‘If... you look to grasp the extent to which gender identity ideology, both academic and popular, bears comparison with the worst sort of pseudoscience, then Joyce is your pick... Perhaps because of her use of biology, Joyce’s feminism is disciplined and thoughtful... [a] careful use of science.’
'Reasonable, methodical, sane, and utterly unintimidated by extremist orthodoxy, Trans is also a riveting read .'
‘[Joyce] is sharp, lucid and brilliant in analysing how the recent surge of sexual ‘transitioning’ and insistence on self-declared ‘gender identity’, has undermined feminism’s achievements.’
‘This is the book every woman should read . It explains how we’re being erased, how our arguments are being distorted, and the cost of standing up...Brilliant, coruscating, brave .’
‘A courageous, intelligent and important work, rooted in good science and common sense.’
'Well-researched, compelling...a deeply compassionate reminder that there are real trade-offs to be made in human rights activism .’
‘anyone wanting to understand how transgender rights became such a flashpoint in identity politics – and why a generation of feminists is so determined to stand its ground – should start here with this polemical book by Helen Joyce.’
Times, Books of the Year 2021 - Patrick Maguire
'A tour de force . With a fine eye for detail, she brings all the elements of gender ideology together with clarity and precision...simply a must-read '
'I'm off the fence ...This rigorous and brave book nails the absurd idea that sex is just a “social construct”'
'An intelligent, thorough rejoinder to an idea that has swept across much of the liberal world seemingly overnight . Even those outraged by Joyce’s positions would benefit from understanding them...Open conversation about such fraught issues is the only realistic path forward.'
‘Thank goodness for Helen Joyce ... Trans is a searing and at times devastating analysis of an ideological shift that has had a profound influence on many institutions in the West... With the rigour of an investigative journalist, she looks at the history of the trans movement over the past century.’
‘A frighteningly necessary book: well-written, thoroughly-researched, passionate and very brave.’
'How do we want to live? How do we want our children to live? Helen Joyce tackles this matter. Buy her book for your teenagers. Give it to your boss. Send it to the head of HR. Place it on a bench at the Royal Academy. Sex matters. Tell everyone. '
'The author brave enough to take on the trans lobby'
'An ambitious, wide-ranging, yet incredibly economical book... Trans is an enormously readable and widely accessible book, full of righteous anger and common-sense feminism.'
'A passionate defence '
'A scholarly, compassionate and courageous examination of a subject that’s sparked an unhelpful civil war within the LGBTQ community. Unlike those of her online counterparts, Joyce’s arguments are well researched, soundly made and avoid the toxicity that mars so much conversation on this topic .’
Books of the Year Observer
'Helen Joyce has written a very important, enlightened and powerfully-argued book on one of the most controversial issues of our times. For anyone who wants to understand the spirit of the age, its complexities and challenges, and how to map a truly progressive way forward. Riveting from start to finish .'
‘There are few subjects which need treatment that is at once delicate, thoughtful and brave . Helen Joyce manages all of these things in Trans . Anyone looking to understand this most fraught of issues should start here .’
'A sane, humane book. '
‘Incisive, compassionate and nuanced ...In the first decade of this century, it was unthinkable that a gender-critical book could even be published by a prominent publishing house, let alone become a bestseller.’
‘I was knocked out by Trans ... Biology vs magical thinking has become such a violent debate that most people involved (myself included) can’t set verbal foot in it without effing and jeffing till the air is blue. But Joyce is always cool, calm and in complete possession of her extensive collection of facts.’
Spectator Books of the Year
'The book I wish I’d had the foresight to pitch and the insight to write.'
'A superlative critical analysis...With this fact-filled, humane, and brave book, a grown-up has entered the room.'
★ 2022-04-13
Joyce, a senior staff journalist at the Economist , provocatively challenges the now common assumption among progressives that, regarding social classifications, self-determination of gender identity ought to have priority over any underlying biological reality. Offering carefully researched analyses of the scientific view of human sexual dimorphism, the psychology of gender dysphoria, and the medical and personal tolls associated with transitioning, the author argues that a refusal to acknowledge biology has, among other injustices, caused enormous and unnecessary harm to many children and threatened safe spaces for women. Joyce explains how trans-rights ideologues have spread falsehoods about what contemporary research actually demonstrates about the immutability of sex and encouraged an egregiously one-sided public discourse. “When it comes to whether sex or gender identity should take precedence in law and everyday life,” writes the author, “the conflict has been treated as if only trans people are affected, and there has been no negotiation at all.” Joyce’s work is impressively logical, nuanced, and empathetic in restoring balance to such negotiations. Particularly astute is the author’s critique of how specialists in the West now typically counsel parents of children who present with gender dysphoria, often resorting to dubious or outright false assertions about how this disorder tends to proceed without medical intervention—or understating the risks of surgery or hormone therapies. Also excellent is her discussion of the practical and moral problems generated by an undiscriminating acceptance of trans women as women in single-sex spaces such as public bathrooms as well as in professional sports and the penal system. Furthermore, Joyce’s recommendations for how a just society might balance the rights of trans people with those of the rest of its members are profoundly compelling.
An informed, judicious, sensitive consideration of the falsehoods and hazards of contemporary trans activism.
07/19/2021
Economist journalist Joyce challenges the idea that “people should count as men or women according to how they feel and what they declare, instead of their biology” in this alarmist critique of “transactivism.” Characterizing gender self-identification as a “belief system” akin to reincarnation, Joyce traces the origins of gender theory to Judith Butler and other feminist academics in the 1990s, and recounts the story of Christine Jorgensen, who became synonymous with “sex change” in the 1950s. Though Joyce acknowledges that a “suffering minority” of people struggle with gender dysphoria (“misery caused by cross-sex feelings”), she contends that “the truth is that we are our bodies, and our bodies are our selves,” and calls the use of hormone blockers to delay puberty in gender-dysphoric children a “medical scandal.” Joyce also suggests links between homophobia and transitioning, and autism and cross-sex identification. Testimonials from “detransitioners” who have returned to identifying as their biological sex buttress Joyce’s arguments, though she makes no effort to speak with people who have happily transitioned, and doesn’t present statistics on how many people come to regret their surgical and hormonal treatments. Ultimately, Joyce’s unwillingness to take the claims of trans people seriously undermines her arguments, and her talk of the billionaires, academics, and profit-hungry healthcare companies behind “gender-identity ideology” has elements of conspiracy thinking. This one-sided takedown comes up short. (Sept.)
'I've only ever wanted the research to come before the rule changes. Trans is thoroughly researched and extremely illuminating .'
‘If anyone doubts that gender ideology poses a threat to all of us – including trans people – you really should read this book.’
