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Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights
In this remarkable and elegant work, acclaimed Yale Law School professor Kenji Yoshino fuses legal manifesto and poetic memoir to call for a redefinition of civil rights in our law and culture.
Everyone covers. To cover is to downplay a disfavored trait so as to blend into the mainstream. Because all of us possess stigmatized attributes, we all encounter pressure to cover in our daily lives. Given its pervasiveness, we may experience this pressure to be a simple fact of social life.
Against conventional understanding, Kenji Yoshino argues that the demand to cover can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Though we have come to some consensus against penalizing people for differences based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and disability, we still routinely deny equal treatment to people who refuse to downplay differences along these lines. Racial minorities are pressed to “act white” by changing their names, languages, or cultural practices. Women are told to “play like men” at work. Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection. The devout are instructed to minimize expressions of faith, and individuals with disabilities are urged to conceal the paraphernalia that permit them to function. In a wide-ranging analysis, Yoshino demonstrates that American civil rights law has generally ignored the threat posed by these covering demands. With passion and rigor, he shows that the work of civil rights will not be complete until it attends to the harms of coerced conformity.
At the same time, Yoshino is responsive to the American exasperation with identity politics, which often seems like an endless parade of groups asking for state and social solicitude. He observes that the ubiquity of the covering demand provides an opportunity to lift civil rights into a higher, more universal register. Since we all experience the covering demand, we can all make common cause around a new civil rights paradigm based on our desire for authenticity–a desire that brings us together rather than driving us apart.
Yoshino’s argument draws deeply on his personal experiences as a gay Asian American. He follows the Romantics in his belief that if a human life is described with enough particularity, the universal will speak through it. The result is a work that combines one of the most moving memoirs written in years with a landmark manifesto on the civil rights of the future.
“This brilliantly argued and engaging book does two things at once, and it does them both astonishingly well. First, it's a finely grained memoir of young man’s struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, and second, it's a powerful argument for a whole new way of thinking about civil rights and how our society deals with difference. This book challenges us all to confront our own unacknowledged biases, and it demands that we take seriously the idea that there are many different ways to be human. Kenji Yoshino is the face and the voice of the new civil rights.” -Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed
“Kenji Yoshino has not only given us an important, compelling new way to understand civil rights law, a major accomplishment in itself, but with great bravery and honesty, he has forged his argument from the cauldron of his own experience. In clear, lyrical prose, Covering quite literally brings the law to life. The result is a book about our
public and private selves as convincing to the spirit as it is to the
mind.” -Adam Haslett, author of You Are Not A Stranger Here
“Kenji Yoshino's work is often moving and always clarifying. Covering elaborates an original, arresting account of identity and authenticity in American culture.”
-Anthony Appiah, author of The Ethics of Identity and Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor Of Philosophy at Princeton University
“This stunning book introduces three faces of the remarkable Kenji Yoshino: a writer of poetic beauty; a soul of rare reflectivity and decency; and a brilliant lawyer and scholar, passionately committed to uncovering human rights. Like W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, this book fearlessly blends gripping narrative with insightful analysis to further the cause of human emancipation. And like those classics, it should explode into America's consciousness.”
-Harold Hongju Koh Dean, Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights
“Covering is a magnificent work - so eloquently and powerfully written I literally could not put it down. Sweeping in breadth, brilliantly argued, and filled with insight, humor, and erudition, it offers a fundamentally new perspective on civil rights and discrimination law. This extraordinary book is many things at once: an intensely moving personal memoir; a breathtaking historical and cultural synthesis of assimilation and American ...
Everyone covers. To cover is to downplay a disfavored trait so as to blend into the mainstream. Because all of us possess stigmatized attributes, we all encounter pressure to cover in our daily lives. Given its pervasiveness, we may experience this pressure to be a simple fact of social life.
Against conventional understanding, Kenji Yoshino argues that the demand to cover can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Though we have come to some consensus against penalizing people for differences based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and disability, we still routinely deny equal treatment to people who refuse to downplay differences along these lines. Racial minorities are pressed to “act white” by changing their names, languages, or cultural practices. Women are told to “play like men” at work. Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection. The devout are instructed to minimize expressions of faith, and individuals with disabilities are urged to conceal the paraphernalia that permit them to function. In a wide-ranging analysis, Yoshino demonstrates that American civil rights law has generally ignored the threat posed by these covering demands. With passion and rigor, he shows that the work of civil rights will not be complete until it attends to the harms of coerced conformity.
At the same time, Yoshino is responsive to the American exasperation with identity politics, which often seems like an endless parade of groups asking for state and social solicitude. He observes that the ubiquity of the covering demand provides an opportunity to lift civil rights into a higher, more universal register. Since we all experience the covering demand, we can all make common cause around a new civil rights paradigm based on our desire for authenticity–a desire that brings us together rather than driving us apart.
Yoshino’s argument draws deeply on his personal experiences as a gay Asian American. He follows the Romantics in his belief that if a human life is described with enough particularity, the universal will speak through it. The result is a work that combines one of the most moving memoirs written in years with a landmark manifesto on the civil rights of the future.
“This brilliantly argued and engaging book does two things at once, and it does them both astonishingly well. First, it's a finely grained memoir of young man’s struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, and second, it's a powerful argument for a whole new way of thinking about civil rights and how our society deals with difference. This book challenges us all to confront our own unacknowledged biases, and it demands that we take seriously the idea that there are many different ways to be human. Kenji Yoshino is the face and the voice of the new civil rights.” -Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed
“Kenji Yoshino has not only given us an important, compelling new way to understand civil rights law, a major accomplishment in itself, but with great bravery and honesty, he has forged his argument from the cauldron of his own experience. In clear, lyrical prose, Covering quite literally brings the law to life. The result is a book about our
public and private selves as convincing to the spirit as it is to the
mind.” -Adam Haslett, author of You Are Not A Stranger Here
“Kenji Yoshino's work is often moving and always clarifying. Covering elaborates an original, arresting account of identity and authenticity in American culture.”
