She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders

Abstract

Conley and Colabucci review She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan.

She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, by Jennifer Finney Boylan. New York: Broadway Books, 2003, 300 pp., $24.95. ISBN 0-7679-1404-X

Teachers committed to diversity and equity envision a world where the appreciation of social and cultural differences is both a process and a product of sound educational experience. Accordingly, progressive educators have come to value pedagogies that honor and support differences in race, class, and gender. These identity markers -ones that offer teachers a glimpse into how students understand and are understood in their world -can be both empowering and limiting to those who carry them. One way to better understand students and colleagues (and potentially oneself) is to lean on the autobiographical writing of people whose life experiences and perspectives differ from one's own. In her book, She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, Jennifer Finney Boylan offers a novelesque autobiography as transgendered.1 As educators concerned about social justice, the book reminds us to keep issues of gender and identity forefronted in our ongoing commitment to equity and diversity in classrooms.

The subject of this recent memoir is James Finney Boylan's transformation into Jennifer Finney Boylan. Boylan spent the first 40 years of her life as a male, living as a dutiful son, loving husband, and caring father. However, from her earliest memories she was aware that she "was in the wrong body, living the wrong life" (p. 19). For Boylan righting this wrong meant leading a transgendered life and eventually becoming a woman.

Jenny's story calls readers to consider the realities of a transgendered life. The author's life as a writer, professor, and amateur musician provides a dynamic picture of a transgendered person. As Jenny's friends, colleagues, students, and family members come into focus, the reader is able to further imagine the myriad ways that transgendered people make their way in the world. Jenny's transition from male to female (MtF) is described through recovered patches of conversation and details of her medical care that culminated in gender reassignment surgery. In She's Not There, the author uses interior dialogue to explore her inner conflicts with identity as a MtF transgendered person and to demonstrate how authentic self-expression for those who do not fit neatly into gender categories can be realized.

In our current role as teacher educators, we find that Boylan's book invites us to reconsider how we think about gender and sexuality across both academic and personal contexts. We believe it has the potential to do the same for interested readers, especially those who may be approaching this subject for the first time. We see this book as a break from more clinical reports on the subject or the exploitive glimpses often found in popular media. She's Not There offers a more candid portrayal because it is based on lived experience. Thus, it has the potential to raise questions about gender roles and heighten awareness of personal assumptions about gender identity. The book also provokes dialogue about taken-for-granted beliefs regarding how sexuality and gender are intertwined.

Although She's Not There is most appropriate for use in college-level teaching, educators of all levels would benefit from grappling with the issues presented in this text. The ways Jenny defines and ultimately redefines her gender speaks to the shifting nature of identity. This text destabilizes gender categories and, arguably, reifies them as well. Jenny's life works within and against complex social and cultural forces that influence identity development. Some readers may find themselves troubled by these tensions. For example, feminist readers may be critical of the reinscription of oppressive standards of beauty for women. Conversations related to femininity and masculinity are appropriate extensions of this book.

From a literary standpoint, the text reads like fiction and is often lighthearted in tone. This stylistic approach creates an interesting juxtaposition when the reader is asked to contemplate the more painful aspects of Jenny's journey. She explains, "Whether one thinks transsexuals2 are heroes or lunatics will not help to bring these people solace. All we can do in the face of this enormous, infinite anguish is to have compassion" (p. 248). Clearly, the existing state of transgender human rights, the persistence of transphobia, and the implications of gendered practices that are visible as early as preschool constitute a social inequity that demands thoughtful reflection and action. Boylan's text offers a means to enter into this work.

In her conclusion, Jenny declares that "no matter how much light one attempts to throw on this condition it remains a mystery" and apologizes for not being able to "make it make more sense to [the reader]" (p. 248). As educators strive to make sense of these issues, we encourage them to find out more about Jenny and to read other authors who attempt to shed light on transgendered experiences. Several recent memoirs also feature transgendered stories. These include: Crossing: A Memoir (McCloskey, 1999, University of Chicago Press), Hidden in Plain Sight (Townsend, 2002, Writers Club Press), and Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods - My Mother's, My Father's, and Mine (Howey, 2002, Picador). Additionally, we recommend the following young adult novels that delve into the lives of transgendered youth: Postcards From No Man's Land (Chambers, 2002, Dutton Books) and What Happened to Lani Carver (Plum-Ucci, 2002, Harcourt Books).

Footnote

Notes

1. We use transgendered as an umbrella term to refer to those people whose biological sex does not match their gender, as well as those whose gender identity does not conform to traditional notions of male and female.

2. The term transsexual refers to individuals who have undergone gender reassignment surgery.