This Book Is Gay - Reflection

  The most important aspect, at least to me, of This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson is that it is in effect a journal speaking directly to the readers.

Often, when reading a book, even when it is full of personal anecdotes or accounts, there is a distance between the reader and the author. Perhaps it’s not necessarily a superiority complex, but I can’t help but call it that. When an author is writing they know so much more about the story than the reader ever truly will, so there is a sense of yearning to know more. What Dawson does beautifully is invite the reader fully into the narrative. How beautiful and exceptional for someone to care so much that they are willing to be so vulnerable and author a book to give to young people so they are not alone. 

We’ve discussed this concept a lot: the idea of books being a method of escape or a solace for certain individuals, especially when they are able to see themselves reflected in the characters. For Dawson to create this book that acts as a guide for children wondering where they reside on the sexuality (or gender) spectrum, they are creating a safe space for those children, especially given that the world is not always a kind place to the LGBTQ+ community. 

The way that Dawson is able to create this welcoming and affirming space is through a plethora of methods; from cartoonish drawings, to parentheticals that break up some of the writing, and simple and connective narrative directly to the reader enables a good read that makes it feel as though Dawson is there and having a discussion. 

It is with books like this that validate someone else’s lived experiences. Juno Dawson worded it perfectly in the very beginning of the book as the “wondering” being a valid reason for reading the book and to learn more about one’s own truth. For some younger audiences (and by that I mean on the younger side of the age recommendation that Dawson gave the book), reading this book is so exceptionally validating and enables them to live life to the fullest extent. Obviously, it’s entirely easy to see why this book would be banned from multiple countries, yet the truth is that that would only do more harm than good.  

This is not just a narrative about Dawson’s story. This is not a book trying to convert readers. This is a manual in every sense of the word. There is discussion about safe spaces, about how to find other people who are like you, how to flirt, what sex is like, and so much more. The fact of the matter is, I’ve seen so many self-help books covering similar and even the same topics, but just with heterosexual content, but there is nothing mentioned about it being concerning or even talking about banning that content. 

I could talk about the idea of banning books that are literally the same thing as heterosexual books ad nauseam, but I won’t because we already do that in class. 

Overall, I think this book is important. I think it holds valuable information for people that need it, and frankly as someone who does not need it as a manual, but read it anyway, I learned things about the LGBTQ+ community that I didn’t know before.