-Anthony Appiah, author of The Ethics of Identity and Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor Of Philosophy at Princeton University
“This stunning book introduces three faces of the remarkable Kenji Yoshino: a writer of poetic beauty; a soul of rare reflectivity and decency; and a brilliant lawyer and scholar, passionately committed to uncovering human rights. Like W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, this book fearlessly blends gripping narrative with insightful analysis to further the cause of human emancipation. And like those classics, it should explode into America's consciousness.”
-Harold Hongju Koh Dean, Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights
“Covering is a magnificent work - so eloquently and powerfully written I literally could not put it down. Sweeping in breadth, brilliantly argued, and filled with insight, humor, and erudition, it offers a fundamentally new perspective on civil rights and discrimination law. This extraordinary book is many things at once: an intensely moving personal memoir; a breathtaking historical and cultural synthesis of assimilation and American ...
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
153 people are currently reading
2914 people want to read
About the author
Kenji Yoshino
13 books79 followersKenji Yoshino is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law. He was educated at Harvard (B.A. 1991), Oxford (M.Sc. 1993 as a Rhodes Scholar), and Yale Law School (J.D. 1996). He taught at Yale Law School from 1998 to 2008, where he served as Deputy Dean (2005-6) and became the inaugural Guido Calabresi Professor in 2006. His fields are constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, and law and literature. He has received several distinctions for his teaching, most recently the Podell Distinguished Teaching Award in 2014.
Yoshino is the author of three books—Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial (2015); A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice (2011); and Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights (2006). Yoshino has published in major academic journals, including The Harvard Law Review, The Stanford Law Review, and The Yale Law Journal. He has also written for more popular forums, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Yoshino makes regular appearances on radio and television programs, such as NPR, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. In 2015, he became a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine’s podcast and column “The Ethicists.”
In 2011, he was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers for a six-year term. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Talent Innovation, the Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, the External Advisory Panel for Diversity and Inclusion for the World Bank Group, the Global Advisory Board for Out Leadership, and the Inclusion External Advisory Council for Deloitte.
He lives in New York City with his husband and two children.
Yoshino is the author of three books—Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial (2015); A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice (2011); and Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights (2006). Yoshino has published in major academic journals, including The Harvard Law Review, The Stanford Law Review, and The Yale Law Journal. He has also written for more popular forums, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Yoshino makes regular appearances on radio and television programs, such as NPR, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. In 2015, he became a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine’s podcast and column “The Ethicists.”
In 2011, he was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers for a six-year term. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Talent Innovation, the Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, the External Advisory Panel for Diversity and Inclusion for the World Bank Group, the Global Advisory Board for Out Leadership, and the Inclusion External Advisory Council for Deloitte.
He lives in New York City with his husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
January 12, 2020
I so appreciated Kenji Yoshino’s heart in this book. Yoshino, a gay first generation Japanese American man and law professor, writes about the pressure for marginalized groups in the United States to cover – the pressure for gay people to act straight, for people of color to act white, for women to act like men, etc. He approaches this both from a legal perspective and from his own life, sharing his personal experiences with struggling to accept his sexuality and come out. There’s a level of conviction in his writing, backed up by his vulnerability in revealing his own journey, that shows how much he genuinely cares about supporting marginalized people and advocating for social justice.
Reading the first part of this book made me feel both grateful and angry as a fellow gay Asian American. I felt grateful because I feel like I grew up in quite a different era than Yoshino, even just a couple decades apart (I was born the year before he graduated from law school.) Growing up, I had access to a decent amount of queer narratives, iconic young-adult books like Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and What They Always Tell Us or The Mortal Instruments series, that centered or featured queer characters. These narratives, combined with a general movement toward accepting queer people among peers my age, made it so I actually did not struggle much at all to accept myself, which differed a lot from Yoshino’s journey. Reading his experience made me feel so grateful for all the artists, activists, and others who fought and are fighting for systemic, legal, and relational change for the queer community. I also felt angry because Yoshino writes about the literal torture and abuse (e.g., electroshock therapy, conversion therapy) as well as legal discrimination that queer people have experienced throughout time, which is just awful. I think there needs to be more integration of queer history into common curriculums so we can continue to remember our past and fight to prevent a similar past from occurring again.
I give this book four stars instead of five because some of his conclusions rubbed me the wrong away. I recognize that this book was published in 2006 so a lot has changed since then and Yoshino’s ideas may have changed as well. Mainly, I felt annoyed when he criticized identity politics as well as when he wrote that increased “rationality” is what will help us create a more equitable legal system. Instead of falling back on these rather centrist arguments, he could have further strengthened his suggested solutions by writing about how we can dismantle the broader and deeper systems (e.g., patriarchy, white supremacy) that create and maintain the need to cover in the first place. I would have loved if Yoshino, with his unique blend of immense legal knowledge and a strong command of language, wrote more about how law may stem from and may counteract the root sources of these systems of oppression.
I also feel like he could have used a more intersectional framework when writing this book, which again I recognize is a framework that has gained traction more so now than in 2006. He writes about gays being forced to be straight and women being forced to act like men for example, but what about the unique pressures for gay Asian Americans, or for women of color? I know from my lived experience that gay Asian Americans experience a lot of racism from within the gay community, and at least touching on that would have deepened the analysis in this book.
Overall a good read I would recommend to those interested in law and social justice and memoir. I do slightly wish I could read more about Yoshino’s journey to accept himself and find power in his identity. Grateful that he’s using his voice and his skills to advocate and create change.
Reading the first part of this book made me feel both grateful and angry as a fellow gay Asian American. I felt grateful because I feel like I grew up in quite a different era than Yoshino, even just a couple decades apart (I was born the year before he graduated from law school.) Growing up, I had access to a decent amount of queer narratives, iconic young-adult books like Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and What They Always Tell Us or The Mortal Instruments series, that centered or featured queer characters. These narratives, combined with a general movement toward accepting queer people among peers my age, made it so I actually did not struggle much at all to accept myself, which differed a lot from Yoshino’s journey. Reading his experience made me feel so grateful for all the artists, activists, and others who fought and are fighting for systemic, legal, and relational change for the queer community. I also felt angry because Yoshino writes about the literal torture and abuse (e.g., electroshock therapy, conversion therapy) as well as legal discrimination that queer people have experienced throughout time, which is just awful. I think there needs to be more integration of queer history into common curriculums so we can continue to remember our past and fight to prevent a similar past from occurring again.
