. None of the Above is an important read, and not one to be underestimated.
January 22, 2024
I kept saying I was gonna read this book last year but I kept picking up new books
.
Anyways, I enjoyed this book.
.
If there is one word to describe this book, it would be honest. Travis takes us on a minor journey on self inquisition. They try to shine a spotlight on the image they are confronted with in the mirror but as we progress in the book, they recognise that the mirror acts as a prism and disperses the light.
I think one of the most important realisation that Travis come to and presents to us, is the idea that gender (and society stringent compulsion to a binary) is a sacrifice that costs us all. Travis explores the intersections between pre-colonial African cultures and gender, the colonisation of racial gender expression and the brutal politicisation of gender.
"Gender non-conformity and being outside of the gender binary cannot be seen as quiet: it is seen as purposefully choosing to cause trouble. To those so wanting a life of peace, others' disruption can feel like a threat to that fought-for sanctuary."
.
Anyways, I enjoyed this book.
.
If there is one word to describe this book, it would be honest. Travis takes us on a minor journey on self inquisition. They try to shine a spotlight on the image they are confronted with in the mirror but as we progress in the book, they recognise that the mirror acts as a prism and disperses the light.
I think one of the most important realisation that Travis come to and presents to us, is the idea that gender (and society stringent compulsion to a binary) is a sacrifice that costs us all. Travis explores the intersections between pre-colonial African cultures and gender, the colonisation of racial gender expression and the brutal politicisation of gender.
"Gender non-conformity and being outside of the gender binary cannot be seen as quiet: it is seen as purposefully choosing to cause trouble. To those so wanting a life of peace, others' disruption can feel like a threat to that fought-for sanctuary."
June 7, 2025
"My transness is a gift"
This made me feel all the feelings.
A must read for everyone tbh.
As a confused non-binary person myself, this book means the world to me. It felt like a hug, it made me feel less alone.
This made me feel all the feelings.
A must read for everyone tbh.
As a confused non-binary person myself, this book means the world to me. It felt like a hug, it made me feel less alone.
April 11, 2024
As a non-binary person, this didn’t do it for me. While I think a lot of the content and thoughts shared were important and relatable, I felt most of this book was repetitive and lacked substance. It was a chore to finish most chapters as I felt everything I was reading could’ve been summarised in a short paragraph. In my opinion there are far stronger and better written memoirs on gender, ones that also don’t read as though the writer is looking down on the reader the whole time.
January 25, 2023
This is such a good book. So smart. Please read. I reviewed it here: https://booksandbakes.substack.com/i/...
December 10, 2024
Fantastic.
So much heart.
So many things resonated with me that it’s hard to sum up but I’ll try: Trans and gender non-conforming people have always existed. They deserve to show up in messy, human ways. They shouldn’t be pedestaled and made to feel like they need to be perfect representations of their whole community. Trans people come from diverse backgrounds and aren’t a monolith. Trans people don’t need to be certain about their presentation and deserve a safe space to explore and experiment. And finally, rigid gender roles within the gender binary harms all of us.
So much heart.
So many things resonated with me that it’s hard to sum up but I’ll try: Trans and gender non-conforming people have always existed. They deserve to show up in messy, human ways. They shouldn’t be pedestaled and made to feel like they need to be perfect representations of their whole community. Trans people come from diverse backgrounds and aren’t a monolith. Trans people don’t need to be certain about their presentation and deserve a safe space to explore and experiment. And finally, rigid gender roles within the gender binary harms all of us.
January 9, 2023
absolutely incredible
December 21, 2022
"As if happiness is neutral and not tainted by what is around us. As if safety does not sit next to happiness, or validation does not come close to it either. As if 'choosing what makes you happy' is not related to the money you have in your bank account, or could not affect the money potentially coming in."
None of the Above is an excellent nonfiction work that is not quite a memoir, but a personal reflection from Travis Alabanza on what it means to be a trans nonbinary, Black, working class person in a society that others and shuns them.
