I read banned books! I’m pretty sure almost every book I’ve ever loved has been banned somewhere because unfortunately the things that most draw me to stories are also what make ignorant people want to ban them. For that reason, I’m a big proponent of celebrating Banned Books Week (which is September 18-24). In or around Banned Books Week, I usually make a point of reading at least one or two of the books on the ALA’s list of the top ten most challenged books from the previous year. Unsurprisingly, I’d already read a few of 2021’s top list, but I hadn’t read the top one on the list. It wasn’t Alex Gino’s Melissa this time, for the first time since 2017 (Melissa wasn’t on the list at all for the first time since its publication; I’m convinced the banners were simply too dumb to realize that it’s the same book they’ve been banning for all these years, on account of the title change). 2021’s top book? Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, a graphic novel memoir that depicts the author’s journey to self-acceptance particularly in regards to eir gender.
Yes, my posting schedule is a little behind.
Why is it banned?
According to the ALA, Gender Queer is banned for having LGBTQ+ content and for sexually explicit images. There are also a lot of people complaining about Kobabe’s pronouns, which are e/em/eir. This is particularly stupid when you realize how much people whine about they/them being used as a singular. If people can’t use they/them because they’re plural and they can’t use singular neopronouns because they’re too hard to learn or whatever, what’s the solution? Oh, right. There isn’t one that will satisfy them, because it’s not about confusing pronouns; it’s about being transphobic. As for the sexually explicit images… I guess. This is a graphic novel for adults, and it’s also a memoir. Why should Kobabe have to edit eir experiences to make it appropriate for children if that’s not whom e’s writing for?
What’d I think?
Personally, I think Gender Queer is extraordinary. I’d been interested it even before I realized it was on the top of the banned list. That Stonewall Honor is always a major selling point for me. More than once I picked it up when I passed it on the shelf, opened it to a random page, and read a few panels; every single time I’d think wow, relatable. Kobabe has a gift for distilling very large, very complex emotions into a few simple pictures. Gender Queer is more a collection of connected vignettes than a single narrative, which makes it very conducive to that sort of pick-up-and-put-down style of reading. That being said, when I actually sat down to read it, I did so in a single sitting.
I’m a big fan of simple, straightforward illustrations in graphic novels. Too much going on in any individual panel throws me off, so I enjoyed Kobabe’s focused drawings. The backgrounds are filled in enough as to not be empty, but the action and the emotion is always clearly in the forefront. This is a memoir, and Kobabe features in nearly every panel, even when the pictures take on a more metaphorical than literal interpretation. We are never far from eir experience or emotion, and as a result it is very easy to empathize with and understand eir experiences. The straightforward nature is particularly helpful considering that this memoir is likely to be the first experience a lot of readers, both genderqueer and/or trans or decidedly cis, have with a genderqueer protagonist. A lot of queer identities are becoming more visible, but this is still one that isn’t regularly represented. Considering that Kobabe is asexual as well as genderqueer, it’s pretty important that this book be approachable. Kobabe depicts everything so well that even the readers who don’t immediately recognize and relate to eir experiences will understand them if they go in with an open mind.
A lot of fuss has been made of the more adult moments in this graphic novel, like the sex scene, period blood, and nudity. First of all, this isn’t a kids’ book. I feel like there is still a large swath of people who don’t yet understand that graphic novel ≠ for children. Gender Queer is about someone exploring eir relationship with eir body and sexuality. How, exactly, is one supposed to tell that story without bodies or sex? The scenes aren’t there for titillation. They’re there because they’re an integral part of the story, and in fact they are all intentionally offputting. The scenes are jarring and upsetting because they’re depicting Kobabe in jarring and upsetting moments. The nude scenes almost all deal with Kobabe’s dysphoria. The bloody period moments are intentionally horrific; they’re depictions of traumatic nightmares. The scenes are effective in making readers uncomfortable. What the book-banners are missing is that discomfort invites the reader to see things from Kobabe’s perspective, to feel eir discomfort, not to push the envelope for no reason.
The nerd in me also really enjoyed the pop culture sprinkled throughout. From One Direction to NaNoWriMo to The Lord of the Rings, Gender Queer is full of nerdy things that helped Kobabe along eir journey. More than anything else, that proves what we should already know: representation is important. People look for themselves in the stories they consume, and it is vital that everyone be able to find themselves.
What’s the verdict?
This is a quick read that nevertheless packs a lot of punch. It’s easy to read and is both enjoyable and educational. I’d highly recommend it to anyone genderqueer or trans because they’ll likely see themselves in it, to anyone questioning their gender or sexuality because it is a very clarifying and honest account, and to anyone cis who simply wants to understand an experience they’ll never feel firsthand.
What’s next?
Kobabe references a lot of other works in Gender Queer. Here’s a nonexhaustive list of a few of the books, shows, musicians, and celebrities who get a shoutout.
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (ugh; it’s so devastating that so many people, including Kobabe and me, discovered the love of reading through Rowling, who has been systematically destroying her legacy with transphobic nonsense)
Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce (I also loved this series growing up, or at least the first book. I dropped off about halfway through when Alanna started having sex. It just didn’t interest me anymore)
Fake by Sanami Matoh (I don’t know this one)
The Last Herald Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey (I’m not familiar with this one either)
Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore (another one I don’t know)
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein (I love this one! Kobabe has good taste)
David Bowie (I never got into Bowie; my music tastes are pretty much “pop” and “Broadway,” though, so maybe that’s not surprising)
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (is this the best stage play ever? Maybe. I love it)
Johnny Weir (figure skating is so much fun, and I think if people only know one skater it’s Weir)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (strangely, I’ve never seen this; everyone tells me I’d like it)
The Adventure Zone by the McElroy Brothers (I just discovered this super-fun series recently; like Kobabe, my favorite is Taako)
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (interestingly, I read this in college in a unit about censorship; we had a class debate about whether or not it should be removed from libraries. Yikes)
The Pirates of Penzance (I just watched this for the first time recently. It has its moments, but on the whole has not aged all that well.)
One Direction (I’ve never been a huge boyband person, but I did like One Direction)
Supernatural (like Harry Potter, this is a huge franchise with a ton of queer fans who were ultimately treated like garbage; I used to be a huge fan but now I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth from it)
Merlin (I never watched this one; I meant to at first but then I heard it got really queerbaity and was retrospectively glad I never got into it)
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (John Green is one of my favorites!)
The Gender Creative Child by Diane Ehrensaft (I haven’t read this)
Touching a Nerve: Self as Brain by Patricai Churchland, Ph.B. (if the excerpt in Gender Queer is anything to go by, this one is a slog to get through, so important as it might be the chance of me ever actually reading it is 0%)
If you’re interested in the rest of 2021’s Banned Books List, here it is:
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
A Blog of Books and Musicals 