Maia and I dealt with so many of the same questions and concerns about relationships-both with others and with our own bodies-that I wish I’d had this book as a teen,” Brown says. But unless you’ve never seen yourself represented in media before, you don’t know how impactful representation can be. “I came to long after I’d already come out, so it had no effect on my journey of queer discovery. “‘Gender Queer’ is the only time I’ve ever seen anything even remotely close to my identities,” says Alex Brown, a high school librarian, author and award-winning book critic who is genderqueer, asexual and aromantic. In 2016, Kobabe began creating black-and-white mini-zines called “Genderqueer.” Many pages from those zines later evolved into the book, “Gender Queer: A Memoir.” Courtesy of Maia Kobabe Ultimately, Kobabe comes to identify as asexual. Kobabe determines that e has a lower libido than most people e knows and that what arouses em in fantasy isn’t always enjoyable to do with a partner. Kobabe feels euphoria when e begins to use the pronouns e/em/eir and when e buys clothes that feel “queer and magical.”Īlongside eir exploration of gender, the book also documents Kobabe’s path of sexual discovery, from teenage crushes to masturbation to first times with a partner. Yet, what’s more striking is how well it also conveys instances of gender euphoria-profoundly positive experiences when Kobabe feels harmony between eir nonbinary identity and gender expression. “Gender Queer” palpably conveys Kobabe’s experience of gender dysphoria. This launched a lifelong love of books from then on, e devoured fantasy books and later, queer stories. Kobabe also struggled academically until e learned to read at age 11. E frequently felt like kids at school had access to information e lacked about things like shaving and using deodorant. During Kobabe’s childhood, eir parents never enforced gender roles on themselves or their children. Kobabe, now 34, depicts decades of dissonance between eir self-conception and society’s gendered expectations of em. E attended San Francisco’s California College of the Arts, where eir professor Melanie Gillman was the first openly nonbinary person e met. The story chronicles Kobabe’s upbringing in rural Sonoma County and eir social experiences in grade school through grad school. Kobabe’s first book, “Gender Queer” is an illustrated coming-of-age autobiography about eir journey of self-discovery as a nonbinary and asexual person. The first run of 5,000 copies sold out within a week. When it came out in 2019, “Gender Queer” was hailed as a powerful story, great resource and queer-comics classic. According to the American Library Association (ALA), “Gender Queer” is the most-banned book in America. K-pop and Sonoma County’s natural beauty are two things bringing Kobabe joy at a time that’s also caused em fear and fatigue. Kobabe’s outfit-yellow pants, a black sweatshirt with the brand name FILA colorfully embroidered across the chest, the long earring-is familiar to me because e illustrated the look in a recent Instagram post showing off what Kobabe and eir friends wore to K-pop concerts last year. Kobabe (pronounced koh-BABE) pauses to point out birds during our conversation and to appreciate the laughter of kids at the nearby playground.Į wears one long earring that catches the dappled sunlight while we talk. Maia Kobabe, author-illustrator of “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” sits atop a picnic table at Ragle Ranch Regional Park, eir legs perched on the bench. Note: Maia Kobabe’s pronouns are e/em/eir.
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