As they speak about how "this ain't a thing we do round here", Alabanza highlights how whiteness again interjects and prevents black and brown individuals from being seen as gender non-conforming. It's become a point of class, it's about being white, western and liberal and again wipes out the history of those before and now who are black and brown and do not conform. How whiteness continues to gatekeep and assert racial supremacy and in doing so pressurises black and brown communities to police their own. The hurt and pain this causes for Alabanza is clear as they discuss the difficult between being black and being trans non-binary.
Alabanza also talks about how only when they are perceived to conform with either feminine or masculine stereotypes do they feel more accepted in society at large, more safe. And that those who are seen to be gender nonconforming are more dangerous is so angering.
"Being called a 'slut' over a 'monster' bonded me within patriarchal violence, rather than placing me at odds with it."
Alabanza has a powerful voice as they speak about race, class, gender and sexuality and the intersections of oppression they face because of their identity. Highly recommend.
May 12, 2023
Self-absorbed shite. It's padded out with descriptions of how wonderful the author is. He dines in vegan Ethiopian restaurants, the precious darling. And someone once threw a burger at him. That's real suffering, folks. Nobody else has experienced violence like a non-binary bloke on the mean streets of Hoxton. Not Iranian women protesting the hijab. Not Ukrainian conscripts, not gay men in Uganda. It's literally the worst oppression EVER.
When he gets into the actual substance of the book, it's a string of meaningless buzzwords: the phrase "liminal space" comes up a *lot*. It must have been popular on twitter in the week the book was written. Or dictated or whatever.
I got the audiobook on sale and thought I'd give it a whirl because listening to other voices is always good. I didn't realise Travis was the guy who went into a women's changing room in topshop a few years back without any thought to how women in there would feel about that. It was "the most traumatic experience of his life" apparently. Aw. How the teenage girls in the next cubicle felt about it, we are not told.
Why did he do it? Because the men's changing room "wasn't safe". So instead of protesting that they need to take steps to make the men's changing room (and men in general) more accepting of gender nonconformity, he put Topshop on blast until they made all their changing rooms unisex. And if any woman or girl doesn't feel comfortable with that arrangement, tough shit because - as the book makes very clear - Travis's ego is all that matters.
Sorry mate, but you need to think less about the ever-changing kaleidoscope of your gender and more about how to be an empathetic, considerate person.
When he gets into the actual substance of the book, it's a string of meaningless buzzwords: the phrase "liminal space" comes up a *lot*. It must have been popular on twitter in the week the book was written. Or dictated or whatever.
I got the audiobook on sale and thought I'd give it a whirl because listening to other voices is always good. I didn't realise Travis was the guy who went into a women's changing room in topshop a few years back without any thought to how women in there would feel about that. It was "the most traumatic experience of his life" apparently. Aw. How the teenage girls in the next cubicle felt about it, we are not told.
Why did he do it? Because the men's changing room "wasn't safe". So instead of protesting that they need to take steps to make the men's changing room (and men in general) more accepting of gender nonconformity, he put Topshop on blast until they made all their changing rooms unisex. And if any woman or girl doesn't feel comfortable with that arrangement, tough shit because - as the book makes very clear - Travis's ego is all that matters.
Sorry mate, but you need to think less about the ever-changing kaleidoscope of your gender and more about how to be an empathetic, considerate person.
May 29, 2023
I knew this was gonna be a heavy kind of read, that I had to be fully ready to read and take on the emotional toll of reading.
The way I wanted to just get my highlighter out and underline so many passages that just fucking got it.
When you are not a part of the gender binary society tells you to be, you see the world in a different way than you would say someone who lives rigidly in the boundaries society puts us on with being a woman or a man.
The way that it shows how so many things interconnect race, class, Gender, and sexuality. The way this book breaks it down for you to be able to digest was just like fuck.
I was hit with stuff that I have not heard or felt before, and can see it and myself differently due to it.
Like I present Femme to survive in a world that is not for me. In a town where everyone knows everyone, so I fit in. But what if I was able to be who I wanted outside of my bedroom? What if I could be the person that I want to be instead of masking as something I am not?
