ARE BISEXUALS JUST GREEDY?

A lighthearted but informative summary explores the basics of gender and sexuality.

In this debut nonfiction book, Dawson uses a question-and-answer format (with the text accompanied by Cordoba’s delightfully colorful illustrations) to address key concepts related to gender and sexuality at an introductory and compassionate level. The author, who is cisgender and bisexual, uses herself as a frequent example as she answers questions like “How Do I Know What My Gender Is?” and “How Do Transgender Women Pee in a Public Restroom?” along with more than a dozen others, including the one that serves as the book’s title. She also shares stories of her friends and family, drawing on the power of anecdotes to illustrate abstract concepts. In short but illuminating chapters, Dawson answers each question, balancing a chatty and upbeat tone (“This is because being nonbinary is a gender identity wired in their brains, whereas sex is visible between their legs”) with solid information and an enthusiastic appreciation of the various ways in which humans identify and present themselves to the world. Some readers may feel that the book could have used fewer details about the author’s own sex life, but those specifics (frequently accompanied by a request that Dawson’s father avert his eyes for a sentence or two) also serve as evidence of the work’s sex-positive approach. The volume makes it clear from the introduction that its target audience is readers who want to know the difference between cisgender and transgender, not those already well versed in current terminology and concepts. For readers who cannot immediately define each component of the LGBTQIA+ acronym, the book offers a solid and highly readable synopsis that explains why skeptics should embrace—not simply tolerate—the wide range of identities that exist. The work’s discussion of the Bible’s mentions of gender and sexuality might have been better served by a less high-level approach, but even that chapter’s brief arguments are fully supported by citations.

An engaging and insightful overview of gender and sexuality.