Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. "Seeing Gender is an of-the-moment investigation into how we express and understand the complexities of gender today. Deeply researched and fully illustrated, this book demystifies an intensely personal—yet universal—facet of humanity. Illustrating a different concept on each spread, queer author and artist Iris Gottlieb touches on history, science, sociology, and her own experience. This book is an essential tool for understanding and contributing to a necessary cultural conversation, bringing clarity and reassurance to the sometimes confusing process of navigating ones' identity. Whether LGBTQ+, cisgender, or nonbinary, Seeing Gender is a must-read for intelligent, curious, want-to-be woke people who care about how we see and talk about gender and sexuality in the 21st century." This paragraph made me want to read this book! It talks about such important topics that everyone needs to learn and talk about. I loved the art and writing style. I learned some new things, and really enjoyed this read. Give it a read!

This book is great for anyone looking for high-level information on topics and issues related to gender.
I really enjoyed reading through it. It seems like it would make a very good coffee table book.

On the other hand, I was hoping for something a little more in depth. I picked this up in hope to learn more about different gender identities and hoped the information would help me continue to learn how to be a good ally for the LGBTQ+ community. However, I found that I didn't learn much new information.
That said, it would be a good book for introducing children, or someone with little knowledge to these topics.
I really enjoyed the illustration and the layout, it was a fun read.

This was a great introduction to all things gender. This book helps readers to begin to understand the complexities that are involved with gender. It gives a basic understanding of different genders. Then, it gives a basic understanding of the different challenges different genders face. I loved that it included so much intersectionality within gender. I adored the fact that Iris included so much of her own experience. It made it so much more personal while reading. This is a great starting point to understanding gender.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this because I was unable to finish reading it due to technology issues and ended up losing access to it. What I read I enjoyed though!

An amazing book to help the people looking for the information to understand the gender spectrum!
Gottlieb has an amazing writting that just makes it easy to understand, and also treats you with respect and doesnt have you feeling dumb not knowing about it!

A great read!

This would be a great coffee table book! The illustrations were beautiful and really added to the topics that were discussed. I would definitely use this in reference for the future.

What Iris Gottlieb has created with Seeing Gender is a wonderful thing, an accessible and easily digestible way to help just about anyone understand the full spectrum of gender in a way that doesn't make the reader feel like a jerk. Really. I received this book in digital form from the publisher to review but I loved it so much that I'm going to buy a copy for my home (it really is visually awesome) but also a copy for my mom because she has finally told me that she wants to learn the right way to discuss people of nonbinary gender.

Buying a copy for my mom to learn may not seem like a big deal but to me, it shows exactly why this book is such a gem. My mom is religious, has spent a lot of her life closed off to understanding anything that was not hetero-normative (including me), and needs a little help with separating the BS from the facts. She absorbs the negative thoughts of others like a sponge. But the way Gottlieb has explained the logical and emotional reasoning behind the importance of using the correct pronouns, along with the history of many important moments in history, and even discussed some of the science of gender in a very accessible way is a tool that anyone with an open enough mind to not just reject what is 'normal' to them should be able to understand.

The art is adorable and delightful.

I'll probably edit this review later with some favorite quotes.

Big thanks to the author and Chronicle Books for the chance to review an arc of this great book. The opinions are all my own.

Seeing Gender was a book I picked up on a whim, wondering how the author might treat the subject matter. I was treated to a deeply researched examination of what is a very personal aspect of the identity of every human being on this planet (whether they know it or not). I loved the art, and to see the aspects of history and anecdotes used to explore the topic really made it all the more enjoyable. It turned out that this really was a must-read for me, and I usually recommend it as the same for everyone else.

A super complete book on matters regarding gender mostly, but also sexuality, sexual orientation, gender expression, intersectionality, feminism, privilige and much more. I fully recommend it for anyone that is still struggling with all the new labels that are out there, for anyone questioning their gender and for the allies that day after day keep informing themselves to make LGBTQ+ lives a bit more bearable.