I give this book four stars instead of five because some of his conclusions rubbed me the wrong away. I recognize that this book was published in 2006 so a lot has changed since then and Yoshino’s ideas may have changed as well. Mainly, I felt annoyed when he criticized identity politics as well as when he wrote that increased “rationality” is what will help us create a more equitable legal system. Instead of falling back on these rather centrist arguments, he could have further strengthened his suggested solutions by writing about how we can dismantle the broader and deeper systems (e.g., patriarchy, white supremacy) that create and maintain the need to cover in the first place. I would have loved if Yoshino, with his unique blend of immense legal knowledge and a strong command of language, wrote more about how law may stem from and may counteract the root sources of these systems of oppression.
I also feel like he could have used a more intersectional framework when writing this book, which again I recognize is a framework that has gained traction more so now than in 2006. He writes about gays being forced to be straight and women being forced to act like men for example, but what about the unique pressures for gay Asian Americans, or for women of color? I know from my lived experience that gay Asian Americans experience a lot of racism from within the gay community, and at least touching on that would have deepened the analysis in this book.
Overall a good read I would recommend to those interested in law and social justice and memoir. I do slightly wish I could read more about Yoshino’s journey to accept himself and find power in his identity. Grateful that he’s using his voice and his skills to advocate and create change.
November 4, 2015
gorgeous. is there such a thing as a non-fiction prose poem? because that's what this is.
February 5, 2017
Yoshino is a Yale Law professor, first generation Japanese American and a gay man. The majority of his book discusses his own journey as a gay man, and a first generation American. The legal arguments he builds about conversion (pressure to conform to a heterosexual sexual orientation), covering (hiding or playing down differences such as secual orientation, religion, disability and more) and reverse covering.
Law cases included in the book include cases of women who were penalized by their employers for not wearing makeup, for wearing too much makeup, for styling their hair in cornrows. Other issues such as the penalty for mothers, some who hide the fact they have children to prevent being discriminated against for jobs and promotions, those who hide their religious beliefs (very pertinent today while I watch demonstrations at Dulles Airport in Virginia , outside of Washington, DC, because permanent residents returning today from certain country, are currently being detained by DHS).
The book is understandably includes a lot of legalese. Personally I find legal arguments often fascinating. Some readers, however, will not love it. Towards the end of the book some of the convoluted legal arguments lost me. Nonetheless, we have a lively discussion at my book club today, not the least because of the civil and human rights issues addressed in the book, and our current political climate.
Law cases included in the book include cases of women who were penalized by their employers for not wearing makeup, for wearing too much makeup, for styling their hair in cornrows. Other issues such as the penalty for mothers, some who hide the fact they have children to prevent being discriminated against for jobs and promotions, those who hide their religious beliefs (very pertinent today while I watch demonstrations at Dulles Airport in Virginia , outside of Washington, DC, because permanent residents returning today from certain country, are currently being detained by DHS).
The book is understandably includes a lot of legalese. Personally I find legal arguments often fascinating. Some readers, however, will not love it. Towards the end of the book some of the convoluted legal arguments lost me. Nonetheless, we have a lively discussion at my book club today, not the least because of the civil and human rights issues addressed in the book, and our current political climate.
February 7, 2017
Martin Luther King Jr. Day passed by while I was reading this book. On that day, this quote from King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" stood out to me:
It stood out because Yoshino explores a similar idea in this book, yet from a gay perspective. He writes that the current most critical assault on our civil rights is the demand to cover, "to be small in the world, to forgo prerogatives that straights have, and therefore to forgo equality." He says that he respects people who outright oppose gay equality more than those who say they support it. "It is not consistent to support gay equality but to push gays into second-class citizenship through the covering demand." These are the people who say that don't mind gays, but they don't want it "shoved down their throats."
That last crass quote is my own. Yoshino's writing is surprisingly poetic in a book centering around law and civil rights.
To back up a bit, what is covering? Covering downplaying your "true self" to appease the majority. Gays are asked to not "flaunt" their sexuality, or to act more masculine. Non-white races are expected to adhere to white norms. Women may have it toughest, needing to strike a delicate balance between being feminine enough to be desirable to men, yet in the workplace masculine enough to be seen as a leader. It's a no-win situation, as evidenced by our recent U.S. election. And if you're a mom on top of this? Well, you're screwed.
Yoshino's book is a mix of personal narrative, sociology, and legal case study. He shows that while the law may protect minority groups against discrimination against who they intrinsically are, it doesn't protect against how they act or dress. Often the minority in question is the one criticized in these situations, not the oppressive society. Why did he have to act so flaming? Why does she have to wear her hair in an afro? Etc.
And it is often the minority group that is harshest upon itself. Anyone who has been on grindr, scruff, or equivalent knows the gay community's obsession with masculinity. Also, minority groups often criticize themselves and others. Yoshino writes, "It is a sad truth that one of the most potent psychic antidotes to racism is racism." I see "racism" can be replaced with "hate" in most forms. Hate for other groups, even those that may have a common goal. And hate for ourselves. Now that our predecessors have won "equal rights" these communities seems content with their status, and see no problem in tearing themselves apart.
"Success, it seems, is white and bland." What do we do when covering isn't seen as a problem for many? When conforming is still expected? Yoshino appears to be at a loss near the end of the book, saying that "the explosive pluralism of contemporary American society will inexorably push this country away from group-based identity politics--there will be too many groups to keep track of, much less protect." From there, he steps away from the law, and delivers a plea to basic human decency -- stop policing others' behavior. Think about freedoms as individual ones, not as group ones (although the groups are still important, and need to protect their own). This is something that applies to the white majority too, especially straight white men, who themselves feel the need to cover their emotions, their faults, their perceived weaknesses.
