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July 16, 2021 - Booked Solid by Terri Schlichenmeyer

Booked Solid

 

As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy After I Transitioned  by Paula Stone Williams
c.2021, Atria Books $27.00/$36.00 Canada, 256 pages

There are two sides to every story.


In politics, there’s left and right; in fairy tales, it’s good or evil. Guilty or innocent in court, salty or spicy mealtimes, dog or cat among friends, heads or tails. Sometimes you choose and at other times, like in As a Woman by Paula Stone Williams, you can see both sides.


From the time he was very small, Paul Williams thought that he “should have been born a girl.” He wasn’t bitter about it—not when he was a teen, not even as an adult—but it lingered in the background of his life.


Oh, he tried to tamp down his desires to dress in his mother’s clothes but he could not, though he knew it would anger her. She caught him once wearing his grandmother’s cast-offs and he never forgot her reaction; even so, he ransacked her closet at least once a week during his adolescence, hoping his parents wouldn’t come home early.


His feelings of furtiveness were perhaps exacerbated by a family legacy of evangelical ministry. Every man he knew was a leader in their church; when he was young, it was assumed that Williams would follow them, as if there was no other option. And so, dutifully, he became a CEO in a “church planting” organization. He married a woman he genuinely loved, and they started a family.


But the urges didn’t go away. As his children grew and left the nest, Williams began to explore the possibility of letting out the woman he was inside. He confessed everything to his wife, started hormones, and asked for his wife’s silence until he made plans for a transition physically and at work. He’d been at the organization for 35 years, and he was respected, although less than he believed. Williams was fired and humiliated. 


Marriage in question, children shaken, job gone, he began to assess his life.


The world needed to know the truth. 


And so, on July 29, 2014, Paula Stone Williams officially took to her blog….


Come to As a Woman looking for a memoir, and you’re going to be happy: most of the pages here tell a tale of transitioning while immersed in a major evangelical organization, which are generally incompatible things. This is interesting, told in an unabashedly forward manner as author Paula Stone Williams resists minimizing her male past.


Dig deeper, though, and there’s more to this book: its look at the difference in how society as a whole regards the roles of men and women, from someone with knowledge of both, is funny and sharp-eyed, and could serve as a primer-slash-warning for newly-transitioning women. It’s fiery, it’s sometimes the tiniest bit whiny, it’s a little repetitious, and it’s eyebrow-raising with a dash of heated argument-starter for zest.


In the end, As a Woman leaves a lot for female readers to agree with; Williams’ observations are honed, hard, and honest. Men, however—particularly cis men—could take umbrage at her observations and might give this book a little bit of side-eye. ▼


Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. Always Overbooked, she lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 15,000 books.

‹ July 16, 2021 - Summer Treats by Michael Gilles up July 16, 2021 - Historical Headliners by Ann Aptaker ›

Past Issues

Issues Index

  • December 17, 2021 - Issue Index
  • November 19, 2021 - Issue Index
  • October 22, 2021 - Issue Index
  • September 24, 2021 - Issue Index
  • August 20, 2021 - Issue Index
  • July 16, 2021 - Issue Index
    • July 16, 2021 - Cover to Cover with Issuu
    • July 16, 2021 - The Way I See It by Beth Shockley
    • July 16, 2021 - In Brief
    • July 16, 2021 - Out in Delaware by David Mariner
    • July 16, 2021 - Intentionally Inclusive by Wesley Combs
    • July 16, 2021 - CAMPNews
    • July 16, 2021 - SUN FESTIVAL 2021
    • July 16, 2021 - It's My Life by Michael Thomas Ford
    • July 16, 2021 - Community News
    • July 16, 2021 - Volunteer Spotlight by Karen Laitman
    • July 16, 2021 - Summer Treats by Fay Jacobs
    • July 16, 2021 - Words Matter by Clarence Fluker
    • July 16, 2021 - Membership Matters by Marj Shannon
    • July 16, 2021 - Who's That?.... That's CAMP! by Anita Broccolino
    • July 16, 2021 - Health and Wellness by Marj Shannon
    • July 16, 2021 - Health & Wellness Classes
    • July 16, 2021 - COVID-19 & HIV by Ashley Innes
    • July 16, 2021 - Out & About by Eric C. Peterson
    • July 16, 2021 - LGBTQ+ YA Column by Ella Walker
    • July 16, 2021 - Candidate Forum
    • July 16, 2021 - Dining Out by Fay Jacobs
    • July 16, 2021 - Out & Proud by Stefani Deoul
    • July 16, 2021 - CAMP Houses by Rich Barnett
    • July 16, 2021 - Celebrity Interview by Fay Jacobs
    • July 16, 2021 - Music from the Heart by Matty Brown
    • July 16, 2021 - Cover Story: Historic Poodle Beach by Fay Jacobs
    • July 16, 2021 - Straight Talk by David Garrett
    • July 16, 2021 - CAMPShots
    • July 16, 2021 - Summer Treats by Michael Gilles
    • July 16, 2021 - Booked Solid by Terri Schlichenmeyer
    • July 16, 2021 - Historical Headliners by Ann Aptaker
    • July 16, 2021 - Spotlight on the Arts by Doug Yetter
    • July 16, 2021 - Summer Treats by Ed Castelli
    • July 16, 2021 - The Real Dirt by Eric W. Wahl
    • July 16, 2021 - Theatre Is Back by Michael Gilles
    • July 16, 2021 - View Point by Richard J. Rosendall
    • July 16, 2021 - Visiting View by D'Anne Witkowski
    • July 16, 2021 - We Remember
  • June 18, 2021 - Issue Index
  • May 14, 2021 - Issue Index
  • April 16, 2021 - Issue Index
  • March 19, 2021 - Issue Index
  • February 19th, 2021 - Issue Index

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