At the beginning of reading through the text I was very apprehensive at the bold approach the author took. It seemed that while she had done extensive research of her own and over available studies, to me it was like she was pushing a private agenda. As I continued through the reading, I realized that she was in fact expressing her own thoughts and beliefs almost as if this book was a narrative, so to speak, of her life as a non “normal” person in what she considers a “normal” looking world. Where I did not always agree with her and her stance, I could appreciate her for her openness and expression of what she truly believed. I think that her true meaning and purpose of writing the book was to express to the world that there is more diversity than people ever realize. Some diversity can be easily seen through skin color or disabilities, but there exist diversity within the biological makeup of our own bodies, that may not be as easy to see. After completing the text, I did find several points that I could agree upon with the author. The one main point that I agree with the most is that people are very different and “normal” does not really exist in our diverse world. We should not think of people as “normal” or “not normal” but we should respect the differences that are both visible by the eye and the ones that are not.
Alana McAnally
This text was very challenging to me due to its very radical claims and liberal stances in regards to many of my own personal beliefs and ideologies. I have never personally experienced or thought about transgender choice in society, but rather dismissed it because of the awkwardness I felt towards the subject and would frankly, just rather avoid the topic. As this book is written by a transgendered female, I was forced to face my thoughts about this action and look at my personal beliefs in reference to diversifying society. The book outlined its case that transgender, homosexual and hermaphroditic tendencies are found throughout nature in several different populations of fish, plants, amphibians and mammals. These cases were very interesting to read considering how the diversity of nature enables survival of species as they face changing ecological circumstances.
When the author transitioned these examples over to biological examples of why these tendencies are seen in humans, I really struggled to make a connection. My personal beliefs as a Christian are that we are created in the image of God, unlike any other species on the planet. In the Bible, the canon of Christian beliefs, homosexuality is clearly identified as a sin(see Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and 1 Timothy 1:10) but the author of this book states that the Bible takes no clear stance on the issue and that the Bible even supports homosexual relationships.(Roughgarden, 2004, pg.369) To make this point, the author distorts the relationships between the biblical characters of Ruth and Naomi (Roughgarden, 2004, pg. 369), and David and Jonathon (Roughgarden, 2004, pg. 370) into homosexual relationships. These false representations of the document that is central to my core beliefs made it difficult for me to accept many of the points that Roughgarden propositioned as possible truths. My faith also teaches to love the person and hate the sin, as we all are sinners in some way. In order to love a person, it is important that I am able to understand their perspectives and stances. This makes this book a valuable asset when considering that differences in sexual orientation are common in society and our classrooms. As a tool for this course to stretch my perspective and allow me to see from another viewpoint of sexuality by acknowledging the amazing amount of diversity found in nature, I feel better ready to ‘jump in’ instead of ‘avoid,’ as I previously would have before reading this text.
Roughgarden, J. (2004). Evolution's rainbow: Diversity, gender, and sexuality in nature and people. Berkeley: Berkeley University of California Press.
Cynthia Nyvall
This book was very difficult for me to read because it was going against my standards and morals. The author talks about different studies that show that the brain is different around the hypothalamus between homosexuals, heterosexuals, and transgenders. Another study talked about low/high testosterone levels in the middle trimester of pregnancy when the genitals are forming affects genital morphology and identity. Being a math teacher I am also having problems with all the statistics, I would like to know how the subjects were picked to interview to get these percentages. The Hamer-Pattatucci Study states that they are very selective on the lesbians that were chosen to participate with their study and I think that invalidates the study. This makes the study work in your favor with you start picking as choosing that closely. One study that I read about truly had me baffled but just backs that God's code should not be messed with. Twin boys were born and during their circumcision procedure one of the boys was damaged beyond being able to be surgically fixed. So the doctors removed his male genitals and reconstructed female genitals. One twin was raised as a male while the other twin was raised a female and given female hormones at the age of puberty. This twin never believed that he should be a female and decide to live as a man like God had made him and today is married and a father (p 243).