Seeing Gender is an informative book that covers a lot of ground, but sometimes rather briefly and not too much in-depth. It's still a lot to learn from this book though, especially if one is a bit unfamiliar with topics in regards of identity, expression and LGBTQIA+. It also covers intersectional issues as well, which is a bonus. In general the book shows that things aren't black and white. There's also some simple and actionable steps to be more helpful and mindful human being in regards of LGBTQIA+ issues in this book, such as the use of pronouns. I also really liked the colourful illustrations, which made the book a lot more interesting.

As a straight woman that works in a middle school with students that are struggling with who they are, I found this book to be extremely helpful. I have always considered myself to be open-minded and non-judgmental, but this book showed me how little I know about this topic.

A good primer on gender that is easy to read. It covers basic information and does a good job also including intersectional issues as well. The illustrations are great and make the book more appealing/easy to read. Recommended for people needing an introduction to the topic, but not necessarily for those who already know a lot.

Goodreads Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

A great, colorful, comprehensive guide to gender identity, as well as a very encompassing guide to intersectionality as well. Not only will it help understand, or at least expose you to, terms and expressions of the gender-queer* community, but it will also teach and encourage you to become an even more accepting and decent person to everyone.

Although this is comprehensive, I unfortunately didn't find it to be as cohesive as I'd hoped it would have been. I was expecting something encylopeidia like, with extensive entries detailing the variety of gender identities and their monikers, in addition to general gender-queer terms, issues, and stigmas and how to avoid them. But this felt more like a random journal, with entries kind of sporadically included--I didn't get any sense of flow or building upon previous concepts and terms. While I know even some of the specifically named identities can still be fluid, I really would have loved to have a more comprehensive list of these identities and what they mean in general.

That being said, it was still a valuable read and one that did what I'd hoped it would for me--make me understand what it is to be gender-queer. While I myself certainly don't adhere to all the societal expectations of how a female presents herself, I still identify as a female, so I've always found it difficult to understand the gender-queer aspect of the LGBTQ+ realm. There was one line in this book that helped me to understand it concept at heart--"gender expression isn't the same as gender identity." Gender, while it does have its roots in society and class, is still something that's very visual in the way we present ourselves, and is something that can be deceiving to your ingrained perceptions whether there are two or twenty genders. Just because someone may dress and/or act one way, doesn't mean they actually identify with the corresponding societal binary term (or one of the binary terms at all!).

Be willing to look past outward appearances and appreciate someone for who they are as a whole person, not just because of how they present themselves. It's a bit of a trite statement, I know, but it was made even more clear and important to me in this book.

Although it wasn't as cohesive and straightforward as I was hoping, it was still an eye-opening, honest, and enlightening read!

*Please note that while I use "gender-queer" here, since that's the focus of the book, there are still many aspects of the book that apply to queerness of any type!

I think this is a book that everyone can learn something from. Being part of the LGBTQ+ community, I’ve always considered myself to be pretty knowledgeable about the range of identities that exist, and I wasn’t sure how much I would learn while reading this book. But I ended up learning so much!
This is a graphic novel, with beautiful illustrations may I add, that discusses topics like gender identity, sexual orientation, the oppression of minorities, LGBTQ+ history, and much more.
The book is packed full of useful information but at the same time, it’s very easy to digest. And the bright, colorful pictures make it a fun read as well. I think no matter how much you THINK you know, you should pick up this book. You’d be surprised by the things you’ll learn!

Thanks to Netgally and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is such an important book, breaking down gender and race and how they are both seen in society and how history has played a part in how we view both. I love the end with the interviews asking each person to identify something that describes their gender in that moment, it is touching and sweet and really interesting to see what items are chosen and why.

This book was fantastic! From the information to the illustrations to the history lessons, I loved it! I just want a dozen copies to hand to anyone who means well but really needs a good intro into gender, trans identities, and intersectionality. I thought this book did a fantastic job of highlighting queer and trans persons stories throughout.

