Tomboy Survival Guide is an inspiring memoir written by Ivan Coyote, a Canadian writer, performer, and advocate for LGBT rights. The story of Coyote’s life is written chronologically, beginning when they are at a young age identified as a tomboy, then describes themself as butch, and eventually as they are older now in their 40’s as trans. Coyote’s struggles of defying gender boxes and binaries have lead to their journey of personal acceptance and strength through challenges such as harassment, body issues, and teaching people about these conflicts in order to bring to light the oppressions that trans people face every day.
Coyote had signed up for the Electricity and Industrial Electronics program at a local school, but there were only two …show more content…
One problem regarding trans issues is the inappropriate use of pronouns. Coyote uses the metaphor that every time someone calls you by the wrong pronoun, a piece gets cut off from your soul; the people closest to you have bigger blades and you are left there bleeding and having to pretend you are fine. Coyote points out that people do not “prefer” certain pronouns, but that they use them. To be specific, saying that someone “prefers” a certain pronoun may indicate that you can either choose or not choose to respect their pronoun and that when a trans person has to continuously correct the misuse of their pronoun, it can be extremely alienating. Coyote also talks about the issues of public bathrooms. Although there has not been a single case of a trans person assaulting anyone in a public bathroom, Coyote still experiences cases of verbal and physical harassment. These experiences are the main themes of the anti-bullying shows that Coyote performs across schools in Canada, a result of the ways in which the oppressions they have faced have lead to finding their own personal strength. Writing about vulnerable things do not make Coyote vulnerable, they state, it is the only way they have power over them, silence makes them feel …show more content…
Reading about the hardships that Coyote has gone through has made me reflect on how I view the world and how privileged I am. Unlike Coyote, I have never experienced transphobia and have never been verbally or physically assaulted in a bathroom due to the way I look. It is sad that these instances of injustice are still happening all over the world, but I think Coyote is successful in describing how being someone that does not fit in within the gender binary can impact not only their life physically and emotionally, but those around them that are close to them and those that may contribute to these oppressions. It is easy to read research papers that have statistics about issues such as bullying, mental health issues, and suicide, but it is hard to read instances of people that have experienced and have related to these issues. To put yourself in someone’s shoes is difficult, but rewarding because it enables us to imagine how someone else can feel in certain situations and allow us to be more understanding and empathetic. Coyote’s experiences and writing skills make it possible for the reader to comprehend subject matter related to the problems of the gender binary, bullying, and many other issues that are hard to openly talk about in our society. The themes in this book are important for social work
Coyote had signed up for the Electricity and Industrial Electronics program at a local school, but there were only two …show more content…
One problem regarding trans issues is the inappropriate use of pronouns. Coyote uses the metaphor that every time someone calls you by the wrong pronoun, a piece gets cut off from your soul; the people closest to you have bigger blades and you are left there bleeding and having to pretend you are fine. Coyote points out that people do not “prefer” certain pronouns, but that they use them. To be specific, saying that someone “prefers” a certain pronoun may indicate that you can either choose or not choose to respect their pronoun and that when a trans person has to continuously correct the misuse of their pronoun, it can be extremely alienating. Coyote also talks about the issues of public bathrooms. Although there has not been a single case of a trans person assaulting anyone in a public bathroom, Coyote still experiences cases of verbal and physical harassment. These experiences are the main themes of the anti-bullying shows that Coyote performs across schools in Canada, a result of the ways in which the oppressions they have faced have lead to finding their own personal strength. Writing about vulnerable things do not make Coyote vulnerable, they state, it is the only way they have power over them, silence makes them feel …show more content…
Reading about the hardships that Coyote has gone through has made me reflect on how I view the world and how privileged I am. Unlike Coyote, I have never experienced transphobia and have never been verbally or physically assaulted in a bathroom due to the way I look. It is sad that these instances of injustice are still happening all over the world, but I think Coyote is successful in describing how being someone that does not fit in within the gender binary can impact not only their life physically and emotionally, but those around them that are close to them and those that may contribute to these oppressions. It is easy to read research papers that have statistics about issues such as bullying, mental health issues, and suicide, but it is hard to read instances of people that have experienced and have related to these issues. To put yourself in someone’s shoes is difficult, but rewarding because it enables us to imagine how someone else can feel in certain situations and allow us to be more understanding and empathetic. Coyote’s experiences and writing skills make it possible for the reader to comprehend subject matter related to the problems of the gender binary, bullying, and many other issues that are hard to openly talk about in our society. The themes in this book are important for social work