Saturday Morning

Daniel M. Lavery says the only reason anyone needs to affirm their gender differently is because they want to. The American writer who was co-founder of the satirical website The Toast, and an advice writer for online magazine Slate, explores the awkwardness and ambiguities of gender transition in his deeply personal book, Something That May Shock and Discredit You. The book also delves into the pressures placed on trans people to know their gender without any doubt or uncertainty, and to then communicate their desire for gender affirmation at the exact right time in life, not too young or too old, for other people's comfort levels. Lavery will be appearing at the Auckland Writers Festival in May.