One of my classes last year was comprised of heterosexuals, homosexuals, cross dressers, and I am sure of much more that was not openly shown by the students. As long as none is pushing any type of beliefs within my classroom onto someone else then my class will function just great. After reading this book I feel like I have not learned anything that would possible take to my class to help me become better prepared to teach ANY TYPE of student.
Lisa Lee
I do not feel that people who are homosexual or transgendered have made "a choice" - I believe they are simply being true to themselves. However it is often extremely difficult for Americans who are not heterosexual to be themselves. There is a great deal of discrimination that they face every day due to the stigma that have been wrongfully attached to their lifestyles. The author of our book is a transgendered woman. This book is not her biography - she spends relatively little time discussing details of her own life. Rather, this book is an argument on many fronts that homosexual and/or transgendered behavior are well-documented throughout the human world, throughout the animal kingdom, and throughout history. The unfortunate fact that "variation in gender identity and sexuality is considered irrational" (pg 3) is what the author is taking issue with. She provides ample evidence throughout the book that same-sex sexuality and mismatched gender identity seem to be rooted in biology, not psychology.
Despite my liberal viewpoint, I spent much of the time while reading this book being surprised, as the author was while she was doing her research - "All of these facts were new to me" (pg. 2). The different sex roles in certain species of animals, for example, or the many instances of transgendered women in other cultures and the roles they are given. I feel the author worked hard to present a well-reasoned argument, rooted in multicultural perspectives that those living homosexual or transgendered lives are not aberrant and should be embraced as normal - see "The Trans Agenda," pg. 398.
However, I also feel that some of the arguments represented a bit of a "stretch". For example, the scriptural story of Ruth and Naomi (pg. 370), is held up as proof of "same-sex partners" when it seems like nothing more than a devoted relationship based on family ties. The author states from the beginning "I offer my own interpretation of the facts," (pg. 9) so the "stretches" can be forgiven. What this amounts to is that I feel anyone reading this book would come out with his/her current belief system in tact. One who stands opposed to the lifestyles being discussed will remain opposed to them, stating the evidence is flimsy, biased or irrelevant. One who holds a position of acceptance will feel they gained some interesting information that supports their position as the right one. How much use will I get out of this book in the future? Well, not much... for the reasons previously stated. However, we as educators need to know that students who are not heterosexual will be in our classrooms - see Lisa's paragraph above. How will we react to them? Hopefully, with as much sensitivity, kindness and respect as we would show to any minority student. Greg Morrison
Alana McAnally
This text was very challenging to me due to its very radical claims and liberal stances in regards to many of my own personal beliefs and ideologies. I have never personally experienced or thought about transgender choice in society, but rather dismissed it because of the awkwardness I felt towards the subject and would frankly, just rather avoid the topic. As this book is written by a transgendered female, I was forced to face my thoughts about this action and look at my personal beliefs in reference to diversifying society. The book outlined its case that transgender, homosexual and hermaphroditic tendencies are found throughout nature in several different populations of fish, plants, amphibians and mammals. These cases were very interesting to read considering how the diversity of nature enables survival of species as they face changing ecological circumstances.
When the author transitioned these examples over to biological examples of why these tendencies are seen in humans, I really struggled to make a connection. My personal beliefs as a Christian are that we are created in the image of God, unlike any other species on the planet. In the Bible, the canon of Christian beliefs, homosexuality is clearly identified as a sin(see Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and 1 Timothy 1:10) but the author of this book states that the Bible takes no clear stance on the issue and that the Bible even supports homosexual relationships.(Roughgarden, 2004, pg.369) To make this point, the author distorts the relationships between the biblical characters of Ruth and Naomi (Roughgarden, 2004, pg. 369), and David and Jonathon (Roughgarden, 2004, pg. 370) into homosexual relationships. These false representations of the document that is central to my core beliefs made it difficult for me to accept many of the points that Roughgarden propositioned as possible truths. My faith also teaches to love the person and hate the sin, as we all are sinners in some way. In order to love a person, it is important that I am able to understand their perspectives and stances. This makes this book a valuable asset when considering that differences in sexual orientation are common in society and our classrooms. As a tool for this course to stretch my perspective and allow me to see from another viewpoint of sexuality by acknowledging the amazing amount of diversity found in nature, I feel better ready to ‘jump in’ instead of ‘avoid,’ as I previously would have before reading this text.