We're all different, yet we're all the same. Covering's antidote that the court cannot legislate, but the the people can celebrate: the freedom to be oneself.
First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."
Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
It stood out because Yoshino explores a similar idea in this book, yet from a gay perspective. He writes that the current most critical assault on our civil rights is the demand to cover, "to be small in the world, to forgo prerogatives that straights have, and therefore to forgo equality." He says that he respects people who outright oppose gay equality more than those who say they support it. "It is not consistent to support gay equality but to push gays into second-class citizenship through the covering demand." These are the people who say that don't mind gays, but they don't want it "shoved down their throats."
That last crass quote is my own. Yoshino's writing is surprisingly poetic in a book centering around law and civil rights.
To back up a bit, what is covering? Covering downplaying your "true self" to appease the majority. Gays are asked to not "flaunt" their sexuality, or to act more masculine. Non-white races are expected to adhere to white norms. Women may have it toughest, needing to strike a delicate balance between being feminine enough to be desirable to men, yet in the workplace masculine enough to be seen as a leader. It's a no-win situation, as evidenced by our recent U.S. election. And if you're a mom on top of this? Well, you're screwed.
Yoshino's book is a mix of personal narrative, sociology, and legal case study. He shows that while the law may protect minority groups against discrimination against who they intrinsically are, it doesn't protect against how they act or dress. Often the minority in question is the one criticized in these situations, not the oppressive society. Why did he have to act so flaming? Why does she have to wear her hair in an afro? Etc.
And it is often the minority group that is harshest upon itself. Anyone who has been on grindr, scruff, or equivalent knows the gay community's obsession with masculinity. Also, minority groups often criticize themselves and others. Yoshino writes, "It is a sad truth that one of the most potent psychic antidotes to racism is racism." I see "racism" can be replaced with "hate" in most forms. Hate for other groups, even those that may have a common goal. And hate for ourselves. Now that our predecessors have won "equal rights" these communities seems content with their status, and see no problem in tearing themselves apart.
"Success, it seems, is white and bland." What do we do when covering isn't seen as a problem for many? When conforming is still expected? Yoshino appears to be at a loss near the end of the book, saying that "the explosive pluralism of contemporary American society will inexorably push this country away from group-based identity politics--there will be too many groups to keep track of, much less protect." From there, he steps away from the law, and delivers a plea to basic human decency -- stop policing others' behavior. Think about freedoms as individual ones, not as group ones (although the groups are still important, and need to protect their own). This is something that applies to the white majority too, especially straight white men, who themselves feel the need to cover their emotions, their faults, their perceived weaknesses.
We're all different, yet we're all the same. Covering's antidote that the court cannot legislate, but the the people can celebrate: the freedom to be oneself.
September 12, 2011
While I like the book and find it to be VERY well written, I find it thought provoking in that I seriously disagree with its central premise.
We had this as assigned reading in a class on Asian American issues. The author is law professor who started out as grad student in creative writing. Having previously attended law school myself, I have got to rank this as one of the best written books on a legal topic I've ever read. The book charts the authors personal path, both as an Asian American negotiating his other status in American society, struggling between his parents wish for him to be more Japanese and the pressures of American society, his struggles to be a writer of poetry and find his voice, and in the process his coming out (recognition of his own gayness).
His essential argument is that folks like him, who are insecure about owning a self identity that conflict with the norms around them, need legal protections to make it safer for them to 'own' (slang term: to unflinchingly accept as one's own responsibility) their own identities, above and beyond any civil rights law that already exists. That there should be laws to protect them from having to conform to local standards, even if their overall civil rights are already protected.
I disagree. I found myself going through the book yelling at the author and demanding that he "grow a pair" be it with his parents or with regards to his gayness. I was relieved to see him admitting that he envied the people around him who could courageously own their inner selves, and wished he could be more like them. His ultimate judgment however is that it is the role of government to protect the weak so that they don't have to fight for themselves. This is a stand I can't support, as ultimately it will result in a bunch of Lilly livered whimpering weakling. Its like the worst form supporting people who refuse to work.
Civil rights, in the grand American tradition and in my own opinion, should be given to anyone (assuming they above the age of 16) with enough backbone to stand up and fight for them. This is true at both the group and personal level. If you can't do that than clearly thats your own problem. It is not the role of law to made up for cowardice or laziness. Parents who overprotect their children end up with bunch of spoiled brats who can't hold down a job, as a society this does not benefit us.
Being American is about being willing to 'own' (stand up for) your independence. It is, as some have put it, a form of government designed for adults, not for coddling children.
We had this as assigned reading in a class on Asian American issues. The author is law professor who started out as grad student in creative writing. Having previously attended law school myself, I have got to rank this as one of the best written books on a legal topic I've ever read. The book charts the authors personal path, both as an Asian American negotiating his other status in American society, struggling between his parents wish for him to be more Japanese and the pressures of American society, his struggles to be a writer of poetry and find his voice, and in the process his coming out (recognition of his own gayness).
His essential argument is that folks like him, who are insecure about owning a self identity that conflict with the norms around them, need legal protections to make it safer for them to 'own' (slang term: to unflinchingly accept as one's own responsibility) their own identities, above and beyond any civil rights law that already exists. That there should be laws to protect them from having to conform to local standards, even if their overall civil rights are already protected.
I disagree. I found myself going through the book yelling at the author and demanding that he "grow a pair" be it with his parents or with regards to his gayness. I was relieved to see him admitting that he envied the people around him who could courageously own their inner selves, and wished he could be more like them. His ultimate judgment however is that it is the role of government to protect the weak so that they don't have to fight for themselves. This is a stand I can't support, as ultimately it will result in a bunch of Lilly livered whimpering weakling. Its like the worst form supporting people who refuse to work.
