Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out

Being a cisgender woman born in 1941, Kuklin’s perspective is that of an outsider to the lives of trans teens as well. In her Author’s Note, she states that her book began as a deep dive into the lives of “boys who realize that they are girls and girls who realize that they are boys” (205)—a vision that changed significantly as she pursued her research. The inclusion of interviewees like Cameron and Nat is proof of this shift.

Overall, taking into consideration the small sample of interviewees, the book does help to capture The Diversity of the Transgender Experience. Though these are all teenagers largely from the same region of the United States, they represent different sexual orientations and gender identities as well as different social classes, races, and cultures. Indeed, per therapist Nicole Davis in Kuklin’s Author’s Note, “It was important to find youths from wide-ranging ethnic, religious, and socio-economic circles so as not to mislabel ‘transgender’ as rich or poor, white or of color” (206). Even more than that—or perhaps more accurately, because of that—the interviewees also capture the different kinds of journeys that transgender youth may take in discovering their gender identity. Self-Discovery as a Journey, in short, marks Kuklin’s understanding of gender identity after her research process and, as a result, her final product.

Notably, there have been critics of the book who question Kuklin’s lack of context in general and, in particular, of the resources that Kuklin offers in the end. Kulkin's failure to address the history and culture of trans politics is seen as a detriment of the text. These criticisms reflect how even allies to the trans community, despite their best efforts, can perpetuate The Harm of Social Rejection. In 2014, the book’s year of publication, there was a general absence in mainstream media of positive trans representation, especially authentic trans voices. Such absences are not accidental, but a product of society’s rejection of certain groups, and they create ample opportunity for misinformation and further silencing of the people whose voices most need to be heard.