AMERICAN BOYS - SORAYA ZAMAN

Picked this up on a whim at the main library downtown. It’s all new so they were displaying it prominently towards the front. Since the books all photos and short bios I could read it all in an afternoon. The book is meant to be a broad survey or general sketch of trans men (and genderqueer men, as a few make clear). There are caveats of course: all of the them are Americans (hence the title. Also, there’s an inexplicable map at the beginning), and all of them are young. The oldest are maybe in their thirties but the vast majority are early 20s and many are teenagers. However, within these parameters there is a broad diversity of body-types and looks. The subjects seem to be in control of the general direction and look of their couple of pages. They all look handsome and fun and strong. Most of them choose to pose topless in at least one of their photos and many have the same top-surgery scars. I found myself lingering on the faces, trying to see what made me think these were “masculine faces,” especially the clean shaven one. Maybe something about the wideness of the chin or the “sharpness” of the face? But every time I thought I’d stumbled on something, I’d see a face that contradicted this. Gender is an endless maze. I’ve had the experience twice now where I’m talking to a white man and I find myself thinking, “holy shit this person is woke” which is not something I think a lot (I know this sounds like a humblebrag but please consider it more of a flaw and confession) only to find out that this person is a trans man. Trans men, the wokest men. The short auto-bios in this book bear this theory out. They’re uniformly considered and wise and tender. Anyway, interesting book, great, positive way to spend a late afternoon. 1966 men.