As a queer person who spends a lot of time in queer spaces, a lot of this information was known to me. But it was also really brave and wonderful to hear the author’s own journey through gender. I think through telling her own story, as well as through the information presented in the rest of the book, it’s very clear that sometimes things aren’t black and white. And a lot of times, gender is confusing and contradictory, and sometimes people are going to mess up. But that if we all try to do our best to be respectful, things would be so much better.

I read this book as a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, I skimmed most of this. This is a very basic book on gender and sexuality [and a mess of other things, but I'll get to that in a minute] and it is basically very thin coverage on a lot of broad topics. Still, the illustrations are fun and [most of] the information is pretty good if you just have next to no knowledge on these topics. I guess most of the things in this book did focus around gender identity or sexuality in some ways but I feel like there were a lot of derailments into things that - while important topics - I didn't feel fit in very well in this book.

I also have to question the decision to do a feature on Coco Chanel considering she was not queer in any way and was also a LITERAL Nazi. There were a couple things like that which made me do a little side-eye throughout the book but nothing that would cause me to write it off completely. It does have value as a basic introduction book or maybe a coffee table book or something like that, but I am sure there are other better organized books out there.

I am a noob when it comes to gender study and was only exposed to the discussion in my Goodreads groups (thank you, buddies!) as well as some media (especially) I consume. I want to read more on the subject and educate myself but the online information overwhelms me. Which one should I start? Like on feminism, should I read historically (all the waves) or go to the most recent ones? What's a third gender? Which pronoun should I use? I am attracted to guys but I really hate it when people say I have to wear a nice dress for my college graduation or weddings and I think make ups are not my thing. What am I then? I've lots of questions.

When I saw this book in Netgalley, I immediately grabbed it on a whim (and of course since it has illustrations). I do not regret that decision. It is very informative, makes clear and succinct points, and also opens up more questions. Which I enjoy, since I think having more questions mean I get to understand more and have something to ask about. Intersectionality, white feminism, gender assignment, the shift of gender roles throughout history, they are all pretty mind blowing. Spotlights were also given on real people and how they influenced the discussion.

All in all, gender identity is still a fascinating puzzle for me, since all the labels I gathered so far (also based on my gender presentation), they won't cover all the facets of my own identity. Quoting the author, we are all shapeshifters. And I am glad to know I am allowed to mess up. It's a never ending learning journey, right?

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I honestly can't wait to hold the printed version in my hands, put it on a table at home and show it to everyone who visits me. This book is beautiful, educational, fun and very very important.
The author first introduces us to the world of gender, LGBTQIA+ communities and shows in a kind of glossary which terms exist, what are the thoughts and makes clear that language and our understanding of what exists, what is possible and which is the best way to behave is in constant evolution.
While the topic of the book is of course incredibly serious and from time to time can be quite heavy and depressing (especially talking about historical events or in sporlights on certain people), the simple and colorful illustrations take this said heaviness away. The tone of writing is always supporting, encouraging and doing its best to include as many different perspectives as possible.

It's very easy to read and get through quickly. While I already knew a lot of the facts, I also learned quite a bit of new information: I especially enjoyed the spotlights on the animal kingdrom, celebrities and important people. Also the historical information and fun facts were very interesting and I appreciate them a lot. I can imagine that for people who have been deep diving into the topic for a while already and who are an active part of the communities, much of the content won't be new. It is still a great compilation of information that can be used in discussions around the topic of gender, identity and so on.

Further, I loved the personal section in the end of the book, showing the author's own story. This makes this book even more special and precious.

Overall I had a great experience reading this and my friends and family are enjoying random drops of (fun) facts on gender and everything around it and beyond.

Insightful and detailed while maitaining simplicity and a sort of straightfowardness that is refreshing and easy.
The illustrations are so clever and do a great job of getting their point across.

Seeing familiar celebrities was also great for perspective - my personal favorite was Frida Kahlo.
The index, glossary and references were a nice touch and I always enjoy learning about the author.

This has become such a valuable resource for me and I frequently recommend it to friends who, like me, want to learn more about this community and these individuals.