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Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen

This is a memoir about Jazz Jennings, a girl who transitioned socially as a child and, eventually, medically as she approached preadolescence and adolescence by first using hormone blockers before finally being ready for estrogen. The book was composed when she was fifteen years old and, unfortunately, reads as such. I believe this would have been a perfect read if I were in middle or high school, but as an adult, I find many things discussed throughout the book very hard to relate to or even care about. For example, a good half of the book is mostly her just being boastful. Talking about meeting celebrities, being viewed as a celebrity thanks to TV interviews and her TV show I Am Jazz, and meeting Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, and Laverne Cox. While she says she is not saying this stuff to be bragging, she clearly is, as there are way too many chapters dedicated to this for me to believe otherwise. At the end of the book, she allows a Q&A with Jazz’s family members. I do not see why this was necessary, but I guess it was kind of cool to see their perspective on things. For me, the best part of the book was the first half of the book.

I loved seeing how she won the fight to play on the girls’ soccer team and knowing she possesses a kind spirit despite living in an unkind world. The only part that made me feel slightly uncomfortable was when she went on a date at the movie theater with a boy and kissed him, and after she kissed him, he made an excuse that his stomach was hurting so he could tell his mother who was chaperoning their date that he kissed her. What kind of date does that? The necklace test at the beginning of the book, in chapter 1, where you hold something heavy attached to it like a penchant or ring over a pregnant belly, was fascinating. My mother did the same for me, my sister, and the twins she sadly had a miscarriage with. If you do not know, if the penchant or ring swings back and forth over a pregnant belly, that supposedly means you are having a boy, whereas if the penchant or ring swings in a circle, that supposedly means you are having a girl. My mother said it swung back and forth for the twins, indicating she would have boys. For me, it swung in a circle, indicating she would have a girl. The penchant swung in a circle for my sister too. I know it’s not scientific, but for Jazz and me, it was 100% accurate far as we both know. If you don’t know much about transgenderism, I think this is a good starting point as she mentions other books and movies featuring transgenderism, so if you want to know even more after reading her book, you can. For a person who has an above-average understanding of transgenderism and is older than twenty-five, this book may not be for you. I highly recommend this book to people under 21 years old who are transgender or want to understand transgenderism. It is, after all, geared toward a juvenile audience.

Quotes below:

All of these quotes come from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. I did not find anything after Chapter 2 worth remembering or writing down.

Chapter 1: When is the Good Fairy going to come with her magic wand?

This is at the beginning of the book. It is profoundly powerful and something every trans person can relate to and understand. I have never heard of a trans person not feeling trapped inside the wrong body.

I believe for most parents; this is not surprising. I know girls who are obsessively interested in boy things and girls who are obsessively interested in girl things. This does not necessarily mean he or she is transgender, but this is typically one of the signs. It was for me, at least. My parents believed, like Jazz’s, it was just a phase. Oh, how I wish it were!

Her defiance in accepting what society expects her to be is inspiring. Not many trans dare to stand their ground like this, especially when it’s their parents! It also shows that before Jazz could even speak, she knew she was a girl.

I remember doing the same thing while playing with my sister’s dolls! I remember vividly playing with the dollhouse with my sister and me, pretending the dolls had their own lives. It was like The Sims before the game existed. I did the same thing. I stared between their legs and wished I was like them.

Imagine hearing those words from your child; you will definitely know something abnormal is happening with your child. I just wish it was honestly that easy to have the correct anatomy. I know Jazz, and every trans person wishes it was that easy. It isn’t, and unfortunately, it is very expensive to have gender reassignment surgery. One of these days, I hope hormones and surgeries will be viewed as a right for trans people, and every trans person can get the hormones and surgeries if they so desire.

If you answer yes to all these, you probably have gender dysphoria.

I’m sure many people will agree or disagree whether people are born transgender or made transgender. I do not know the exact answer to that myself, but I do know being born trans is definitely real. I liked this part of the book because it’s related to the independent research I am currently conducting. Hormonal imbalance and brain structure are two areas I believe are the most likely answer. Genetic, I do not think it is. My mother has told me many times over the years that when she was pregnant with me, she wanted a girl really, really bad. I always wondered if this caused a hormonal imbalance where I received more estrogen than I was supposed to, or perhaps something else happened. Maybe it was a combination of hormonal imbalance and brain structure. Perhaps the hormonal imbalance caused the brain structure to change as well. Who knows? Like Jazz eloquently puts it, no one knows for sure, but whatever the reason, it is real and no one’s fault.

Chapter 2: I love you, and I love my hair!

I agree with Jazz. Why are certain hairstyles for girls and boys? Why must boys have short hair and girls have long hair? Makes zero sense to me. Clothes are pretty much the same. Girls, undeniably, have a better selection and taste in clothes than boys. Toys are the dumbest ones out of them all. Girls are not supposed to play with boy toys, and boys are not supposed to play with girl toys. Okay, who makes up this stupid rule? Why must society dictate what a child plays with? It’s just a toy at the end of the day. When I was a child, I preferred Barbie dolls and dollhouses and such, but I also liked dinosaurs a lot (still do), so what’s the big deal? Just because I like dinosaurs does not mean I was comfortable being a boy as a child. Never was, never will be.

This is very interesting for people who do not know. This is 100% true! Blue used to be associated with girls; pink used to be associated with boys. Blue was my favorite color as a kid, mostly because I liked the azure sky, pools, and the ocean. My favorite color nowadays is purple. My whole room is purple, including the bedding. To me, it’s exceedingly dumb that color is even connected with masculinity or femininity, but it is. All you have to do is attend a gender reveal or go down the toy aisle at your local Walmart to see the girl aisle blanketed with the color pink and a plethora of Barbie dolls.

Never forget this, girls! Do not allow our patriarchal society to prevent you from accomplishing your dreams.

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