Civil rights, in the grand American tradition and in my own opinion, should be given to anyone (assuming they above the age of 16) with enough backbone to stand up and fight for them. This is true at both the group and personal level. If you can't do that than clearly thats your own problem. It is not the role of law to made up for cowardice or laziness. Parents who overprotect their children end up with bunch of spoiled brats who can't hold down a job, as a society this does not benefit us.
Being American is about being willing to 'own' (stand up for) your independence. It is, as some have put it, a form of government designed for adults, not for coddling children.
March 17, 2008
First came passing, then the imperative to assimilate to a white ideal, and now the new civil rights challenge of our time, according to the author, is forcing people to 'cover' or tamp down on their expressions of personhood, i.e. telling gays not to 'flaunt', asking the religious not to be so visible in their belief, or asking minority groups to not act so different. An interesting look at this new phenomenon - the book's first half discusses this from the perspective of gay rights and then broadens its application to other groups. The book starts out in a very personal narrative sort of way - while interesting, I guess I wanted something a bit more straight legal throughout the book. At times, the author's attempts to be literary fall flat and were annoying. The attempt to marry personal narrative with legal analysis were not always successful, but overall, an interesting examination of 'covering'.
July 20, 2015
Yoshino got the title word of his book from the sociologist Erving Goffman's book, Stigma. "Published in 1963, the book describes how various groups - including the disabled, the elderly, and the obese - manage their 'spoiled' identities. After discussing passing, Goffman observes that 'persons who are ready to admit possession of a stigma...may nonetheless make a great effort to keep the stigma from looming large.' He calls this behavior 'covering.'"
The book focuses mainly on gay covering, racial covering, and sex-based covering, but he also writes that "the covering demand extends beyond traditional civil rights groups...Contemporary civil rights has erred in focusing solely on traditional civil rights group, such as racial minorities, women, gays, religious minorities, and individuals with disabilities. This assumes those in the so-called mainstream...do not have covered selves."
While Yoshino believes that "we should adopt a group-based accommodation model to protect traditional civil rights groups from covering demands," he believes that "courts are unlikely to adopt this course. The explosive pluralism of contemporary American society will inexorably push this country away from group-based identity politics." Therefore, the "new civil rights" will be "in terms of universal liberty rather than in terms of group-based equality..."
If you think that examining various legal cases must be a tedious way to learn about the human condition, you haven't read Kenji Yoshino. This is the second book I've read by him...The first was Speak Now, about the Hollingsworth v. Perry (aka Prop. 8) case, and it's equally great. The man is not only a brilliant legal scholar, he's also just an incredibly good writer. I recommend both this and Speak Now very highly.
The book focuses mainly on gay covering, racial covering, and sex-based covering, but he also writes that "the covering demand extends beyond traditional civil rights groups...Contemporary civil rights has erred in focusing solely on traditional civil rights group, such as racial minorities, women, gays, religious minorities, and individuals with disabilities. This assumes those in the so-called mainstream...do not have covered selves."
While Yoshino believes that "we should adopt a group-based accommodation model to protect traditional civil rights groups from covering demands," he believes that "courts are unlikely to adopt this course. The explosive pluralism of contemporary American society will inexorably push this country away from group-based identity politics." Therefore, the "new civil rights" will be "in terms of universal liberty rather than in terms of group-based equality..."
If you think that examining various legal cases must be a tedious way to learn about the human condition, you haven't read Kenji Yoshino. This is the second book I've read by him...The first was Speak Now, about the Hollingsworth v. Perry (aka Prop. 8) case, and it's equally great. The man is not only a brilliant legal scholar, he's also just an incredibly good writer. I recommend both this and Speak Now very highly.
August 31, 2018
Interesting topic. Well developed. Smart. Made me think a bunch. Loved the mix of memoir and law precedents. Some vocabulary felt over the top. Slowed/lost thread by the end.
February 20, 2025
Fascinating. I loved how much the author was using his personal experiences as examples of the concepts he was explaining and the journey that got him to where he was. Seemed very well researched and really improved my understanding of what it’s like to live as any minority group in the US. Learned quite a bit of the comparisons he’d do with issues like racism and sexism; I didn’t just learn about LGBTQ+ topics.
December 1, 2014
I did not miss the point of this book, that we should be free to express ourselves as we see fit. I do disagree with much of it, however. Throughout all ages and societies, there have been norms of behavior and action. Are all of these right? No. Not all of them are wrong, however.
I do not disagree that there are individuals in our society who feel oppressed. I agree that we should be able to express ourselves. We should feel free to embrace what we enjoy.
However, to what extent should this expression extend? Should anyone be allowed to wear anything anywhere they want? Should an individual be able to act however they want in any circumstance?
Conforming to societal norms, as frustrating as that may be to some, is a fundamental aspect of living in a society. Indeed, one could make a sound argument that without norms one doesn't even have a society. Have these norms at times been obsessive and suffocating, such as in the Victorian era? Yes. But the answer to these problems isn't a free-for-all of public behaviors and actions.
To have a functioning, healthy society, there are norms which must be adhered to. As society evolves, so do these norms. However, there are still norms, and as such there will be individuals which must cover the fact they do not adhere to those norms. No matter what the societal rule set, individuals will always have to hide some aspect of their personality.
Suppose we had the fully-open society proposed in this book, where no covering took place. What of the private individual who likes to keep to themselves, who doesn't wish to live a life on display? Would they not be forced to cover that aspect of their personality in order to live in a society based upon complete and total openness?
I found many aspects of this book quite interesting and useful. As a child who was gifted and enjoyed poetry, I was forced to "cover" those aspects of my personality to fit in. In that regard, I get it.
Where I don't "get it" is in believing that a workplace which asks employees to leave their personal lives at home is somehow discriminatory. I have a work life and a home life. Why must the two meet somehow?
I do not disagree that there are individuals in our society who feel oppressed. I agree that we should be able to express ourselves. We should feel free to embrace what we enjoy.
However, to what extent should this expression extend? Should anyone be allowed to wear anything anywhere they want? Should an individual be able to act however they want in any circumstance?