Roughgarden, J. (2004). Evolution's rainbow: Diversity, gender, and sexuality in nature and people. Berkeley: Berkeley University of California Press.
Cynthia Nyvall
This book was very difficult for me to read because it was going against my standards and morals. The author talks about different studies that show that the brain is different around the hypothalamus between homosexuals, heterosexuals, and transgenders. Another study talked about low/high testosterone levels in the middle trimester of pregnancy when the genitals are forming affects genital morphology and identity. Being a math teacher I am also having problems with all the statistics, I would like to know how the subjects were picked to interview to get these percentages. The Hamer-Pattatucci Study states that they are very selective on the lesbians that were chosen to participate with their study and I think that invalidates the study. This makes the study work in your favor with you start picking as choosing that closely.
One study that I read about truly had me baffled but just backs that God's code should not be messed with. Twin boys were born and during their circumcision procedure one of the boys was damaged beyond being able to be surgically fixed. So the doctors removed his male genitals and reconstructed female genitals. One twin was raised as a male while the other twin was raised a female and given female hormones at the age of puberty. This twin never believed that he should be a female and decide to live as a man like God had made him and today is married and a father (p 243).
One of my classes last year was comprised of heterosexuals, homosexuals, cross dressers, and I am sure of much more that was not openly shown by the students. As long as none is pushing any type of beliefs within my classroom onto someone else then my class will function just great. After reading this book I feel like I have not learned anything that would possible take to my class to help me become better prepared to teach ANY TYPE of student.
Lisa Lee
I do not feel that people who are homosexual or transgendered have made "a choice" - I believe they are simply being true to themselves. However it is often extremely difficult for Americans who are not heterosexual to be themselves. There is a great deal of discrimination that they face every day due to the stigma that have been wrongfully attached to their lifestyles. The author of our book is a transgendered woman. This book is not her biography - she spends relatively little time discussing details of her own life. Rather, this book is an argument on many fronts that homosexual and/or transgendered behavior are well-documented throughout the human world, throughout the animal kingdom, and throughout history. The unfortunate fact that "variation in gender identity and sexuality is considered irrational" (pg 3) is what the author is taking issue with. She provides ample evidence throughout the book that same-sex sexuality and mismatched gender identity seem to be rooted in biology, not psychology.
Despite my liberal viewpoint, I spent much of the time while reading this book being surprised, as the author was while she was doing her research - "All of these facts were new to me" (pg. 2). The different sex roles in certain species of animals, for example, or the many instances of transgendered women in other cultures and the roles they are given. I feel the author worked hard to present a well-reasoned argument, rooted in multicultural perspectives that those living homosexual or transgendered lives are not aberrant and should be embraced as normal - see "The Trans Agenda," pg. 398.
However, I also feel that some of the arguments represented a bit of a "stretch". For example, the scriptural story of Ruth and Naomi (pg. 370), is held up as proof of "same-sex partners" when it seems like nothing more than a devoted relationship based on family ties. The author states from the beginning "I offer my own interpretation of the facts," (pg. 9) so the "stretches" can be forgiven. What this amounts to is that I feel anyone reading this book would come out with his/her current belief system in tact. One who stands opposed to the lifestyles being discussed will remain opposed to them, stating the evidence is flimsy, biased or irrelevant. One who holds a position of acceptance will feel they gained some interesting information that supports their position as the right one. How much use will I get out of this book in the future? Well, not much... for the reasons previously stated. However, we as educators need to know that students who are not heterosexual will be in our classrooms - see Lisa's paragraph above. How will we react to them? Hopefully, with as much sensitivity, kindness and respect as we would show to any minority student. Greg Morrison