The UK is getting worse by the day, by the month with the transphobia I see in literally everything. And this book knows it, gets it, sees you, and makes you feel seen and heard. I needed this at a time when i thought am i trans enough, am i non-binary enough
Please if you have the chance to read this book please do.
The way I wanted to just get my highlighter out and underline so many passages that just fucking got it.
When you are not a part of the gender binary society tells you to be, you see the world in a different way than you would say someone who lives rigidly in the boundaries society puts us on with being a woman or a man.
The way that it shows how so many things interconnect race, class, Gender, and sexuality. The way this book breaks it down for you to be able to digest was just like fuck.
I was hit with stuff that I have not heard or felt before, and can see it and myself differently due to it.
Like I present Femme to survive in a world that is not for me. In a town where everyone knows everyone, so I fit in. But what if I was able to be who I wanted outside of my bedroom? What if I could be the person that I want to be instead of masking as something I am not?
The UK is getting worse by the day, by the month with the transphobia I see in literally everything. And this book knows it, gets it, sees you, and makes you feel seen and heard. I needed this at a time when i thought am i trans enough, am i non-binary enough
Please if you have the chance to read this book please do.
September 14, 2024
Really important topic, executed in a way that I really didn’t love. Just the repetitive slam poetry style doesn’t work for me , feels unplanned or poorly edited. It’s a worry for me that someone may pick up this book with the intention of learning about the subject matter, but for the style in which it’s written being put off altogether; having said that, this book has received high praise and has been recommended to me personally, so this very much could be a personal taste issue.
(Audio version)
(Audio version)
November 27, 2022
Incredibly honest and eye opening - a really good critical reflection of our heteronormative society and what it means/what it feels like to not conform to the binary. Also I really love how the book is set out (with each chapter starting with a line/quote that had a personal effect on Travis - and then breaking that down further).
July 31, 2023
I wasn’t familiar with Travis Alabanza before listening to this book, but I was gripped by this memoir. They speak to experience of being trans and non-gender conforming is such a thoughtful, well articulated and vulnerable way. Alabanza beautifully balances the personal and political for someone whose existence is a political statement. Their reflections on the fluidity of identity, intersectionality of gender and race, and the constrains society and cultures put on people’s self expression is so moving, and applicable no matter how you identify. I found myself writing so many notes and quote to read back on. I learnt so much and it’s definitely a book that will stay with me.
March 4, 2024
Was in need of some non fiction and this was a beautifully short and unfussy set of essays of reflections and anecdotes that was so easy to rip through. What was a bit jarring was how well it spoke to a period of my life that I now feel (in some parts v thankfully) distant from? Like a Covid masked, protesty, gender studies, deep-rooted interest self. So thank you travis for capturing that !! Big recs to all tbh
January 4, 2024
This book is everything I needed right now. None of the Above beautifully and messily expresses how transness is being forced into boxes that we’re never made for our community. Travis sits with the confusing but liberating uncertainty of existing outside the made-up gender binary in a way that reaches into my soul. 11/10, messy and amazing.
April 3, 2024
I'll admit that I struggled a bit with the writing style at the beginning, which felt quite repetitive and heavy in its tackling of each of the 7 phrases the author chooses to address. But I ended up really getting into it especially towards the end as it gets more intimate. It's both a really good intro to some of the typical stereotypes around gender non conforming identities and a much more in depth memoir-style essay surfacing what it's like to live outside the gender binary in the everyday life. What I found most powerful was the idea of fighting for the freedom of exploring, not knowing, being unsure and not having everything figured out.
December 14, 2024
Love this book and going to shove it down everyones throat. It doesn't give many answers, and that's okay. I think that's the whole point. Living outside the binary shouldn't need to. To book is angry, but constructive. It gives words to so many feelings I've had in the recent years. Must read.
November 29, 2025
I loved the later chapters of this story. Hearing Travis’s extremely personal stories relating to their experiences of violence, love and expressing their gender was moving and emotional.
December 21, 2025
Beautifully written and essential reading!!!
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