Conforming to societal norms, as frustrating as that may be to some, is a fundamental aspect of living in a society. Indeed, one could make a sound argument that without norms one doesn't even have a society. Have these norms at times been obsessive and suffocating, such as in the Victorian era? Yes. But the answer to these problems isn't a free-for-all of public behaviors and actions.
To have a functioning, healthy society, there are norms which must be adhered to. As society evolves, so do these norms. However, there are still norms, and as such there will be individuals which must cover the fact they do not adhere to those norms. No matter what the societal rule set, individuals will always have to hide some aspect of their personality.
Suppose we had the fully-open society proposed in this book, where no covering took place. What of the private individual who likes to keep to themselves, who doesn't wish to live a life on display? Would they not be forced to cover that aspect of their personality in order to live in a society based upon complete and total openness?
I found many aspects of this book quite interesting and useful. As a child who was gifted and enjoyed poetry, I was forced to "cover" those aspects of my personality to fit in. In that regard, I get it.
Where I don't "get it" is in believing that a workplace which asks employees to leave their personal lives at home is somehow discriminatory. I have a work life and a home life. Why must the two meet somehow?
May 22, 2020
new measure of nonfiction is the extent to which I learn about others (an effort to prevent othering), yet learn about myself simultaneously ~
not minimizing the suffering experienced by those who identify in ways that I do not, I was moved when I read the example of the Episcopalian priest who "flaunts" his religious identity "for his students...being a believer means your intellectual credibility takes a savage hit,' he says 'I'm open about my faith to show my religious and intellectual identities are compatible" discrimination isn't a competition, except for, it seems, in the court of law, and my pleasure is not in recognition of prejudice but in having my experience seen
thank you for making theory personal
also, "We can gauge the depth of our commitments by how much absurdity we will risk in defending them"
basically, read for memoir-esque Kalanithi vibes + civil rights theory (my new favorite combo?)
not minimizing the suffering experienced by those who identify in ways that I do not, I was moved when I read the example of the Episcopalian priest who "flaunts" his religious identity "for his students...being a believer means your intellectual credibility takes a savage hit,' he says 'I'm open about my faith to show my religious and intellectual identities are compatible" discrimination isn't a competition, except for, it seems, in the court of law, and my pleasure is not in recognition of prejudice but in having my experience seen
thank you for making theory personal
also, "We can gauge the depth of our commitments by how much absurdity we will risk in defending them"
basically, read for memoir-esque Kalanithi vibes + civil rights theory (my new favorite combo?)
March 24, 2009
Most people are familiar with conversion (see ex-gays) and being closeted; law professor Kenji Yoshino is working on examining a third, more subtle demand on non-conforming people: covering (a concept introduced by Erving Goffman in Stigma Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Even if someone is openly gay, they may still tone down their behavior. Yoshino also covers racial covering and sex-based covering, the latter of which is even more complex, since women may be called on both to cover feminine behavior and masculine behavior.
He points out that in recent jurisprudence, people get protection for things that they can't help, but if someone can modify behavior or appearance, then they're not protected, regardless of the ridiculousness of the discrimination. For instance, an airline had a policy against employees having an "all-braided hairstyle", and they argued that such a policy wasn't racial discrimination because after all, Bo Derek had corn-rows. Nonetheless, the court didn't make them explain what possible business basis such a policy could have.
Yoshino suggests a positive move would be a shift from "equality" claims to "liberty" claims. And also that since you can't sue people all the time to change society, and that other forms of communication may be more conducive to change.
Yoshino is gay and the son of Japanese immigrants, and he weaves his personal coming out story and experiences as a Japanese-American into the book.
I only discovered when I was nearly done with the book that there is an endnote section which has more in-depth citations of legal cases and other references. For some reason, there are not superscripted footnote markings in the text and nothing else that I could see to alert me to the existence of the section. The only cue to the somewhat covert references is when there is phrasing like "in a more recent case."
He points out that in recent jurisprudence, people get protection for things that they can't help, but if someone can modify behavior or appearance, then they're not protected, regardless of the ridiculousness of the discrimination. For instance, an airline had a policy against employees having an "all-braided hairstyle", and they argued that such a policy wasn't racial discrimination because after all, Bo Derek had corn-rows. Nonetheless, the court didn't make them explain what possible business basis such a policy could have.
Yoshino suggests a positive move would be a shift from "equality" claims to "liberty" claims. And also that since you can't sue people all the time to change society, and that other forms of communication may be more conducive to change.
Yoshino is gay and the son of Japanese immigrants, and he weaves his personal coming out story and experiences as a Japanese-American into the book.
I only discovered when I was nearly done with the book that there is an endnote section which has more in-depth citations of legal cases and other references. For some reason, there are not superscripted footnote markings in the text and nothing else that I could see to alert me to the existence of the section. The only cue to the somewhat covert references is when there is phrasing like "in a more recent case."
December 24, 2008
Kenji Yoshino is an up-and-coming east-coast professor of law. And "covering" is a term he plucked out of academic obscurity to refer to the legion of demands placed on people who are different but who are asked to tone down or erase those differences in order to get ahead in the Great White (Straight) Society. Yoshino's contention is that, at the threshold of the 21st Century, the United States has grown out of its inclination to assimilate/convert people of difference ("You're gay? Well, stop it.") but has erected in its place the requirement that people of difference not "flaunt" their differences in front of those who are "normal". He defends his points with flush accounts of his own history as a gay man who is also the son of Japanese immigrants. As a memoirist, Yoshino is tops. As a legal scholar/activist, however, he falls short. This book is replete with examples of cases and legal precedents, but the author rarely reaches any deeper with these than surface level, though he does refer to a few of them over and over, and the consequence is that Covering reads more like a greatest hits tour through civil rights legislation of the 20th Century than like a fresh perspective into an age-old problem. The book's subtitle -- The Hidden Assault On Our Civil Rights -- promises too much heft to be addressed sufficiently in a 200-page volume of mostly personal narrative.
