Gender Queer

Plot Summary 

Gender Queer: A Memoir details Maia Kobabe’s journey to discovering eir gender identity and sexuality. From eir childhood to graduating with eir master's degree, e brings to light the different significant moments that led to the discovery of these identities as well as the seeds of doubt and questioning that were sown before e had the terms to describe them. Through eir words and eir art, Kobabe is able to capture the nuance and beauty of self-discovery. 

Creative Use for a Library Program

Based on this book, the two programs that immediately come to mind that I’d like to try are a fanfiction writing group and a build-your-aesthetic workshop. The first would probably be more difficult to gather a large amount of participation because it is still a fairly taboo hobby, but it could also provide a great resource to connect people with similar interests together! At the very least, it would be something that I would keep my eye out to see if there’s ever any interest among my patrons. The second could be a shorter workshop with a short presentation on how to build an aesthetic, similar to making a Pinterest board. Using magazines and printed images, the teens could make a physical collage of their desired clothing aesthetic. Finding and choosing eir aesthetic was a big part of Maia Kobabe’s journey, and it is something that many teens start to develop in their adolescence.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation

Topping the charts of the ALA’s most challenged books in 2023, Gender Queer has been challenged for its inclusion of LGBTQ+ content as well as its visual depiction of naked bodies and sexual content (ALA, 2023). The defense for the inclusion of queer content would be relatively easy to defend as Maia Kobabe is just sharing eir own experience and journey, expressing eir struggles. As such, the book functions as an insight into the experience of a gender queer person, and all identities have a right to be represented in library collections. 

The depictions of sexual content and naked bodies are not as straightforward to defend, especially when considering minors reading the book. While there are no genitalia depicted, there is a scene with a dildo, a few images of butts, and sexual acts that are shown. The sexual act can be defended by giving context to the scene. As stated before, there are no genitalia shown, but there is a sexual act depicted with a dildo. This, however, is done in the context of both gender exploration and a discussion of consent. Both of these are topics that teens are experiencing and learning to navigate, and the scene provides a healthy and safe exploration of both.

Reason for Inclusion

This book was assigned for my Young Adult Materials course, the same one that this blog was created for, and I read it for that reason. I had seen the book multiple times before as it is usually given away at my library during Banned Book Week and during our summer reading program. I never picked it up before because I’ve always been hesitant to accept neopronouns (ironic given my own gender and the people I keep company with), and the book’s summary used the Spivak pronouns when discussing Kobabe. I am so glad that I pushed through, however, as I have grown to respect using non-gendered pronouns other than “they/them.” I’d like to include this book in my collection for this reason. Kobabe does a brilliant job of building empathy in the reader, showing how respecting someone's pronouns is a small but profound act.