Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man
Written by Thomas Page McBee
Narrated by Thomas Page McBee
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
*Shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award
*Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize
One of The Times UK’s Best Memoirs of 2018, BuzzFeed’s Best Nonfiction of 2018, Autostraddle’s Best LGBT Books of 2018, and 52 Insight’s Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2018
A “no-holds-barred examination of masculinity” (BuzzFeed) and violence from award-winning author Thomas Page McBee.
In this “refreshing and radical” (The Guardian) narrative, Thomas McBee, a trans man, sets out to uncover what makes a man—and what being a “good” man even means—through his experience training for and fighting in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden. A self-described “amateur” at masculinity, McBee embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of gender in society, examining sexism, toxic masculinity, and privilege. As he questions the limitations of gender roles and the roots of masculine aggression, he finds intimacy, hope, and even love in the experience of boxing and in his role as a man in the world. Despite personal history and cultural expectations, “Amateur is a reminder that the individual can still come forward and fight” (The A.V. Club).
“Sharp and precise, open and honest,” (Women’s Review of Books), McBee’s writing asks questions “relevant to all people, trans or not” (New York Newsday). Through interviews with experts in neuroscience, sociology, and critical race theory, he constructs a deft and thoughtful examination of the role of men in contemporary society. Amateur is a graceful and uncompromising look at gender by a fearless, fiercely honest writer.
Thomas Page McBee
Thomas Page McBee was the first transgender man to ever box in Madison Square Garden. He is the author of Amateur and an award-winning memoir, Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness, and Becoming a Man, which was named a best book of 2014 by NPR Books, BuzzFeed, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly. Thomas’s writing has appeared in The Rumpus, Pacific Standard, The New York Times, Playboy, and Glamour.
Related to Amateur
Related audiobooks
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queer Art of Failure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place (A Transgender Memoir) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Queer Intentions: A (Personal) Journey Through LGBTQ+ Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Transit: Being Non-Binary in a World of Dichotomies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Female Husbands: A Trans History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy after I Transitioned Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Opposite of Rape Culture is Nurturance Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feminist, Queer, Crip Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feminism is Queer: The Intimate Connection between Queer and Feminist Theory, 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenthood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feminism for the 99% Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What's Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Side Affects: On Being Trans and Feeling Bad Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity 10th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming a Visible Man: Second Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gender: A World History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Gender Studies For You
Feminine Consciousness, Archetypes, and Addiction to Perfection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5She: Understanding Feminine Psychology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Creation of Patriarchy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Tragedy of Heterosexuality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What About Men?: A Feminist Answers the Question Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For the Love of Men: From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From the Core: A New Masculine Paradigm for Leading with Love, Living Your Truth & Healing the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5He: Understanding Masculine Psychology Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Non-Toxic Masculinity: Recovering Healthy Male Sexuality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War Against Boys: How Misguided Policies are Harming Our Young Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man They Wanted Me to Be: Toxic Masculinity and a Crisis of Our Own Making Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Belonging: A Culture of Place Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who's Afraid of Gender? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Amateur
96 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In his memoir AMATEUR, Thomas Page McBee tackles the masculinity crisis and toxic masculinity, drawing from his own experiences as a trans man. McBee's insights complement the works of both Julia Serano and Brené Brown. If you're like me and the thought of reading about boxing makes your eyes glaze over, don't worry - it's honestly not too bad, and he connects it to broader, truly important points. This was so compelling that I listened to the audiobook straight through. Even though I was left feeling grieved at the end, I also had a lot of points to mull over, things I'd never considered before. AMATEUR is the kind of book that sparks compassion, encourages discussion, and effects change.
4 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5“If being “feminine” is the opposite of being a man, then many qualities that Americans associate with women (such as empathy, which shows up in boys as well as girls) are not just frowned upon, but destroyed in boyhood. “You’re only a man by not being a woman,” Way told me. “That’s basing someone’s humanness on someone else’s dehumanization.”
This short and thoughtful book is both a memoir of a transgender man, and his burgeoning understanding of what it means to be a man in the US. During his journey to learn what masculinity really means, he began going to a boxing gym, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of his boxing experience with theoretical discussions on masculinity. It really made me think of what masculinity means, how do i view it, and how is that vision skewed by my experience as a woman living as the gender I was assigned at birth.
I have not read any non-fiction books regarding the lived experiences of transgender people, but this short book was a good way to start that learning journey. Highly recommend1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is a heart grabbing road map, to get you from “how the hell do we even begin” to “oh, I can do that.” I am navigating what it looks like to be a mom of trans kids. I often feel so scared of so many issues that you touched on about masculinity and being a “real man.” I can’t wait to share this with both of my book clubs.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Round One
In his training for the fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden, McBee joined the Church Boxing Gym. It is in downtown Manhattan and in underground down several flights of stairs. There are several rings in the room and it is covered with posters of fighters long forgotten. It is a place that oozes testosterone, echoes to the sound of people working out and sparring and the aroma of stale sweat permeates the place.
Round Two
Mangual and the other guys training him admired his energy and enthusiasm and were fully behind him for this match. Thomas Page McBee was learning how to punch, how to get hit, when to defend and when to strike. Every time he entered the ring he learnt a little more about what makes a man, what makes them resort to a physical way of dealing with issues and why some sorts of masculinity were toxic. But McBee had not been completely open with those training him; when they said he had balls facing the other guys in the ring, it turns out that he didn’t.
Round Three
Because McBee was trans. After a lifetime of being, but not feeling female and having had surgery and testosterone and hormones that he started at the age of 30, he finally got a new birth certificate at the age of 31 declaring the sex he always knew he was. But there is more depth to this book than just his personal journey across the gender divide. He uses it to ask wider questions as to why men are as they are, how women’s perception of him changed and how culture and stereotypes should not always define who we are or who we aim to be.