November 9, 2017
"I would think, I wish I were dead. I did not think of it as a suicidal thought. My poet's parsin mind read the first 'I' and the second 'I' as different 'I's.' The first 'I' was the whole watching self, while the second 'I' - the one that I wanted to kill - was the gay 'I' nested inside it. It was less a suicidal impulse than a homicidal one - the infanticide of the gay self I had described in the poem."
This is another book I read for class, but wow did it impress me. Yoshino does such an excellent job at balancing his own personal stories with technical terms. The book shows off his talent in both prose and law. The act of "covering" itself is one that is highly applicable to all people. Yoshino talks about how covering affected him as both a gay man and as a Japanese-American, but he also talks about how it affects racial minorities as a whole, women, religion, and disability. Some parts dragged a little, which is why this is a 4 star rather than a 5, but the overall message and writing itself is impeccable. Really glad that this was something I had to read, otherwise it probably wouldn't be something I picked up on my own.
This is another book I read for class, but wow did it impress me. Yoshino does such an excellent job at balancing his own personal stories with technical terms. The book shows off his talent in both prose and law. The act of "covering" itself is one that is highly applicable to all people. Yoshino talks about how covering affected him as both a gay man and as a Japanese-American, but he also talks about how it affects racial minorities as a whole, women, religion, and disability. Some parts dragged a little, which is why this is a 4 star rather than a 5, but the overall message and writing itself is impeccable. Really glad that this was something I had to read, otherwise it probably wouldn't be something I picked up on my own.
February 19, 2009
Covering details how pressures in dominant culture (white male heterosexual, etc.) induce folks outside those groups to hide or tone down sexual or racial identities when others know of these identities. For women, Yoshino's arguments are slightly different. Women face a double-bind; they must be feminine (but not too feminine) and display some masculine traits (but not too many). These interesting points could have been illustrated in a brief article.
Instead, Yoshini provides an extensive - and at points nauseating - narrative of his life and when he has felt the need to cover. Elite boarding school, Harvard undergraduate degree, Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law Degree, Yale Professor, no class analysis. Oblivious to his class privilege, Yoshino also misses that he is part of the mainstream. He does so when he insists that there is no such thing as the mainstream, everyone has their quirks! Sorry dude. Just because someone loves the generic brand of Lucky Charms or to tap their fingers against wood doesn't mean they are not part of the mainstream.
Instead, Yoshini provides an extensive - and at points nauseating - narrative of his life and when he has felt the need to cover. Elite boarding school, Harvard undergraduate degree, Rhodes Scholar, Yale Law Degree, Yale Professor, no class analysis. Oblivious to his class privilege, Yoshino also misses that he is part of the mainstream. He does so when he insists that there is no such thing as the mainstream, everyone has their quirks! Sorry dude. Just because someone loves the generic brand of Lucky Charms or to tap their fingers against wood doesn't mean they are not part of the mainstream.
February 16, 2013
I read this book a long time ago, but was recently put in mind of it and so read parts of it again. I was struck all over again by its power and loveliness. The book is a lucid and engaging history of civil rights jurisprudence to date that is accessible to both those who have received formal legal training, as well as those who have not. This history serves as the foundation for the call for a new conception of civil rights, a conception that is grounded in a recognition of the multitudes of selves we all contain, many of which we all feel compelled to hide, or cover even as our hearts break because those we love might not see us as we feel we truly are. Besides these things, however, Covering is a memoir of a gay Asian American law professor's coming out. That this legal treatise-memoir hybrid succeeds is a testament both to the author's intelligence, and comfort with his authentic self, and willingness to share his story with such warmth and grace. An important and again, accessible work, that offers its reader many gifts.
December 28, 2007
So far, the main issues this of this book are 1) The author's horrible prose considering his oft mentioned background in poetry and english literature and 2) the unneeded extensive autobiography. A quick thumb through the book shows that of the 282 pages, only 200 pages are devoted to the concept of "covering" and of those 200 pages, 27 pages are of his excruciatingly written backstory. But, I'm still hoping that once he begins fully explaining "covering" and various cases that correspond to it, the book may redeem itself. Hopefully.
*okay, I finally had time to finish this book and once you get past his blathering in the beginning, it does get to the heart of the matter of covering. He does raise some very good and interesting points, but in the end, I don't feel he was forceful or persuasive enough with his arguments. And thus, "covering" ends up more of a topic of conversation rather than anything of importance. Hence, only two stars.
*okay, I finally had time to finish this book and once you get past his blathering in the beginning, it does get to the heart of the matter of covering. He does raise some very good and interesting points, but in the end, I don't feel he was forceful or persuasive enough with his arguments. And thus, "covering" ends up more of a topic of conversation rather than anything of importance. Hence, only two stars.
July 17, 2014
This is a very different style of book from those that I usually read. It was a book chosen as the freshman reading book for the university where I work, and I wanted to get a sense of what the cool kids (read: nerdy kids) are reading these days. It was a book that I wished went deeper. I think it was very valuable to define a term that is not something I was familiar with academically but definitely experience on a regular basis as a person of multi-layered and generally minority/less privileged background. It's worth a read for beginner identity rights, but I felt like there was so much more to say. However, for someone who's not as deep in the trenches of identity "politics" as I feel like I am from experience and exposure, it presents a perspective that's very relatable and can be applied even to people who are traditionally viewed as "the norm".
January 30, 2009
"I argue for a new civil rights paradigm that moves away from group-based equality rights toward universal liberty rights, and away from legal solutions toward social solutions.
* * *
"The aspiration of civil rights has always been to permit people to pursue their human flourishing without limitations based on bias."
* * *
"The aspiration of civil rights has always been to permit people to pursue their human flourishing without limitations based on bias."
July 12, 2017
Kenji makes an amazing job. He manages to appeal to our humanity and at the same time builds a strong logical/legal framework to think about the origins and consequences of the covering demands in our society. This is a must read for passionates of human rights, but most importantly, a clear need for those who prefer to stay in the margin.
April 15, 2007
i'm not sure what glitch caused this book to have a rating of 1005.5, but it's certainly worth it. poignant, moving, persuasive, yoshino entertwines personal narrative with insightful anaylsis on social pressures of sexual minorities to hid, pass, and then cover.
