Assume Nothing

by Rebecca Swan

Author and photographer Rebecca Swan has photographed and interviewed 25 people around the world about their experience of gender, creating an intimate and poignant window into the world where the boundaries of male and female are challenged. All the stories are fascinating and inspiring and, despited the diversity of the people in the book, the common thread is that their experience of being differently gendered in the world has created strength, vision, acceptance and a generosity of spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, Gender, Transgender, LGBT

Hardcover

Reviews

[Erin Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of photographs of trans and gender nonconforming people, from Aotearoa New Zealand to the United States. Mani and Ema’s stories made me nearly cry. I really appreciated the foreword by Jack Halberstam, which warned against counting greater visibility of ambiguously gendered bodies as proof of trans/gender liberation - political and cultural conservatism, represented for Halberstam at the time of writing by the reactionary policies of the post-9/11 Bush administration, is the thing which according to them must be overcome to allow for the real emancipation of trans bodies. Today, theorists and activists might extend Halberstam’s call to the dismantling of capitalism itself.

[Jane Doe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, with thought provoking ideas and wonderful stories about people who are much more self aware than most.
The reason for the 4 stars instead of 5, is because of the fonts and actual print so many were small or in a light color that made it difficult to read. There were many pictures that were beautiful, however, some of the pictures were so hazy that they were difficult to see as well.