The Skeleton Cupboard, Tanya Byron
I’m generally fascinated about anything to do with psychology, so when I grabbed this book in a sale, I was very hopeful. That quickly died on reading just the very first chapter: she refers to trans people as “boys who want to be girls” and “ladyboys”, and remarks on that stupid cliché that oh, these men are prettier than her. She’s shaky on the correct pronouns, too — which always drives me crazy: even if you don’t “believe” in the existence of trans people (what?), what’s the point in hurting someone and disrespecting their wishes?
She’s meant to be a psychologist. And okay, at that time, there’s some leeway: trans people weren’t as well-accepted and understood, and she was just beginning her career as a psychologist. But she didn’t write the book at the beginning of her career, although goodness knows the naivete sometimes makes it seem like it. She should’ve known better.
The one thing I can commend her for is that despite all appearances in the actual narrative, she does explain beforehand that the people and cases described are composites, not any one single patient she had. Yay for some vestiges of respect for her patients and their confidentiality!
Overall, I rate this avoid avoid avoid.
Urrrgggghh! This sounds dreadful. When was it written?
It was published in 2015!
OK, that’s scary as well as horrid.
I’m hoping she was trying to give a flavour of attitudes when she started out as a psychologist and it was just badly expressed! I can hope, right?
Hope for the best, plan for the worst…
Wow, this sounds absolutely terrible. I think I would have quit after the first chapter. Definitely staying away from this one!
I pretty much did — I just skimmed the rest!
Yikes! This sounds AWFUL. Thanks for sharing so I know to not go anywhere near this book.
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It really was! It was hard to find anything redeeming about it when it started off with such flippant disrespect.