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A review by colinlusk
The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry

4.0

In the current debate over gender identity (if you can call it a debate when women are being hounded out of their jobs for daring to stand up for their rights), it's good to see someone saying something a bit different from the standard dogmas. I can't really summarise it all here, and certainly don't feel like enumerating which bits I agree with and disagree with, but I like that here you have someone breaking from gender norms pretty strikingly, but still able to state pretty clearly that he doesn't claim to actually be a woman, and doesn't assert a right to - for example - pee in the women's toilet.
He is, in short, advocating for more elbow room in what it means to be a man, taking himself as perhaps an extreme case, but suggesting that what we've been doing up to now isn't really working.
He has a pretty good, fresh take on it, and while I don't necessarily want to subscribe to it all, I can see that he's thought more deeply about this stuff than most people have and I'm happy to go along with him and listen to what he has to say.