January 16, 2016
A very good, thought-provoking read. Packed with useful citations leading to further thought-provoking reading. The book could have benefited from more examples outside the realms of gay and racial 'covering,' but he made his points very well nevertheless. Highly recommended.
September 30, 2016
My therapist recommended this book to me and I can see why. While few people are making assimilation or conversion demands on me, I walk through the world endlessly bombarded with covering demands. I highly recommend that everyone read this book, whether you belong to a marginalized group or not.
March 30, 2024
Such a beautiful and insightful book. Heartfelt, well-argued, and amazing writing.
December 1, 2019
This book is full of interesting anecdotes about covering – toning down a disfavored identity to fit into the mainstream – and civil rights cases that lead Yoshino to a conclusion about new civil rights. Because the law does not protect victims of stereotypes beyond fundamental classifications, Yoshino suggests a transition from individualized equality to universal human rights. He suggests that universal rights and freedoms are the way the Court will protect differences in the future. “One of the great benefits of analyzing civil rights in terms of universal liberty rather than in terms of group-based equality is that it avoids making assumptions about group cultures.” Yoshino recognizes identity politics and civil rights movements are still crucial in creating change, but for rising tides to lift all boats, future legal cases should be framed not as “gay” or “disability” but as fundamental human rights. This book was published in 2007 – 6 years before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. From the Court’s decision: “Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.” Marriage equality is a fundamental human right.
September 12, 2021
Covering
Kenji Yoshino
Random House, 2006
Five stars
Kenji Yoshino is fourteen years my junior, and came out fourteen years after I did. Although his remarkable book is driven by his interest in and study of civil rights law--particularly gay rights law--his book is much bigger and broader and more richly layered than that. Kenji is not just gay, he is Japanese, and he is fascinated (and appalled), not just by the ideas of conversion and passing, but by the idea of covering--altering one's behavior so as to accomodate to the biases of the dominant group(s) that have control of your life. His life as a poet has made his lawyerly prose more readable and lyrical; and his use of a personal perspective as a gay Japanese-American infuses this study with an immediacy that I found moving again and again.
Kenji Yoshino
Random House, 2006
Five stars
Kenji Yoshino is fourteen years my junior, and came out fourteen years after I did. Although his remarkable book is driven by his interest in and study of civil rights law--particularly gay rights law--his book is much bigger and broader and more richly layered than that. Kenji is not just gay, he is Japanese, and he is fascinated (and appalled), not just by the ideas of conversion and passing, but by the idea of covering--altering one's behavior so as to accomodate to the biases of the dominant group(s) that have control of your life. His life as a poet has made his lawyerly prose more readable and lyrical; and his use of a personal perspective as a gay Japanese-American infuses this study with an immediacy that I found moving again and again.
March 27, 2020
Read it for school and didn’t hate it tbh. It was interesting, but not something I would read again. I loved reading Yoshino’s anecdotes about his life and experiences, though. I would definitely read more of that by him.
Read
April 26, 2021A really fascinating book that dives into the ways we all end up repressing our self identity due to internal fears and outside pressures.
May 2, 2019
Anyone interested in issues of equity, equality, and anti-bias work should read this.
March 8, 2013
Covering is an argument for a new direction of civil rights advocacy: protecting individuals’ ability to live their full selves in our society. Yoshino argues that as much as we should protect minority populations from facing discrimination because of the color of their skin or who they love, we should not require individuals to “cover” the characteristics that align them with their minority population: traditional African-American hairdos, for example, or lack of makeup for a less stereotypically feminine woman. Yoshino weaves his argument with threads from his own lived experience as a gay man and an Asian-American man. He describes his own journey from conversion (hoping and pretending to be straight), through passing (recognizing his own identity, but never sharing), to covering (being out, but acting as “straight” as he feels society requires him to act).
As a bisexual, less stereotypically feminine woman, I can identity all three phases in the journeys of many of my myriad identifies. But what I will take away from this book and treasure in my heart is Yoshino’s unapologetic demand for justice. He quotes Justice Brennan’s dissent to the Supreme Court in a death penalty case: when the majority spurned the use of studies showing racial bias in criminal sentencing for fear that it would lead to challenges to al dimensions of criminal sentencing, Brennan offered that this argument seemed “to suggest a fear of too much justice.” Yoshino analogizes to civil rights, proposing that the same could be said about too much protection against discrimination.
Judicial efficacy and administration burdens aside, YES! We allow ourselves, as lawyers, to see the law as the blueprint, the walls of the house that we are allowed to decorate. Instead, we should see the law as the shelter we have built to protect ourselves, a shelter we can add to as our family grows larger. There is no restriction on the number of rooms. There is no such thing as "too much justice." Yoshino asked a mentor for advice as he stepped into the life of law professor. “He told me his only advice for the coming years was that I should be more myself, that instead of reasoning within the law as it existed, I should speak my truth and make the law shape itself around me.”
As a bisexual, less stereotypically feminine woman, I can identity all three phases in the journeys of many of my myriad identifies. But what I will take away from this book and treasure in my heart is Yoshino’s unapologetic demand for justice. He quotes Justice Brennan’s dissent to the Supreme Court in a death penalty case: when the majority spurned the use of studies showing racial bias in criminal sentencing for fear that it would lead to challenges to al dimensions of criminal sentencing, Brennan offered that this argument seemed “to suggest a fear of too much justice.” Yoshino analogizes to civil rights, proposing that the same could be said about too much protection against discrimination.
Judicial efficacy and administration burdens aside, YES! We allow ourselves, as lawyers, to see the law as the blueprint, the walls of the house that we are allowed to decorate. Instead, we should see the law as the shelter we have built to protect ourselves, a shelter we can add to as our family grows larger. There is no restriction on the number of rooms. There is no such thing as "too much justice." Yoshino asked a mentor for advice as he stepped into the life of law professor. “He told me his only advice for the coming years was that I should be more myself, that instead of reasoning within the law as it existed, I should speak my truth and make the law shape itself around me.”
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