Some of this was pretty good as an interrogation of trans 'visibilty', and interesting as a collection from just before the mainstream tide seemed to turn on trans people, but there was also a LOT of uncritical representation politics and it largely seemed pretty oblivious to its own institutional loyalties. Some essays were better than others - the conversation between Che Gosset and Juliana Huxtable and the essay on Mark Aguhar, for example, and I found Hayward.. worth reading, if critically -...

As RuPaul’s Drag Race becomes more main stream, this is an important reminder of how entertainment has been dramatically changed drag/transsexual people for a long time. Important read, but it is pretty scholarly- not a criticism, but may not be a read accessible to everyone!

Trap Door is a gorgeous collection of essays and other art that explores the uncomfortable contradictions within the media's obsession with the "Transgender Tipping Point" and the mixed results it brings for the actual lived experiences of trans people. What does visibility actually mean? What are the consequences of "acceptance" within oppressive dominant norms? How does one live authentically within a system that was built for your erasure? The beautiful voices bursting from within Trap Door b...

I would give something between 3 and 4 stars. There were very profound and insightful ideas that got me thinking in new ways and I got some new avenues of reading to pursue out of it. Some of the essays and interviews were great, others I didn't find as interesting. I feel like I only understood like 70% of this book though, with much effort, and I kind of wish it was written in a more accessible way for trans folks outside of the art world who don't have an academic background in queer theory.

some compelling essays!I enjoyed the interweaving of more academic style theory with interviews,artist works, and roundtables.

Love, love, love, love, love it! This book is such a remarkable and important collection of essays that I continue to come back to time and again.

an incredible and necessary book that examines the dangers of visibility and the need to move beyond the neoliberal framework of "representation." sara ahmed's essay particularly took my breath away 🖤

“But if I am black or I am trans, and if people can’t see that, then what am I? Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the difference between the self we hold inside of us and the self that is named by others.”If you like anthologies about trans identity and visibility; through essays and conversations, this anthology grapples with questions and themes related to identity, art, performance, beauty, activism, and the contradictions of trans visibility. The texts range from free-flowing accessible con...

The pieces in this collection were hit or miss for me. Regardless, a lot to think about in terms of trans visibility, violence, trans art, and more. Certainly a valuable collection of trans thought and imagination. 6/10

I really loved how this book was set up. I liked that articles further in the book referenced back to past chapters. They were also building on the history and interweaving that discussion into the Art that was discussed in multiple articles. I will probably reread this book in the future!

Trap Door is an amazing collection of essays and conversations that examine the politics of trans visibility today. These artists, critics, activists, and historians examine this topic from a variety of perspectives that center intersectional knowledge bases. The weaving together of art, prose, and scholarship makes for an immersive creative experience. This book had me thinking on another level!

Rounded up from 3.5. This collection is a mixed bag of pieces. Theoretical, practical, art, activism. Thematically I think that Gossett did a good job at linking these somewhat disparate pieces together. The problem is one of momentum, though; Gossett spaces out her more theoretical pieces in between more approachable pieces such as roundtable discussions, which I actually found to be more difficult than, say, grouping all of the theoretical pieces together. Which is part of why it sat open half...

This book contains a series of essays that center around the current "transgender tipping point" and grapple with the dichotomy of increased trans visibility and increased violence against trans people. An essay that stuck with me was "The Labor of Werqing It" which discussed how accounting for race challenges the "trans tipping point" narrative and the exceptionalism/death binary. The essay uses the example of a black drag performer that was the target of harassment by the police while white dr...

essential - particularly recommend the Sara Ahmed, Evay Hayward, Miss Major, and the archival materials

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I decided to buy this book on a whim. I was looking for trans theory and trans cultural production beyond the usual suspects of the academy. So I bought this whim on impulse, and took a long time reading it. There are so many things I loved about this book. Beyond its extremely high production values, the essays and conversations between cultural producers, academics, and artists contain so many gems and so many profound insights. There are essays about...

I'd do 3.5 if I could, but that is really just my personal taste. This is a PHENOMENAL book, however as an outside from the art world a good chunk of it went absolutely over my head... Some of the essays were so moving, and made me think for days. Others I simply could grasp what they were saying - but I have no doubt an artist would be able to. I suggest this for anybody who is in the art community!

worth it but why so dense??????? WHY

I was worried when I started this book. It is a book on predominantly black trans folk in America. It was published in 2017 with the rise of deaths and visibility. The Black Trans Lives Matter movement has become more present in American culture and I have some concerns with the way this movement has worked and shared its aims. Read the next few sentences before deciding that I must be racist and transphobic. Let's start with the marked. I am a white cis man living in North America, specifically...