READERS GUIDE

Conversations about gender have changed so much over the past years it can leave you wondering: What are people even talking about? Sometimes we don’t know what to ask, how to answer, what words to use, what’s helpful, and what’s not. Rethinking Gender gives readers age 12 and up (and the parents, educators, activists, and other adults who participate in these conversations) a way to think about themselves and to talk about what sex and gender—in all their changing, often confusing forms—mean to them personally and to the world at large. The book is an engaging guide to what young people are going through when they navigate the ocean of possibilities that go by the name of “gender.”

Understanding what we don’t know is always a good beginning, and Läuger provides historical context, including the history of gay rights activism, how gender discourse has evolved, and explanations of law and legal standings for trans people; cultural and social norms; and useful glossaries of up-to-date language to explore all the ways that gender might be experienced and expressed—from biology to emotions, subjectivity to style. Designed for thoughtful exploration, the book also includes worksheets for reviewing, taking notes, and making observations of your own.

Questions explored in Rethinking Gender include:

•    What is cisgender? Dysphoria? Non-binary? Intersex? Intersectionality?
•    Are sex and gender biological? Cultural? Social? Personal?
•    What do race, religion, age, and education have to do with it?
•    How do we recognize stereotypes, and what can we do about them?
•    Do physical characteristics determine sex, and, if not, what does?
•    How common is it not to fit in the box checked M or F?
•    When is surgery or medical intervention called for, and who gets to decide?
•    How have ideas about gender changed over time?
•    What is gender identity, how do we know ours, and how do we talk to someone whose gender is different from our own?